Mediaboss Marketing

Reporting from Manila

President Obama on Monday announced the U.S. would impose a new round of sanctions on individuals and companies in Russia in an effort to get President Vladimir Putin to walk the walk and not just talk the talk of deescalating the crisis in Ukraine.

Obama said the sanctions will focus on some areas of high-tech defense exports to Russia that the U.S. considers out of bounds in the current climate of tensions.

The U.S. goal is not to go after Mr. Putin personally, Obama told reporters at a news conference during a state visit here. The goal is to change his calculus.

If Russian aggression continues in Ukraine, Obama said, the next step could be more broad-based sanctions aimed at Russian business sectors, starting with the banking and defense industries.

The names of the latest sanctions' targets are expected to come later Monday when the Treasury, State and Commerce departments announce details of the new round of penalties.

The latest round of sanctions follows a weekend rise in tensions in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russia rebels on Sunday paraded Western military observers as hostages. Militants denounced the legitimacy of the Ukrainian government in Kiev and demanded a referendum on the future of the southeast Ukrainian region of Donetsk.

Exasperated by Putin's refusal to fulfill his promise to try to deter the rebels' threats, the Obama administration spent the weekend preparing a new set of sharper sanctions while Obama continued his current trade and security mission to Asia. Administration officials say they are working to build international support for a possible move from sanctions on individuals to more sweeping sanctions on whole sectors of the Russian economy.

Besides burdening Russia, such sanctions would have a harsh effect on the U.S. and Europe, possibly resulting in layoffs in the affected industries, officials said. Obama has been reluctant to publicly make that threat.

But after a meeting with Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III on Monday, Obama told reporters that sectoral sanctions could be coming down the pike.

Continued here:
Obama: U.S. to impose new sanctions on Russia over Ukraine

Sen. Rand Paul on the future of the GOP
Sen. Rand Paul stopped by Boston Herald radio to discuss the future of the Republican Party.

By: Boston Herald

See the article here:
Sen. Rand Paul on the future of the GOP - Video

Judge Napolitano: Rand Paul #39;Unequivocally #39; Did Not Change Position On Drone Strikes
During a Q A session at Harvard #39;s Kennedy School of Government, Sen. Rand Paul addresses where his party loyalties lie. 4/24/13 - Appearing on Fox Business Network #39;s Varney Co. this morning,...

By: whittee nnews

Read more:
Judge Napolitano: Rand Paul 'Unequivocally' Did Not Change Position On Drone Strikes - Video

Ron Paul: The Farther We Stay Away From Ukraine #39;The Better #39;
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a presidential hopeful and leading non-interventionist voice in the Republican Party, believes the United States should seek res. Rand Paul: Some In GOP Stuck In...

By: Recai Kazma

See the article here:
Ron Paul: The Farther We Stay Away From Ukraine 'The Better' - Video

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks at the Conservative Political Action Committee annual conference in National Harbor, Md., Friday, March 7, 2014. AP

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., whose libertarian views set him apart from most of the Republican Party, easily won the Maine GOP's straw poll on Sunday after speaking at the Maine Republican Convention a day earlier. Yet as he considers a possible presidential bid, the senator was in the Northeast over the weekend to build stronger relationships with the establishment wing of the Republican Party.

"You win elections by bringing people together, not dividing them, and I believe that really there's a lot of commonality between folks in the Republican Party," Paul told the Portland Press Herald.

Paul on Sunday attended a state fundraiser for moderate Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, while on Friday he was in Boston meeting with former aides to 2012 GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Paul's attempts to broaden his support within the party stands in contrast to the divisions that his father Rep. Ron Paul's presidential bid created -- in 2012, Maine Republicans fought over whether to support Ron Paul or Romney.

Spencer Zwick, Romney's former national finance chairman, helped arrange the private luncheon that Paul attended Friday at Solamere Capital, a private-equity firm led by Zwick and Tagg Romney (Mitt Romney's oldest son). Paul "was very well received," Zwick told the Associated Press. "This was meant to be a real discussion with people that I view can be very helpful."

While he's building connections within the party, Paul told the Press Herald it's too early for him to say whether he's running for president. "I think we need to do one election at a time and people get overwhelmed with more than one," he said.

Paul is also taking steps this week to show his support for Israel -- something that's been called into question, given his libertarian views. This week he plans to introduce legislation that would end aide to the newly-unified Palestinian government unless it recognizes Israel's right to exist within the next five weeks.

"The recent announcement of a Fatah-Hamas unity agreement brings both danger and opportunity to the peace process, and the next five weeks may prove critical," Paul said in a statement. "Israel cannot be expected to negotiate with an entity that does not believe it should exist and that has used terrorist tactics to seek its end."

2014 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Read more from the original source:
Rand Paul builds support in the Northeast, wins straw poll