Barack Obama

Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Barack Obama, Sr. (born in Nyanza Province, Kenya) and Ann Dunham (born in Wichita, Kansas). Barack Hussein Obama (born August 4, 1961) is the junior United States Senator from Illinois and a member of the Democratic Party.

Obama grew up in culturally diverse surroundings. He spent most of his childhood in the majority-minority U.S. state of Hawaii and lived for four years in Indonesia. Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention while still an Illinois state legislator. Since announcing his candidacy in February 2007, Obama has emphasized ending the Iraq War and implementing universal health care as campaign themes.

As a member of the Democratic minority in the 109th Congress, Obama co-sponsored the enactment of conventional weapons control and transparency legislation, and made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and later divorced. His father went to Harvard University to pursue Ph.D. studies, then returned to Kenya, where he died in an auto accident when the younger Obama was twenty-one years old.

Friday, May 02, 2008

TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS
Fed to Pursue Aggressive Checks on Credit Cards
The Federal Reserve and two other banking regulators are set to unveil today one of the most aggressive efforts in decades to crack down on the credit card industry, prohibiting practices such as arbitrarily raising interest rates on outstanding balances.
(By Nancy Trejos, The Washington Post)

Up $10.9 Billion, Exxon Worries About New Tax
(By Steven Mufson, The Washington Post)

New EPA Standards Would Cut Amount Of Lead in the Air
Agency Scientists Urge Stricter Limits
(By Juliet Eilperin, The Washington Post)

A Road Map To Modernity
As Congo's Ambitious Project to Connect Mining Cities and Ports Nears, a Village Offers a Glimpse of the Promise and Peril
(By Stephanie McCrummen, The Washington Post)

Five Years, Two Words, No Letup
(By Dana Milbank, The Washington Post)

More Today's Highlights

POLITICS
Operator of D.C. Call-Girl Ring Is Dead in Apparent Suicide
TARPON SPRINGS, Fla., May 1 -- Deborah Jeane Palfrey, facing a likely prison term of four to six years for running a Washington area call-girl ring, apparently hanged herself Thursday in a storage shed behind her mother's mobile home in this small Gulf Coast city, authorities said.
(By Paul Duggan and Amy Shipley, The Washington Post)

The Player at Bat
David Axelrod, the Man With Obama's Game Plan, Is Also the Candidate's No. 1 Fan
(By Robert G. Kaiser, The Washington Post)

Study Questions 'No Child' Act's Reading Plan
Lauded Program Fails To Improve Test Scores
(By Maria Glod, The Washington Post)

Fed to Pursue Aggressive Checks on Credit Cards
(By Nancy Trejos, The Washington Post)

Senate Panel Moves to Shift Costs of War to Iraq
(By Jonathan Weisman, The Washington Post)

More Politics

Add topics to this e-mail

Make this e-mail your own by selecting the topics and columnists that interest you! Personalize this e-mail now.

NATION
New EPA Standards Would Cut Amount Of Lead in the Air
The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday proposed tightening the federal limits for lead in the air, but the proposal fell short of what its own scientists said is required to protect public health.
(By Juliet Eilperin, The Washington Post)

Military Stressing Veterans' Counseling
(By Ann Scott Tyson, The Washington Post)

Up $10.9 Billion, Exxon Worries About New Tax
(By Steven Mufson, The Washington Post)

Bush Seeks $770 Million More in World Food Aid
(By Dan Eggen, The Washington Post)

Groups Petition EPA to Ban Nanosilver in Consumer Goods
(By Rick Weiss, The Washington Post)

More Nation

WORLD
At Least 35 Die As Bombers Hit Wedding Convoy
BAGHDAD, May 1 -- Two suicide bombers attacked a wedding convoy as it passed through a busy market area in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, killing at least 35 people and wounding at least 65, police said.
(By Sholnn Freeman, The Washington Post)

In Hungry World, Japan's Farmers Are Stuck With High-Priced Rice
(By Blaine Harden, The Washington Post)

A Road Map To Modernity
As Congo's Ambitious Project to Connect Mining Cities and Ports Nears, a Village Offers a Glimpse of the Promise and Peril
(By Stephanie McCrummen, The Washington Post)

Senate Panel Moves to Shift Costs of War to Iraq
(By Jonathan Weisman, The Washington Post)

McCain's Birth Abroad Stirs Legal Debate
His Eligibility for Presidency Is Questioned
(By Michael Dobbs, The Washington Post)

More World

METRO
Economic Troubles Multiply Requests for Help in D.C. Area
The sagging economy and spike in food and energy prices are driving sharp increases in requests for government assistance in the Washington region, officials said.
(By Chris L. Jenkins, The Washington Post)

No Federal Charges in DeOnté Rawlings Shooting Case
(By Keith L. Alexander and Allison Klein, The Washington Post)

Charles Scores One For the Home Team
After 23-Year Effort, County Gets Its Ballpark
(By Megan Greenwell, The Washington Post)

Panel Gets Feedback on Lead Levels
$93 Million Pipe Replacement Program Has Had Little Effect
(By Clarence Williams, The Washington Post)

Council to Consider Plan to Aid Businesses
(By Nikita Stewart, The Washington Post)

More Metro

BUSINESS
Rescue Plan Leads Housing Package
A plan to rescue hundreds of thousands of homeowners at risk of foreclosure began moving through Congress yesterday, as lawmakers worked to shape an aggressive response to the nation's housing crisis.
(By Lori Montgomery and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, The Washington Post)

Up $10.9 Billion, Exxon Worries About New Tax
(By Steven Mufson, The Washington Post)

Court Orders Tyson to Suspend Ads For Antibiotic-Free Chicken
(By Annys Shin, The Washington Post)

Economic Troubles Multiply Requests for Help in D.C. Area
(By Chris L. Jenkins, The Washington Post)

The Rise of Alter Egos In Everybody's Space
After Oversharing, Users Recast Their Online Personas
(By Kim Hart, The Washington Post)

More Business

TECHNOLOGY
Security of F-35 Jet Secrets Questioned
The technology going into the U.S. military's newest fighter plane may have been compromised by unauthorized access to facilities and computers that belong to BAE Systems, one the aircraft's builders, according to a report from the Pentagon's inspector general made public yesterday.
(By Dana Hedgpeth, The Washington Post)

The Rise of Alter Egos In Everybody's Space
After Oversharing, Users Recast Their Online Personas
(By Kim Hart, The Washington Post)

Apple to Take on Movie DVDs
ITunes to Start Selling Films Same Day Discs Are Released
(By Ville Heiskanen and Connie Guglielmo, The Washington Post)

More Technology

SPORTS
Wizards' 5 Minus 0 Is Still 5
Gilbert Arenas has had little to do with the Wizards' wins this postseason, so the team is still confident going into Game 6 without the three-time all-star.
(By Ivan Carter, The Washington Post)

With Minicamp, Zorn Will Wet His Whistle
(By Jason Reid, The Washington Post)

A Muddled Field
(By Andrew Beyer, The Washington Post)

Nats Keep Moving In Right Direction
Kearns's Hit Means 7th Win in 9 Games: Nationals 3, Pirates 2
(By Adam Kilgore, The Washington Post)

Ovechkin Is Pearson Finalist
(The Washington Post)

More Sports

STYLE
The Player at Bat
CHICAGO David Axelrod first showed signs of chronic fan syndrome in the early 1960s in his native New York City. The initial symptom involved baseball. His dad had recently allowed the New York Mets (born 1962) to occupy the place in his heart long filled by the New York Giants (moved to San...
(By Robert G. Kaiser, The Washington Post)

'Iron Man' Shows Strength of Character
(By Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post)

An Affair to Remember: Barbara Walters & Sen. Ed Brooke
(By Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts, The Washington Post)

Tacky 'Made of Honor' Is Missing a Best Man
(By Desson Thomson, The Washington Post)

The Scandal Story With a Most Unhappy Ending
(By Monica Hesse, The Washington Post)

More Style

LIVE DISCUSSIONS
Boswell on Baseball
Washington Post sports columnist Thomas Boswell takes your questions about the Washington Nationals and the rest of Major League Baseball.
(Thomas Boswell, washingtonpost.com)

The 'Lost' Hour
(Jen Chaney and Liz Kelly, washingtonpost.com)

On TV
Reality, Non-Reality and Everything In-Between
(Lisa de Moraes, washingtonpost.com)

Behind the Screen
Hollywood and Indie Offerings
(Desson Thomson, washingtonpost.com)

Horse Racing
(Liam Durbin, washingtonpost.com)

More Live Discussions

Six Seconds in the Dark
SEVEN MONTHS after a 14-year-old boy was shot to death by an off-duty D.C. police officer, federal investigators have concluded that the officer acted in self-defense. There will be no criminal prosecution. We have no reason to doubt the prosecutors' decision, announced yesterday, but officials owe...
(The Washington Post)

Secular and Antidemocratic
In Turkey, another attempt to reverse the elections won by moderate Islamists
(The Washington Post)

A Trial Too Far
Is a federal prosecutor seeking justice or trying to save face in a Miami terrorism case?
(The Washington Post)

E-Mail Newsletter Services
• To sign up for additional newsletters or get help, visit the E-mail Preferences Page.

Unsubscribe | Feedback | Advertising | Subscribe to the Paper