obama Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Armoured & Luxury

Obama tours symbolic sites in Israel and West Bank

March 23, 2013 / By Armoured Cars / In security

US President Barack Obama has concluded his trip to Israel and the West Bank by paying his respects to victims of the Holocaust and visiting Bethlehem.

Mr Obama went to the Yad Vashem museum after seeing the graves of Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, and former Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin.

He later toured Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity and and flew to Amman for talks with Jordan’s King Abdullah.

On Thursday, Mr Obama urged Israelis and Palestinians to resume peace talks.

The president told an audience of some 2,000 young Israelis in Jerusalem that they could be “the generation that permanently secures the Zionist dream” or “face growing challenges to its future”.

“The only way for Israel to endure and thrive as a Jewish and democratic state is through the realisation of an independent and viable Palestine,” he warned.

Hours earlier, after holding talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, he urged Palestinians to return to the negotiating table even if Israel did not meet their condition of halting Jewish settlement construction.

Obama urges Kenya to avoid violence as election looms

February 7, 2013 / By Armoured Cars / In security

US President Barack Obama has urged the people of Kenya, where his father was born, to avoid violence and intimidation in next month’s elections.

He posted the message, which begins with a greeting in Swahili, on YouTube.

He said the polls were a chance for Kenyans to come together to show they were not just members of tribes or ethnic groups, but a proud nation.

Kenya’s disputed presidential election in 2007 descended into violence in which more than 1,000 were killed.

Kenyans head to the polls on 4 March to vote for president and other offices in the first national election since that violence.

US gun debate: Obama unveils gun control proposals

January 16, 2013 / By Armoured Cars / In security

President Barack Obama has unveiled sweeping gun control proposals, setting the stage for a showdown with firearms rights advocates.

Mr Obama called for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and wider background checks on gun buyers.

The Democratic president also signed 23 executive-order measures, which do not require congressional approval.

Mr Obama said gun-control reforms could not wait any longer, after last month’s school massacre in Connecticut.

“While there is no law or set of laws that can prevent every senseless act of violence completely, no piece of legislation that will prevent every tragedy, every act of evil,” he said, “if there’s even one thing we can do to reduce this violence, if there’s even one life that can be saved, then we’ve got an obligation to try.”

US shoots down Death Star superlaser petition

January 16, 2013 / By Armoured Cars / In security

The White House has rejected a petition to build a Death Star – a huge battle-station armed with a superlaser as seen in the Star Wars films.

In a playful response, a senior US government official said the Obama administration “does not support blowing up planets”.

The official also said the cost – about $850 quadrillion – was too high.

More than 34,000 people had signed the petition, saying the project would spur job creation and strengthen defence.

They also wanted the government to begin construction by 2016.

The White House is obliged to respond to all petitions that gain more than 25,000 signatures.