Free Republic

While Republicans and Democrats in Washington dueled over job creation in America, President Obama was overseas in the French resort-town of Deauville working to spur job creation in the Middle East--among a laundry list of other international matters. With the so-called "Arab Spring" heating up into what some are now calling the "Arab Summer," leaders of the Group of Eight, more commonly known as the G8, have committed to help grow free economies and jobs in the region. Yet with several countries in the Middle East still engaged in serious conflict and uncertain political futures, the prospect for noticeable employment...

PARIS (Reuters) – France failed on Tuesday to persuade its G8 partners to support its push for a no-fly zone over Libya, a setback to any chances of swift action to halt Muammar Gaddafi's advance against rebel forces. In a blow too to France's efforts to use the crisis in Libya to reassert its leadership in international diplomacy, the Group of Eight powers made no mention of a no-fly zone over the North African nation in a communique wrapping up their talks. The Libyan crisis dominated the first meeting of France's G8 presidency, but Germany and Russia blocked flight restrictions...

HONOLULU — French President Nicolas Sarkozy will visit Washington next month and hold talks with his US counterpart Barack Obama on January 10, the White House said Friday. "I can confirm" the French leader's visit, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor told AFP, without providing further details. The Elysee presidential palace announced Thursday that Sarkozy would visit the US capital to discuss the agendas of next year's G8 and G20 summits with Obama. France currently holds the rotating presidency of the G20 forum of the world's 20 largest economies, and in 2011 will chair the G8, comprised of six major Western...

THE safety of Tony Blair, George Bush and other world leaders at the G8 summit in Canada could have been jeopardised when a secret security document detailing their every movewas left in a busy picnic area close to the summit headquarters. To the horror of the Canadian Mounties and American Secret Service, the 134-page spiral-bound document, marked “confidential”, was left lying open on a large boulder in front of the main security barrier at the entrance to the luxury resort in the Rockies where the G8 leaders were holding their two-day meeting. It was found by The Times as British...

Lutheran Bishop Joins Faith Leaders to Challenge G-8 and G-20 10-180-JD WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- The convening and working together of interfaith leaders serves as a "powerful symbol" in contributing to a better future for the world, according to the Rev. Jon V. Anderson, bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Southwestern Minnesota Synod, Redwood Falls. Anderson attended the World Religions Summit in Winnipeg, Manitoba, June 21-23. "I wanted to bring our distinctive Lutheran voice to this gathering of Christians and people of many faiths," Anderson said. More than 90 faith leaders and youth delegates from over 20 countries met at...

The question at the G8 and G20 summit put to President Barry Hussein Soetoro was, “Are there steps that your administration can take now to build confidence that the U.S. will in fact meet its deficit reduction targets( goals) for the medium and long term,” the President careened along on a 4min 18 second long rambling fantastical response (because it wasn’t an answer) that had no basis in fiscal reality. (see 4:19min video) Yeah right, Mr. President why don’t we start by first having your Democrat controlled Congress do the fiscally responsible thing and pass a budget resolution as required...

It's always the right time to ignore Paul Krugman, the New York Times columnist, Nobel Laureate and four-time Latin Grammy nominee whose drink-yourself-sober advice on handling the debt crisis is so sharply at odds with reality. Of late, Krugman has had his Irish up at Europeans who are resisting the Obama Administration's plan to continue spending hundreds of billions on financial stimulus. (Not that he agrees with the administration, which Krugman has been arguing for the last 18 months should be spending trillions, not mere billions, on stimulus.) And in the case of Bundesbank president Axel Weber -- whom Krugman...

Our allies are moving to cut spending and debt at the same time Obama urges them to party on! President Barack Obama, right, stands beside French President Nicolas Sarkozy and other G8 Leaders during a family photo with African Outreach Leaders during the G8 Summit at the Deerhurst Resort in Hunstville, Ontario, Canada, Friday, June 25, 2010.With U.S. Gross Domestic Product being revised significantly downward and our high unemployment rate well above that of our nearest neighbor Canada, you would think Obama might listen to how our friends and allies are responding to the global economic crisis. But it seems...

Holed up with seven other global leaders in the woods of Muskoka, Canada, President Barack Obama gave the White House press corps the slip last night. The president is attending the G-8 and G-20 summits with his global counterparts this weekend. The G-8 began yesterday in Muskoka in Huntsville, Ont., and ends today. The G-20 is in Toronto, about 150 miles away, and starts this afternoon. Last night, the White House sent the press corps — which by agreement stays close to the president in order to report on any incident — back to Toronto, leaving the president 150 miles...

The Prime Minister last night defiantly rejected U.S. criticism of the decision of Britain to tackle deficits with massive cuts and tax rises. David Cameron heightened tensions with President Barack Obama over spending cuts by calling for all major economies to take 'unavoidable' belt-tightening steps as quickly as possible. As the pair prepared to meet for the first time on the world stage, the Prime Minister went out of his way to point out that Britain had demonstrated with this week's emergency Budget that 'we will start to live within our means' He said all G20 countries had to 'start...

World leaders "believe absolutely" that Israel may decide to take military action against Iran to prevent the latter from acquiring nuclear weapons, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Saturday. “Iran is not guaranteeing a peaceful production of nuclear power [so] the members of the G-8 are worried and believe absolutely that Israel will probably react preemptively,” Berlusconi told reporters following talks with other Group of Eight leaders north of Toronto...

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan are expected to ratchet up diplomatic efforts to garner international support for a UN reprimand of North Korea during this weekend’s G-20 Summit in Toronto. Seoul has asked the UN Security Council to officially condemn Pyongyang for the fatal March 26 attack on South Korean warship Cheonan, an accusation Pyongyang has furiously denied. After two Koreas held dueling briefings to push their own versions of the story to member countries at the UN Security Council, negotiations came to a temporary halt this week as the ambassadors of the member countries...

TORONTO – Black-clad demonstrators broke off from a crowd of peaceful demonstrators protesting a global economic summit in Toronto on Saturday, torching police cruisers and smashing windows with baseball bats and hammers. Police arrested more than 100 people. Police with shields and clubs pushed back the rogue protesters who tried to head south toward the security fence surrounding the perimeter of the Group of 20 summit site. Some demonstrators hurled bottles at police. "We have never seen that level of wanton criminality and vandalism and destruction on our streets," Toronto police chief Bill Blair said.

President Obama spent some time away from the traveling press corps last night, the Wall Street Journal reports. Obama is always accompanied by a "pool" reporter when he travels, who notes the president's movements and reports back to the rest of the White House reporters. But last night, with the President in Muskoka, Ontario for the G-8 summit, the White House sent the pooler away. From WSJ: Last night, the White House sent the press corps — which by agreement stays close to the president in order to report on any incident — back to Toronto, leaving the president 150...

When U.S. President Barack Obama stepped off his helicopter in Huntsville on Friday, the first thing he said was, “You’ve got a lot of golf courses here, don’t you?” Industry Minister Tony Clement told the National Post in an exclusive interview. “I told him, ‘We would really recommend and love it if you could come back here with Michelle and the kids at some point — we think you’d really love it here,’” Minister Clement said on the sidewalk of Huntsville’s Main Street, in his home riding. “I think I’ve planted a seed in the President’s mind.”

I guess we really shouldn't be surprised. After all, this is what Obama and his team of globalists wanted, wasn't it? It's pretty much what he promised his hate-America base. If anyone was listening, they would have heard it. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has told the BBC that the world "cannot depend as much on the US as it did in the past". He said that other major economies would have to grow more for the global economy to prosper. He also played down any differences in policy between the US and Europe regarding deficit reduction. Mr Geithner was...

U.S. President Barack Obama laughs with Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (C) and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the G8 Summit at the Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ontario June 25, 2010

The leaders of 20 leading economies will discuss the sinking of a South Korean warship at their summit later this week, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday. Spokesman Philip Crowley, however, said he was not sure if the leaders either at the G-20 summit or the G-8 economic summit in Canada will produce a joint statement blaming North Korea for the sinking of the Cheonan in the Yellow Sea in March, which killed 46 sailors. "I think the president will have the opportunity to meet with a range of leaders from the region," Crowley said. "I'm certain that the issue...

Russia has demanded member-states at the upcoming G-8 summit refrain from blaming North Korea for the sinking of a South Korean warship in a draft of the meeting's statement. Citing a Japanese government source, a Kyodo news report said the demand follows an investigation by a team of four Russian Navy submarine and torpedo experts into the March 26 sinking of the 'Cheonan' in the Yellow Sea in which 46 South Korean sailors drowned. Moscow says it has yet to reach an official conclusion on the warship sinking. The issue is likely to figure prominently at the summit starting in...