TheRepublic.com - Summits News

Obama: 'Lives have been saved' by NSA programs

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:13:55 -0400

BERLIN - Trying to tamp down concerns about government over-reach, President Barack Obama on Wednesday defended U.S. Internet and phone surveillance programs as narrowly targeted efforts that have saved lives and thwarted at least 50 terror threats.

G-8 seeks unity on Syrian peace talks, tax evasion

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:51:26 -0400

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland - President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other G-8 leaders attempted to speak with one voice Tuesday on seeking a negotiated Syrian peace settlement - yet couldn't publicly agree on whether this means President Bashar Assad must go.

G-8 NOTEBOOK: Cameron Tweets WWII bomb at G-8 site

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:45:56 -0400

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland - Well, that was close. Or was it? Shortly after wrapping up one of the most peaceful Group of Eight summits in recent memory, Prime Minister David Cameron let a cat out of the bag.

Russia: G-8 declaration won't mention Assad's fate

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:55:15 -0400

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland - The G-8 summit's joint statement on ending the Syrian civil war will not mention whether Bashar Assad must step down from power as part of any peace settlement, a senior Russian diplomat said Tuesday ahead of the document's publication.

Transcript: Obama and Putin at G-8 summit

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:25:59 -0400

Remarks by President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, at the summit of the Group of 8 industrial nations, as transcribed by the White House.

WHITE HOUSE NOTEBOOK: Obama, Putin nearby at G-8

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:15:13 -0400

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland - If President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin want some extra quality time together at the Group of 8 meeting, they don't have to go far.

Report of UK hacking of diplomats angers nations

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:13:53 -0400

LONDON - A newspaper report that British eavesdropping agency GCHQ repeatedly hacked into foreign diplomats' phones and emails has prompted an angry response from traditional rival Russia and provoked demands for an investigation from Turkey and South Africa.

Sweeping US-EU trade talks to start in July

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:52:25 -0400

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland - A top European Union official says talks on a sweeping new free trade agreement between the EU and the US will begin next month.

US First Lady urges youth to shape NIreland future

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:11:33 -0400

DUBLIN - U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama has urged the young people of Northern Ireland to take a fresh perspective to help solve the country's historic problems.

EU official: Trade deal with US a 'game-changer'

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:11:12 -0400

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland - The top official with the European Union's executive arm says a free trade deal with the United States would be a "game-changer" for the global economy.

AP News in Brief at 10:58 p.m. EDT<<

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 23:08:46 -0400

As White House weighs no-fly zone in Syria, experience in skies over Iraq may offer insight

Obama takes economic, foreign policy agenda to UK

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 21:54:32 -0400

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is taking a security, foreign policy and economic agenda to Northern Ireland for a meeting with heads of the leading industrial nations.

Is it a bird? A plane? No, it's a G-8 drone

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 17:38:13 -0400

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland - Northern Ireland police have a new eye in the sky just in time for the G-8 summit of world leaders. A unit of surveillance drones will be used here for the first time to keep tabs on protest marches and scan the countryside for terrorist threats.

G8 faces uncertain recoveries, turbulent markets

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 08:02:43 -0400

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland - Europe is mired in debt and recession. Financial markets have hit violent ups and downs on fears that U.S. stimulus efforts may soon be scaled back. Japan is finally looking up after years of stagnation - but it remains an open question if the recovery will stick.

Regional leaders urge Zimbabwe poll delay

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 17:55:30 -0400

MAPUTO, Mozambique - Regional presidents meeting at a special summit on Zimbabwe asked President Robert Mugabe to delay crucial elections he has set for the end of July while asking the nation to guarantee conditions for free and fair elections, officials said Saturday.

Obama trade dilemma: Scant support from Democrats

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 12:29:46 -0400

WASHINGTON - As President Barack Obama pushes an ambitious agenda to liberalize global trading, political trade wars already are forming, and they're with fellow Democrats rather than with Republicans, his usual antagonists.

UK territories sign on to tax-avoidance crackdown

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 11:19:12 -0400

LONDON - U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron struck a deal Saturday with leaders of Britain's overseas territories to share tax information - a move he heralded as a "positive step forward" on an issue at the forefront of next week's G-8 summit in Northern Ireland.

NY's Bloomberg and SF mayor announce tech summits

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 19:02:20 -0400

SAN FRANCISCO - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his San Francisco counterpart, Ed Lee, said at a news conference Friday that they are sponsoring a pair of technology summits over the next year.

EU gets deal on trans-Atlantic trade pact mandate

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 19:00:28 -0400

LUXEMBOURG - The European Union worked around French objections on Friday to agree on a free trade negotiating mandate for sweeping talks with the United States that President Barack Obama wants to officially open next week.

Obama to step up military support of Syrian rebels

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 22:37:07 -0400

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has authorized sending weapons to Syrian rebels for the first time, U.S. officials said Thursday, after the White House disclosed that the United States has conclusive evidence President Bashar Assad's government used chemical weapons against opposition forces trying to overthrow him.

Putin: IMF needs reform

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 18:43:06 -0400

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin, preparing for next week's G-8 summit, says reforming the International Monetary Fund should be a top issue among the world's economic powers.

Launch of US-EU trade talks may be hitting snag

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:23:44 -0400

WASHINGTON - One of the big goals of President Barack Obama's upcoming trip to Europe may be in jeopardy, with French objections threatening to hold up the launch of negotiations on a sweeping U.S.-European Union free trade pact.

G-8 summit to press Russia on Syria

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:35:20 -0400

BERLIN - Britain and Germany aim to use next week's summit of major economic powers to press Russia's leader to use his leverage with the government of President Bashar Assad to calm the fighting in Syria.

32 arrests in London during protests against G-8

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:26:13 -0400

LONDON - Nearly three dozen protesters were arrested in London on Tuesday amid demonstrations against next week's Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland.

Leak of NSA programs tests US, China ties

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 11:04:56 -0400

BEIJING - A day after the presidents of China and the United States ended their first summit, pledges of cooperation by the two leaders faced an early test from an unexpected quarter -- an American intelligence contractor was leaking highly sensitive U.S. surveillance programs from his hiding place in the Chinese territory of Hong Kong.