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.

Sunday, June 08, 2008

TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS
Lawmakers Urge Special Counsel Probe of Harsh Interrogation Tactics
Nearly 60 House Democrats yesterday urged the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to examine whether top Bush administration officials may have committed crimes in authorizing the use of harsh interrogation tactics against suspected terrorists.
(By Joby Warrick, The Washington Post)

Shrinking Flock Examines Its Identity
Churches Renamed to Escape Stigma Some Say 'Baptist' Carries
(By Brigid Schulte, The Washington Post)

Once Grand, Now Bedraggled
City Officials and Neighbors Peeved by Abandoned Embassy Properties
(By Paul Schwartzman, The Washington Post)

More Today's Highlights

POLITICS
Each Party Is Set to Hunt The Other's Usual Ground
The 2008 general election will pit the best-organized nomination campaign in the history of modern Democratic politics against the battle-tested machinery of the Republican Party, with both Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) determined to shake up an electoral map that has...
(By Dan Balz, The Washington Post)

For Obama, Another Blue-Collar Challenge
(By Alec MacGillis, The Washington Post)

Clinton Urges Backers to Look to November
'We Will Someday Launch a Woman Into the White House'
(By Anne E. Kornblut, The Washington Post)

Lawmakers Urge Special Counsel Probe of Harsh Interrogation Tactics
(By Joby Warrick, The Washington Post)

Bloomberg Keeps His Plans Under Wraps
Governor? Running Mate? Cabinet Member? If He Knows, He's Not Saying.
(By Keith B. Richburg, The Washington Post)

More Politics

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NATION
Lawmakers Urge Special Counsel Probe of Harsh Interrogation Tactics
Nearly 60 House Democrats yesterday urged the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to examine whether top Bush administration officials may have committed crimes in authorizing the use of harsh interrogation tactics against suspected terrorists.
(By Joby Warrick, The Washington Post)

Calif. Battle Over Gay Marriage Raises Novel Legal Questions
Court Legalized Unions, but Ballot Measure Would Ban Them
(By Ashley Surdin, The Washington Post)

Coming Home After a Reduced Sentence
Those Released Since Disparities in Cocaine Penalties Were Offset Find a Different World
(By Darryl Fears, The Washington Post)

Detainee's Attorney Seeks Dismissal Over Abuse
Man Accused of Trying to Kill Troops Was Moved Cell to Cell, 112 Times in 14 Days
(By Josh White, The Washington Post)

Heed Combat Veterans, Graduates Are Told
Chairman of Joint Chiefs Stresses to New Officers the Wisdom of Subordinates
(By Ann Scott Tyson, The Washington Post)

More Nation

WORLD
'Feeling the Strain'
World leaders met in Rome last week to find ways to ease a global food crisis that is affecting millions of people on every continent. A glimpse of how consumers in several countries are dealing with higher prices and shortages.
(The Washington Post)

Report on U.N. Program Assails Whistle-Blower
-
(By Colum Lynch, The Washington Post)

Musharraf Vows to Stay in Office
In TV Interview, Pakistan's President Dispels Departure Rumors
(By Candace Rondeaux, The Washington Post)

In China, High-Tech Reunions
Internet, Hotlines Help Earthquake Survivors Find Relatives
(By Maureen Fan, The Washington Post)

South Africa: "Before I got money, but now it's gone."
(The Washington Post)

More World

METRO
Slayings of Latinos Increasing in Prince George's
In Prince George's County, where young black males have overwhelmingly dominated homicide statistics for decades, young Latino males in recent months were nearly as likely to be killed.
(By Aaron C. Davis, The Washington Post)

As Temperature Ties Record, Residents Seek Relief
(By Bill Brubaker, Megan Greenwell and Theresa Vargas, The Washington Post)

Democrats Hope to Gain House Seats With Crowded Pack of Contenders
(By Sandhya Somashekhar, The Washington Post)

Once Grand, Now Bedraggled
City Officials and Neighbors Peeved by Abandoned Embassy Properties
(By Paul Schwartzman, The Washington Post)

High Temperatures Fuel Storms
(By Martin Weil, The Washington Post)

More Metro

BUSINESS
Food Allergies Trigger Multibillion-Dollar Specialty Market
Kari Keaton is the sort of customer most businesses used to hate. The Rockville mother lingers at the grocery store, poring over ingredient labels. She calls food manufacturers and interrogates their customer service representatives about what sorts of foods get processed in the same facility and...
(By Annys Shin, The Washington Post)

Business Leaders Envision a New Rx
(By Jane Bryant Quinn, The Washington Post)

Pouring Cash Into the Bath
(By Elizabeth Razzi, The Washington Post)

3 Families, 4 Months, $26,000 Paid
Service Members Take Swift Action To Wipe Out Debt
(By Michelle Singletary, The Washington Post)

Who Needs Glamour?
(By Warren Brown, The Washington Post)

More Business

TECHNOLOGY
Fewer Players in the Gaming Group
Why is the ESA shrinking? In recent weeks, the video game industry's Washington-based trade group, the Entertainment Software Association, has seen a number of its high-profile members -- video game design studios and publishers -- leave the organization. Out the door are a formidable collection ...
(By Mike Musgrove, The Washington Post)

Help File
(By Rob Pegoraro, The Washington Post)

In China, High-Tech Reunions
Internet, Hotlines Help Earthquake Survivors Find Relatives
(By Maureen Fan, The Washington Post)

More Technology

SPORTS
Desormeaux's Horse Sense Shines Through
The last thing horse racing needed was another animal in distress, a spectacle that Kent Desormeaux spared us by pulling up Big Brown.
(By Sally Jenkins, The Washington Post)

After Three, Lee Leads LPGA by One
Hjorth Is Second; Sorenstam, Ochoa Are Two Behind
(By Leonard Shapiro, The Washington Post)

International Diplomacy, Domestic Unrest
(By Michael Wilbon, The Washington Post)

Out of Running, On Empty
Big Brown Finishes Last, Far Behind Winner Da' Tara
(By John Scheinman, The Washington Post)

Up for the Challenge Of Summer Fitness
(The Washington Post)

More Sports

STYLE
A Cavalier Attitude
Somewhere out there is the very last Chevrolet Cavalier -- a tin-can testament to American mediocrity -- that was ever built. Maybe it's in the back of a rental-car lot in Pittsburgh, sitting there like a lost dog in the rain, hoping a little old lady will pick it up and take it home. We just don...
(The Washington Post)

Going Back to The Scene of an Auteur's Crime
(By William Booth, The Washington Post)

Dressing To Impress Upon Memory
(By Robin Givhan, The Washington Post)

"We took the punk-rock ethos: Just do it yourself."
John Cusack Had to Face Several Battle Fronts to Make the Satire 'War, Inc.'
(The Washington Post)

CAROLYN HAX
(By Carolyn Hax, The Washington Post)

More Style

Screeching to a Halt
WITH SAN Francisco gas stations already charging $4.50 per gallon of regular and other places not far behind, it's little wonder that the demand for mass transit is surging nationwide. Last year, the 10.3 billion trips taken on U.S. public transportation -- trains, subways, buses -- were the most in...
(The Washington Post)

Climate Crash
Don't expect congressional action on cutting greenhouse gases until there's real leadership from the White House.
(The Washington Post)

Metro Mess
In Falls Church the rains -- but not the trains -- came fast and furious, leaving helpless commuters in a lurch.
(The Washington Post)

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