WASHINGTON — A GOP bid to expand and hasten offshore oil drilling in the face of $4-a-gallon gasoline prices suffered an overwhelming defeat in the Senate on Wednesday, four days after President Barack Obama directed his administration to ramp up U.S. oil production.
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will use a sweeping Middle East speech on Thursday to sharply defend new sanctions on Syrian President Bashar Assad as the U.S. government toughened its message for the repressive leader: Embrace democracy or get out. In a primary thrust of his address, Obama will also announce aid to countries that embrace reforms, hoping to steer a region roiling in violence toward democratic change that lasts.
SAN FRANCISCO — A proposal to ban the circumcision of male children in San Francisco has been cleared to appear on the November ballot, setting the stage for the nation’s first public vote on what has long been considered a private family matter.
Anger over a nighttime NATO raid flared into violence in northern Afghanistan on Wednesday as an estimated 1,500 people clashed with police and tried to storm a German military base in a protest that left 12 dead.