Obama Goes To Masjid [Morning Headlines 24.4.14]
David Chew makes a visit on today #39;s headlines as he talks about Obama going to Masjid Negara, traitors on the high seas and drugged up bus drivers. This and so much more with Nadia Hassan....
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Obama Goes To Masjid [Morning Headlines 24.4.14] - Video
TOKYO President Obama said Thursday that he wants to see a dispute between China and Japan over islands in the East China Sea resolved peacefully, while affirming that America's mutual security treaty with Japan applies to the islands.
"Historically they have been administered by Japan and we do not believe that they should be subject to change unilaterally," Obama said at a news conference with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. "What is a consistent part of the alliance is that the treaty covers all territories administered by Japan."
China and Japan have conflicting claims to the remote islands, called Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyu by China. The dispute has badly strained relations between the two Asian powers.
A U.S.-Japan defense treaty requires Washington to come to Japan's defense if it is attacked. Obama said his defense of that treaty is not a new position.
"The treaty between the U.S. and Japan preceded my birth, so obviously this isn't the red line that I'm drawing," the president said.
A Chinese government spokesman has said China has "indisputable sovereignty" over the islands and that "the so-called Japan-U.S. alliance" should not harm China's territorial rights.
Obama said he wants the maritime issue to be worked out "through dialogue." He urged the two sides to "keep the rhetoric low."
"It would be a profound mistake to continue to see escalation around this issue instead of dialogue," Obama said he told Abe during a private meeting.
While China is not on Obama's eight-day itinerary in Asia, leaders in Beijing are closely watching the president's tour. Obama's advisers insist that the trip -- and the White House's broader Asia policy -- is not designed to counter China's growing power, and they say the president is not asking Asian nations to choose between allegiance to Washington or Beijing. "We want to continue to encourage the peaceful rise of China," Obama said.
Abe said he and Obama agreed to cooperate on engagement with China, along with other topics, including a stalled trans-Pacific trade agreement and the impact of the U.S. military presence in Okinawa.
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Obama calls for peaceful end to China-Japan dispute over islands
TOKYO (AP) Warning Russia that new economic sanctions are "teed up," President Barack Obama accused Moscow of failing to live up to an agreement last week to ease tensions in eastern Ukraine.
Still, he cautioned that the United States needs to secure the support of allies to ensure that additional economic pressure is even applied. He conceded that new sanctions may not change Russian President Vladimir Putin's geopolitical calculations.
"There are some things the United States can do alone but ultimately it's going to have to be a joint effort, a collective effort," Obama said during a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Obama's comments underscored the difficulties he faces in devising a response to Russia's aggressive moves on Ukraine's eastern border and the growing unrest in the country driven by pro-Russian insurgents. He did not put a timeline on when sanctions could be applied, saying only it was a matter of days, not weeks.
Obama complained that militias and armed men continue to take over government buildings in Ukraine in defiance of Ukrainian authorities. Pro-Russian insurgents have been especially active in eastern Ukraine in the aftermath of Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. Under an agreement struck last week in Geneva, Russia had agreed to take steps to defuse the tensions.
"So far we have seen them not abide by the spirit or the letter of the agreement in Geneva," Obama said. If that continues, he said, "there will be further consequences and we will ramp up further sanctions."
Obama's caution came in the wake of a warning by the Russian foreign minister that attacks on Russian citizens or interests in Ukraine would bring a firm response. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov compared the circumstances to those that triggered the war with Georgia in 2008.
By acknowledging that he still needed cooperation from allies to impose new sanctions, Obama laid bare one of the key obstacles to presenting a united front against Russia. Many European countries rely on Russian energy and fear that increased pressure on Moscow could hurt their own economies.
"It's important to emphasize that throughout this process our goal has been to change Mr. Putin's calculus, that our preference is to resolve this diplomatically, that sanctions hurt Russia more than anybody else but they are disruptive to the global economy," Obama said.
In Russia, Lavrov on Wednesday declared that attacks on Russian citizens are attacks against the Russian federation. His comments came day after Ukraine announced it was re-launching a campaign against pro-Russia insurgents occupying government facilities in the mostly Russian-speaking east.
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Obama: New Sanctions Against Russia Are 'Teed Up'
President Obama said Thursday that new sanctions targeting Russia are "teed up" in the wake of a fresh warning by the Russian foreign minister that attacks on Russian citizens or interests in Ukraine would bring a firm response.
Obama said Russia has not abided by the spirit or the letter of an agreement reached in Geneva last week that aimed to ease tensions in eastern Ukraine. He said Russia has failed to halt aggression by pro-Russian militants in the region.
Still, he cautioned that the United States needs to secure the support of allies to ensure that additional economic pressure is even applied. He conceded that new sanctions may not change Russian President Vladimir Putin's intentions and that the crisis in Ukraine may not subside.
"How well they change his calculus depends on the cooperation of other countries," Obama said during a news conference with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his first stop of a four-country tour of Asia.
The president did not put a timeline on when sanctions could be applied, saying only it was a matter of days, not weeks.
"It's important to emphasize that throughout this process our goal has been to change Mr. Putin's calculus, that our preference is to resolve this diplomatically, that sanctions hurt Russia more than anybody else but they are disruptive to the global economy," Obama said.
Meanwhile, Russia's foreign minister warned Wednesday that attacks on Russian interests in Ukraine would prompt a firm response and drew a comparison to the circumstances that opened the war with Georgia in 2008.
"Russian citizens being attacked is an attack against the Russian Federation," Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, a day after Ukraine announced it was re-launching a campaign against pro-Russian insurgents occupying government facilities in the mostly Russian-speaking east.
"If we were attacked we could certainly respond," Lavrov said, speaking on the Kremlin-funded satellite TV channel RT.
Lavrov's warning came as the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a separate statement demanding that Ukraine pull its armed forces out of the crisis-ridden region.
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Obama warns sanctions against Russia are 'teed up' as tension builds in Ukraine
MEGADETH #39;s Dave Mustaine Slams Obama @ Tucson Show 4-19-2014
The legendary Dave Mustaine, frontman of metal titans MEGADETH, rocked the foundations April 19, 2014 at the Pima County Fairgrounds outside Tucson, AZ. The ...
By: Mike Liberation
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MEGADETH's Dave Mustaine Slams Obama @ Tucson Show 4-19-2014 - Video