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.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS
Slowing Economy Gives Way to Global Role Reversals
The global slowdown stemming in part from the deepening U.S. financial crisis is hitting the world's richest nations the hardest even as emerging nations, some with once-fragile economies, are proving relatively resilient.
(By Anthony Faiola and Jill Drew, The Washington Post)

Obama Adds 20 Va. Offices In a Big Push To Win State
(By Tim Craig, The Washington Post)

Fed's Crisis Role Spurs Questions of Overreach
(By Neil Irwin, The Washington Post)

Saudis Look Beyond Oil to New Economy in Desert
(By Faiza Saleh Ambah, The Washington Post)

More Today's Highlights

POLITICS
Administration Wanted Loyalist As Justice Dept. Legal Adviser
Then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft offered the White House a list of five candidates to lead the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel in early 2003, but top administration officials summarily rejected them in favor of installing a loyalist who would provide the legal footing needed to...
(By Carrie Johnson, The Washington Post)

The Running-Mate Question: Hill Veteran or Change Agent?
One Would Bolster Ticket Credentials, the Other Its Message
(By Shailagh Murray and Chris Cillizza, The Washington Post)

Fed's Crisis Role Spurs Questions of Overreach
(By Neil Irwin, The Washington Post)

House Passes Intelligence Authorization Bill
Provision Expanding Briefing of Lawmakers May Prompt White House Veto
(By Walter Pincus, The Washington Post)

Keeping His Eye on the Ball
(By Dana Milbank, The Washington Post)

More Politics

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NATION
White House Blocks Release of FBI Files
The White House yesterday blocked a House committee's attempt to obtain internal FBI reports about the leak of a CIA officer's identity, asserting that notes from interviews of Vice President Cheney and other administration officials are protected by executive privilege.
(By Dan Eggen, The Washington Post)

Guard's Status Rising With Leader's Rank
(By Josh White, The Washington Post)

Shifts in Iran Drove Bush to Alter Policy
(By Glenn Kessler, The Washington Post)

Ariz. Sheriff Accused Of Racial Profiling
(By Spencer S. Hsu, The Washington Post)

House Passes Intelligence Authorization Bill
Provision Expanding Briefing of Lawmakers May Prompt White House Veto
(By Walter Pincus, The Washington Post)

More Nation

WORLD
Saudis Look Beyond Oil to New Economy in Desert
MEDINA, Saudi Arabia -- Clouds of yellow dust swirled in the air as tractors moved back and forth, leveling a huge, barren piece of land dotted with billboards announcing the city that will rise from the sand here.
(By Faiza Saleh Ambah, The Washington Post)

Court Orders U.S. to Halt Execution of 5 Mexicans
(By Manuel Roig-Franzia, The Washington Post)

Israel Mourns, Hezbollah Exults
In Swap, 2 Jewish Soldiers' Remains Are Released and 5 Lebanese Prisoners Go Home
(By Griff Witte and Alia Ibrahim, The Washington Post)

Czar's Family May Finally Rest as One
Last Children Identified, Russia Says
(By Peter Finn, The Washington Post)

Bombings Kill 22 in Iraq's North
Attacks Coincide With U.S. Handover of Southern Province
(By Zaid Sabah, The Washington Post)

More World

METRO
D.C. Child and Family Services Director Resigns
D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced last night that he has accepted the resignation of Sharlynn E. Bobo, director of the city's troubled Child and Family Services Agency.
(By Elissa Silverman and Clarence Williams, The Washington Post)

Obama Adds 20 Va. Offices In a Big Push To Win State
(By Tim Craig, The Washington Post)

With Rent Unpaid, D.C. May Raise Ballpark Sales Tax
(By Robert E. Pierre, The Washington Post)

Espresso, Extra Bitter
Man's Tiff With Barista Spills Onto Internet
(By Joe Heim, The Washington Post)

O Say, Can You Sing? Boy, 10, Wins National Anthem Contest
(By Clarence Williams, The Washington Post)

More Metro

BUSINESS
Stocks Rebound Despite Big Jump In June Inflation
Consumer prices surged 5 percent over the past year, the Labor Department said yesterday, as inflationary pressures spread ominously beyond energy and food to other parts of the economy.
(By Steven Mufson and David Cho, The Washington Post)

Color of Money Live
(Michelle Singletary, washingtonpost.com)

American Airlines, Delta Post Steep Losses as Oil Costs Soar
(By Sholnn Freeman, The Washington Post)

Tracking Produce Proves Complex
(By Annys Shin, The Washington Post)

Verse of the Turtle
Taking On the Role of Poet Laureate, Kay Ryan Sticks Her Neck Out
(By Bob Thompson, The Washington Post)

More Business

TECHNOLOGY
Lawmakers Probe Web Tracking
An Internet provider based in Kansas used a monitoring technology earlier this year to track sites visited by its users, apparently without directly notifying them, according to a congressional panel investigating the action.
(By Ellen Nakashima, The Washington Post)

Personal Tech
(Rob Pegoraro, washingtonpost.com)

Leonsis to Launch Next Feature, SnagFilms, Online
(By Thomas Heath, The Washington Post)

The iPhone, Rehashed
(By Rob Pegoraro, The Washington Post)

Espresso, Extra Bitter
Man's Tiff With Barista Spills Onto Internet
(By Joe Heim, The Washington Post)

More Technology

SPORTS
No Mere Exhibition, but a Show
Unlike the other star-studded sports exhibtions, baseball's all-star game wasn't just played Tuesday night, it was seriously contested.
(By Michael Wilbon, The Washington Post)

Ex-Oak Hill Star Jennings Agrees To 3-Year Deal With Italian Team
(The Washington Post)

Missing on the Links
Woods Won't Play at Royal Birkdale, but He's Still the Player Everyone's Talking About
(By Leonard Shapiro, The Washington Post)

Ravens, Flacco Agree to Deal
(AP)

WNBA Mystics at Liberty
(The Washington Post)

More Sports

STYLE
Verse of the Turtle
More than a decade and a half ago, despairing that her poems would ever find an audience, Kay Ryan found herself writing one about a turtle. It was about as personal as a Kay Ryan poem ever gets.
(By Bob Thompson, The Washington Post)

Survey Says: Time for a Change
(By Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts, The Washington Post)

This Joker Holds All the Cards
Heath Ledger's Clown Gives 'The Dark Knight' Its Power
(By Stephen Hunter, The Washington Post)

A Man Walked Into a Bard One Day . . .
Suspect in Folio Theft Is Something of a Character
(By Mary Jordan and David Montgomery, The Washington Post)

'Miss Lizzie,' A Greek Chorus That Rocks
(By Nelson Pressley, The Washington Post)

More Style

LIVE DISCUSSIONS
Project Runway: Season Five Premiere
Time to make it work again! Washington Post Fashion Editor Robin Givhan discusses Wednesday night's premiere of Season Five of Bravo TV's hit fashion competition 'Project Runway.'
(Robin Givhan, washingtonpost.com)

Celebritology Live
Get the Scoop on the Latest Gossip Making Waves on the Web
(Liz Kelly, washingtonpost.com)

Personal Tech
(Rob Pegoraro, washingtonpost.com)

Slate: Give Us the Name
Media Critic Grades Which Anonymous Sources Merit Their Masks
(Jack Shafer, washingtonpost.com)

Got Plans?
(The Going Out Gurus, washingtonpost.com)

More Live Discussions

The Fannie-Freddie Dodge
The costs and contradictions of bailing out housing
(The Washington Post)

Rep. Rangel's Tin Cup
Soliciting donations for a center in his name doesn't pass the smell test.
(The Washington Post)

The Two Hats of Mr. Currie
One as a lawmaker, the other as a lobbyist. They clash.
(The Washington Post)

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