News you can use

Articles written by Nancy Benac


Sorted by date  Results 1 - 9 of 9

  • Obama honors Medal of Freedom recipients as heroes

    NANCY BENAC, Associated Press

    WASHINGTON — Sketching impressive contributions to society in intensely personal terms, President Barack Obama presented the Medal of Freedom to more than a dozen political and cultural greats Tuesday, including rocker Bob Dylan, astronaut John Glenn and novelist Toni Morrison. In awarding the nation's highest civilian honor to 13 recipients, living and dead, the president took note of the overflow crowd in the East Room and said it was "a testament to how cool this group is. Everybody wanted to check 'em out." AP P...

  • Obama honors Medal of Freedom recipients as heroes

    NANCY BENAC, Associated Press

    WASHINGTON — Sketching impressive contributions to society in intensely personal terms, President Barack Obama presented the Medal of Freedom to more than a dozen political and cultural greats Tuesday, including rocker Bob Dylan, astronaut John Glenn and novelist Toni Morrison. In awarding the nation's highest civilian honor to 13 recipients, living and dead, the president took note of the overflow crowd in the East Room and said it was "a testament to how cool this group is. Everybody wanted to check 'em out." AP P...

  • Obama out to seize momentum from Romney in debate

    NANCY BENAC, Associated Press

    WASHINGTON — The pressure is on President Barack Obama to deliver a Goldilocks performance in the second debate: Not too cool, as he was in his first, listless encounter with Mitt Romney. And not too hot, as some critics styled Vice President Joe Biden in his faceoff with Paul Ryan. With the race extremely tight and little time left for a breakout moment, Obama is intent on getting the porridge just right in a 90-minute, one-on-one faceoff Tuesday at Hofstra University on New York's Long Island. AP Photo/Isaac Brekken, F...

  • VP debate tees up closing issues for Romney, Obama

    NANCY BENAC, PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press

    DANVILLE, Ky. — In a spirited debate that laid out stark choices, Joe Biden and Paul Ryan teed up pointed arguments on the economy, social policy and America's place in the world that President Barack Obama and GOP rival Mitt Romney now will drive forward into the campaign's final stretch. With just 25 days to go in Campaign 2012 and throngs of people already voting, Obama and Romney will try to answer two questions that their running mates posed to the tens of millions of Americans who watched Thursday's hard-fought, 9...

  • First debate sets up moment of high-risk theater

    KASIE HUNT, NANCY BENAC,Associated Press

    DENVER (AP) — President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney come face to face for the first time in this presidential campaign Wednesday night for a nationally televised debate that will give millions of Americans a chance to size up two fierce competitors in a moment of high-risk theater. Romney, trailing in polls in a number of key states and running short on time to reverse his fortunes, is angling for a breakout performance in the three 90-minute presidential debates scheduled over the next three weeks. AP P...

  • Obama in Ireland to reaffirm 'bonds of affection'

    NANCY BENAC, Associated Press

    DUBLIN — He downed a pint of Guinness with a distant cousin and checked out centuries-old parish records tracing his family to Ireland. From the tiny village of Moneygall to a huge, cheering crowd in Dublin, President Barack Obama opened his four-nation trip through Europe on Monday with an unlikely homecoming far removed from the grinding politics of Washington and the world. "My name is Barack Obama, of the Moneygall Obamas, and I've come home to find the apostrophe we lost somewhere along the way," a clearly tickled O...

  • White House: Bin Laden unarmed during assault

    Nancy Benac , Associated Press

    WASHINGTON — Osama bin Laden was unarmed when he was confronted by U.S. commandos at his Pakistani hideout but tried to resist the assault, the White House said Tuesday as new details emerged about the audacious raid that killed the world's most wanted terrorist. The White House said it was considering whether to release photos that were taken of bin Laden after he was killed but was concerned that the photos were "gruesome" and could be inflammatory. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster White House Press Secretary Jay Carney gestures d...

  • Early clues: What to watch in Tuesday's elections

    NANCY BENAC Associated Press

    WASHINGTON (AP) — How early will America know if it's a Republican romp or if Democrats somehow minimized their damage? There should be plenty of clues Tuesday evening — and long before bedtime. Final results in some states might not be known for days. But trends could be evident from the Midwest and South — especially from Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia — even before most of the nation has finished dinner. Six states have polls that close at 7 p.m. EDT, and 16 more close by 8 p.m., featuring plenty of telling races in t...

  • Obama admonishes pastor to call off Quran 'stunt'

    NANCY BENAC, Associated Press Writer

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama sternly admonished a Florida pastor Thursday and appealed to him to call off plans to torch the Quran, saying Saturday's planned protest on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks was a dangerous "stunt" that could imperil U.S. troops abroad and incite suicide bombers on American soil. American Muslim leaders urged members to remain calm if the pastor doesn't back down from a threat that already has inflamed passions around the globe. Interpol, the international police o...