Page 7 - Florida Sentinel 10-2-15 Edition

White House News
Presidents Of Cuba
Michelle Obama Tells Girls: “There Is No Boy So Cute That You Don’t Get Your Education”
And America Ask That
U. N. Sanctions Be Lifted
First Lady Michelle Obama has been a cru- sader when it comes to empowering girls, not only in the U.S. but also across the world. On Tuesday the First Lady discussed the fact that there are 62 million girls around the world who are not able to receive an education.
“For me, this is personal. When I think about those 62 million girls that aren’t in school, I think about myself. I think about my daughters,” Mrs. Obama said at an event Tuesday hosted by Glam- our magazine at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.
The #62MillionGirls initiative is part of the re- cently launched Let Girls Learn campaign, which was begun to ensure that all girls have access to education.
“If we want to end global poverty, if we want to improve the plight of our country, educating girls is the key to all of that. It just is,” Mrs. Obama said. Mrs. Obama also told the girls in atten- dance to focus on school and forget about the boys who aren’t into smart girls.
“There is no boy at this age that is cute enough or interesting enough to stop you from getting your education,” she said. “If I had worried about who liked me and who thought I was cute when I was your age, I wouldn’t be married to the presi- dent of the United States.”
The First Lady also urged students to have pa- tience and push through their four years of high school and not let the small things frustrate them.
“You don’t want to look back when you’re 60 and regret that you just didn’t have the patience to push through these four years of mess,” she said.
“You’ll have opportunity, and you’ll have con- trol of your life to make choices. And you won’t have to listen to your parents, because you’ll have
Monday, Cuban President Raul Castro insisted in his U. N. speech that all of America’s decades-old economic sanctions against Cuba be lifted. Actually, President Obama did, too. And President Obama’s ob- jections to U. S. Cuba policy came in the context of yet more complaints about America by the president — with the world spotlight on him.
Once President Obama’s new and improved ties to Cuba start to yield results, he said, “I’m confident” Congress will lift “an embargo that should not be in place anymore.” It was the most enthusiastically applauded line of his U. N. speech.
Cuba’s mouth is already wa- tering: “I will wait for Oct. 27 to see what takes place,” the evi- dently hopeful Cuban foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, said Tuesday. He spoke to re- porters after a chummy meeting and backslaps between Presi- dents Obama and Castro.
Perhaps the President’s right. Now that’s he’s lifted all the re- strictions he has the power to lift, maybe other branches of government will follow in his footsteps and end the more than half-century-old embargo, once and for all.
Presidents Raul Castro And Barack Obama
Fine. But for now, sanctions remain intact. And the world stage is not a place for an Amer- ican leader to play out his do- mestic political agenda.
President Castro told President Obama “the pace of the normalization process will depend on lifting of the em- bargo,” according to Ro- driguez. Therefore, he added, Cuba will present its annual America-bashing resolution at the General Assembly in a few weeks. “We’ll continue to pres- ent this resolution as long as the blockade persists,” he said. He even demanded compensation for Cuba’s suffering under the embargo.
First Lady Michelle Obama launches #62MillionGirls Initiative.
a job and you’ll pay your own bills. You want that freedom. Freedom comes later,” she said. “Now you invest. Now you put up with. Now you be pa- tient. Because if you don’t do it now, then you’ll be living this cramped-up life for the rest of your life.”
Pentagon’s Top Advisor On Russia Quits
The Pentagon’s top official overseeing military relations with Russia and Ukraine is re- signing amid the ongoing de- bate within the Obama administration over how to re- spond to Russian moves in Ukraine and Syria.
Evelyn Farkas, deputy as- sistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, is leaving her post at the end of next month after five years with the Defense Department, a sen- ior defense official confirmed to POLITICO.
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“She has advised three secre- taries of defense on Russia pol- icy, providing steady counsel on how the U. S. should respond to Russia's aggressive actions and has been deeply involved in se- curing $244 million in support for Ukraine,” the official said. “In addition, Evelyn has brought fresh thinking to South- east Europe policies — support- ing Montenegro's interest in
joining NATO, expanding de- fense cooperation with Georgia, and increasing multilateral co- operation with the three Cauca- sus nations.”
Another senior defense offi- cial said the administration would likely have a hard time finding a replacement.
"There are not a lot of Europe experts in this administration who have a long record of ac- complishment," the official said. "There's no doubt this leaves the Pentagon weaker in terms of its policy-making on European is- sues."
Farkas had no comment Tuesday.
Her departure comes at a sensitive time for the adminis- tration as President Barack Obama’s national security team is divided over how to re- spond to Ukraine’s pleas for more advanced weapons to help battle Moscow-backed rebels and Russia’s military deploy- ments in Syria.
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