The United States has a new president.
Donald Trump was “sworn in” or “inaugurated” last Friday as the country’s 45th president. That means he was officially given the job, and Barack Obama is no longer the president of the United States.
Tag: barack Obama
The U.S. Election: What Is Going On?
In the United States, there are two main political parties: The Democrats and the Republicans. Each party picks a leader, and then those leaders go head-to-head in a big election for president.
Donald Trump has emerged as the person who will be the leader of the Republic Party in the U.S. The leader of the Democratic Party hasn’t been decided yet; Hilary Clinton seems most likely to win, although Bernie Sanders still stands a chance of winning; there are others still in the race as well, although they are not as likely to win.
The big election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016.
Canadian And American Leaders Meet In Washington
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Washington, DC recently. It was the first time a Canadian PM has paid an official visit to an American President in 20 years. It was an historic occasion.
Obama Wants Tough New Anti-Pollution Law
Coal plants in the United States will have to cut their production of carbon dioxide (known as “carbon emissions”) by 30 per cent by the year 2030.
U.S. Government Partially Shut Down
The U.S. government was partially shut down on Monday.
More than 800,000 government workers were forced to stop working.
They won’t get paid during the shutdown.
More than 400 public sites that are run by the federal government were closed.
They include national parks, monuments such as the Statue of Liberty in New York, historic sites, lakeshores and walking trails.
About 97 per cent of NASA employees will be sent home during the shutdown, according to The Washington Post newspaper.
Basketball Player Jason Collins First To Openly Announce He Is Gay
Jason Collins is a basketball player who played for the Celtics and the Wizards this year.
He’s 34 years old, and he is seven feet tall and weighs 255 pounds.
He is charismatic, intelligent and well educated.
On the court, he is a tough, physical player.
All of those facts describe Collins.
But there is one fact about him that he revealed in Sports Illustrated magazine this week, that relatively few people knew.
Collins is gay.
He is the first male professional athlete, who is still playing a major North American sport, to openly announce that that he is gay.
Barack Obama Wins Second Term As President Of The United States
Barack Obama won yesterday’s U.S. election, becoming the President of the United States for the second term in a row.
It was a close and hard-fought election.
In the end, Obama and his Democratic party won about 50 per cent of the popular vote, to rival Mitt Romney’s approximately 49 per cent.
Obama comfortably won the “electoral college” votes he needed to retain his presidency.
By early Wednesday morning, with votes still trickling in, the Democrats had won 300 electoral college votes. Two hundred and seventy were needed (out of 538) to win the election.
Romney had 206 of the electoral college votes.
In the days leading up to the election, opinion polls in the U.S. showed Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama as neck-and-neck.
It wasn’t clear who would win.
NYC Marathon Cancelled In Aftermath Of Superstorm Sandy
Two days before this year’s New York City Marathon was to take place, it was cancelled.
The marathon is one of the largest in the world, with more than 47,500 runners, most of whom travel from out of town to the city for the 42.2-kilometre run.
The run was to have been held on Sunday.
New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg cancelled the event because New York was still trying to clean up after having been hit by a devastating storm.
Superstorm Sandy hit the Caribbean and the eastern coast of Canada and the United States last week.
It came onto land in New Jersey on the east coast of the U.S., on Monday, Oct. 29.
Romney’s Debate Performance Puts Him Back In The U.S. Presidential Race
U.S. President Barack Obama has a reputation for being an eloquent speaker.
When he was first elected in 2009, he won the hearts of American voters with his smart, straight talk.
His opponent in the American presidential race this time around is Mitt Romney.
On Wednesday night, the two men who want to be president squared off in a debate.
Each debater spoke for two minutes on topics such as healthcare, the American economy and how they would create new jobs for Americans if they are elected.
U.S. Embassy In Libya Attacked
An “ambassador” is a person who represents one country—in another one.
For instance, Canada has ambassadors in many countries around the world. They are high ranking diplomats who represent their country. They typically work from offices called embassies.
The U.S. has many ambassadors stationed around the world, representing the United States.
The U.S. has an embassy in Libya, in Northern Africa.
Libya has been in the news this year because it was part of the Arab Spring, in which some countries’ people protested against corrupt governments.
On Wednesday, the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three embassy staff were killed.
Facts are still emerging about the incident—about why it happened and what the U.S. reaction to it will be.
