HANGZHOU, China (AP) — Setting aside their cyber and maritime disputes, President Barack Obama and China's President Xi Jinping on Saturday sealed their nations' participation in last year's Paris climate change agreement. They hailed their new era of climate cooperation as the best chance for saving the planet.
A U.S. judge blocked Obama administration guidance that transgender public school students must be allowed to use bathrooms of their choice, granting a nationwide injunction sought by a group of 13 states led by Texas. Reed O'Connor, a judge for the Northern District of Texas, said in a decision late on Sunday that the Obama administration did not follow proper procedures for notice and comment in issuing the guidelines. O'Connor, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, said the guidelines from the defendants, which included the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice, were legislative and substantive.
(Reuters) – The city of Flint faces multiple long-term threats to its water supply, even though short-term progress has been made in reducing lead contamination in the drinking water, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has warned the city and the state of Michigan. The poor water quality became a crisis last year when, after months of citizen complaints in the largely poor and African-American city, officials acknowledged a problem and began corrective measures. EPA administrator Gina McCarthy outlined at least five areas that would require additional funding and attention to ensure a safe and sustainable drinking water supply in a letter sent to Flint Mayor Karen Weaver and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will depart from the campaign trail on Friday to attend the funeral services of former First Lady Nancy Reagan. The campaign on Tuesday reported that Clinton, former first lady under President Bill Clinton and secretary of state under President Barack Obama, would attend the planned services in California for Reagan, who died on Sunday of congestive heart failure. (This version of the story corrects the day of Reagan's death from Monday to Sunday in the paragraph two.) (Reporting by Alana Wise)
US President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Michigan on Saturday, freeing up federal aid to help an area affected by contaminated water, the White House said. Authorities in the state have been dealing with a major health crisis over lead-contaminated water that arose from cost-cutting measures implemented in the city of Flint, home to some 100,000 people. On Thursday, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder submitted a request to the president to call a state of emergency.
About 6 million people have signed up for health insurance on the website HealthCare.gov, including 2.4 million new customers, for coverage effective Jan. 1, 2016, the U.S. government said on Friday. HealthCare.gov sells subsidized insurance plans created as part of President Barack Obama’s national healthcare reform, often called Obamacare. Last year at this time, about 3.4 million people had signed up for these plans, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
PARIS (AP) — Facing pushback at home, President Barack Obama said Sunday that American leadership was helping make gains in the global fight against climate change as he tried to reassure world leaders assembling for a historic conference in Paris that the U.S. can deliver on its own commitments.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Opponents of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul are taking yet another challenge to the law to the Supreme Court, and say they will be back with more if this one fails.
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush touted on Tuesday his plan to repeal and replace President Barack Obama's health care law with one that would increase tax credits for individuals, allowing them to buy coverage protection against “high-cost medical events.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans advanced legislation Tuesday to dismantle President Barack Obama's health law that could actually reach the president's desk.