Democratic front-runner Barack Obama sought to toughen his position on meeting such US foes as Cuban President Raul Castro, outlining his conditions in a delicate pitch aimed at winning over an important voting bloc in the November presidential elections.
Obama's speech on Friday to the Cuban American National Foundation — a foray into delicate political waters — sought to counter stepped-up criticism from rival John McCain. Obama, with an insurmountable lead over rival Hillary Rodham Clinton, is increasingly appearing as the Republican’s challenger for the White House.
On Friday, Obama picked up five more delegates, including one who switched allegiance from Clinton. With an almost 200-delegate lead over the former first lady, Obama is just 61 delegates short of the 2,026 needed to clinch the nomination.
McCain also took on a politically sensitive subject, releasing medical records aimed at easing concern that at 71 years old, he is too old to be president. The records showed that the three-time melanoma survivor appears cancer-free, has a strong heart and is in general good health.
Obama’s speech to the Cuban group came three days after McCain ridiculed him in Florida for saying he would meet Castro. Obama had said in a debate last year that he would meet without preconditions with the leaders of Cuba, Iran and Venezuela — all US adversaries.
The first-term Illinois senator said McCain has been “going around the country talking about how much I want to meet with Raul Castro as if I’m looking for a social gathering. That’s never what I’ve said and John McCain knows it.”
Obama said he would meet Castro only at a time and place of his choosing and when there is “an opportunity to advance the interests of the United States and to advance the cause of freedom for the Cuban people.”
He said he would maintain the existing trade embargo to use as leverage for winning democratic change in Cuba. But he said he would lift restrictions on family travel and remittances to the island. The audience of Cuban-Americans applauded his remarks.
Obama was addressing a group known for its tough line against former Cuban president Fidel Castro. But in recent years, frustrated with the lack of change on the island, it has entertained some more moderate views.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
RSS