Stephen Dinan

Obama: America safer without torture tactics

President Obama on his 100th day in office acknowledged that enhanced interrogation tactics may glean information from terrorists but said those techniques constitute "torture," saying the country is safer without them.

April 29, 2009

Specter to run as Democrat for 2010

Five-term Republican Sen. Arlen Specter said Tuesday that he is switching parties and will run next year as a Democrat.

April 29, 2009

Frenetic pace set for Obama’s first 100 days

President Obama ends the first 100 days of his administration as he began - dealing with a major crisis, struggling to find Republican support and working with a Senate in flux.

April 29, 2009

Specter joins Democrats opposed to key Obama goals

The only immediate effect of Sen. Arlen Specter's switch from Republican to Democrat was to boost the number of Democrats who oppose some of President Obama's chief goals.

April 29, 2009

Lawmakers cut flu money from stimulus

Congress over the past four years has trimmed spending aimed at fighting a flu pandemic, most recently in this year's stimulus bill, when a key House Democrat tried but failed to get his colleagues to include hundreds of millions of dollars.

April 28, 2009

Obama fields press, gifts in first 100 days

Though its own author has lamented it as one-dimensional, the book Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gave to President Obama at the recent Summit of the Americas is rite-of-passage reading for Latin American youths.

April 28, 2009

Top Dem: Forced to strip flu-fighting funds

A top House Democrat on Monday accused fellow lawmakers of forcing him to strip millions of dollars out of the recovery act he said would have helped prepare to fight the new swine flu outbreak.

April 27, 2009

States in need not first in line for stimulus

President Obama's stimulus bill was supposed to spend money to create jobs, but four of the top 10 recipients of per capita grant aid to date have the lowest unemployment rates in the country and nearly all are below the national average.

April 24, 2009

Obama open to torture memo prosecutions

President Obama for the first time Tuesday opened the door to prosecuting former Bush administration officials, saying those who approved harsh interrogation techniques may be subject to criminal charges.

April 22, 2009

Obama touts Mideast peace

Trying to jump-start the Middle East peace process, President Obama met with King Abdullah II of Jordan on Tuesday, hosting his first Middle Eastern leader in the Oval Office, and invited the leaders of Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority for future visits.

April 22, 2009

Obama doesn’t rule out torture prosecutions

President Obama left the door open Tuesday to prosecuting Bush administration lawyers who wrote the rules allowing tough interrogation techniques to be used on suspected terrorists.

April 21, 2009

At CIA, Obama defends release of memos

If rank-and-file employees at the nation's top spy agency are angry over President Obama's release of secret memos on sensitive interrogation practices last week, they are keeping their feelings well-hidden.

April 21, 2009

Obama orders $100 million in office cuts

Acknowledging a "confidence gap" with taxpayers, President Obama ordered his Cabinet on Monday to cut a total of $100 million from office expenses over the next 90 days - but his effort was immediately ridiculed by Republicans who said it was a pittance.

April 21, 2009

Obama tells Cabinet to cut $100 million more

Acknowledging a "confidence gap" with taxpayers, President Obama on Monday ordered his Cabinet to find $100 million in total spending cuts over the next 90 days as a signal they are serious about spending money wisely.

April 20, 2009

Obama calls Chavez meetings good steps

President Obama said that his meetings with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez were good steps and that positive Cuban and Venezuelan responses were repudiations of the Bush administration's approach to diplomacy.

April 20, 2009

Obama: Cuban, Venezuelan outreach was ‘positive’

President Obama said Sunday that the outreaches this week from Cuba and Venezuela were "positive signs" and said his interaction with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was a good step that can only help.

April 20, 2009

Chavez gift book No. 2 on Amazon

The English translation of the book Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gave to President Obama on Saturday has become a sensational seller on the Internet, jumping to No. 2 on Amazon's sales list by noon Sunday, after being No. 54,295 just a day earlier.

April 19, 2009

From Chavez, literary criticism

In a revealing back and forth, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sought out President Obama at a joint meeting Saturday to give him a book attacking capitalism and American intervention.

April 19, 2009

Obama, Chavez share book, pleasantries

Continuing an interesting back-and-forth in U.S.-Latin American relations Saturday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gave President Obama a book attacking capitalism and American intervention in the Western Hemisphere.

April 18, 2009

U.S.-Cuba relations continuing to thaw

President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro continued what has been a week-long easing of U.S.-Cuba relations, with Mr. Obama saying Friday he has seen positive signals from the island nation.

April 18, 2009