Obama vows severe action against Russia over election interference

US President Barack Obama has vowed to take action against Russia for its alleged interference in the US presidential election campaign.

"We need to take action and we will," he told US radio station NPR.

Russia stands accused by the US of hacking the emails of the Democratic Party and a key Hillary Clinton aide, which the Kremlin strongly denies.

Republican president-elect Donald Trump has also dismissed the claim as "ridiculous" and politically motivated.


The intelligence agencies say they have overwhelming evidence that Russian hackers linked to the Kremlin were behind the hacks.

And on Thursday, a White House spokesman said President Vladimir Putin was involved in the cyber-attacks.

Hours later, Mr Obama said: "I think there's no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact on the integrity of our elections, that we need to take action and we will, at a time and a place of our own choosing.

"Some of it may be explicit and publicised. Some of it may not be.

"Mr Putin is well aware of my feelings about this, because I spoke to him directly about it."

It is not clear what action the US intends to take, with Mr Obama leaving office on 20 January.

The disclosure of emails was embarrassing to the Democratic Party at a crucial point in the election campaign.

The CIA has concluded that Russia's motivation was to sway the election in favour of Mr Trump, but no evidence has been made public.

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Putin, Obama seem happy to see each other

With them not seeing eye-to-eye on huge issues such as Syria, it’s no surprise Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin looked frosty today when they met in Peru.

The US and Russian President spoke for about four minutes before an economic summit in the South American country today in their first conversation since Donald Trump’s election.

The two leaders stood together momentarily before shaking hands and taking their seats at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima.

Both men are opposed on how to resolve issues like Syria, with Obama unsuccessful in persuading his counterpart to stop propping up President Bashar Assad.

The US has also put in place severe sanctions against Russia over its behaviour in Ukraine.

However, it is anticipated that incoming president Trump and Putin may have less antagonistic approach when the Republican takes office in January.

Although reporters present couldn’t hear what they said, the White House said Obama encouraged Putin to uphold his country’s commitments under the Minsk deal aimed at ending the Ukraine conflict.

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Read what Barack Obama told his daughters the morning Trump won the election

Like millions of Americans, Barack Obama was struggling to explain the results of last week’s election, a New Yorker profile on the president revealed.

Obama campaigned furiously for Hillary Clinton throughout the presidential campaign, and repeatedly painted Republican Donald Trump as bigoted and xenophobic. Much of his legacy depended on a Clinton victory.

But when Trump won the election in a shocking upset, Obama still had some comforting words to say to his daughters.

“What I say to them is that people are complicated,” Obama told The New Yorker’s David Remnick:

“Societies and cultures are really complicated. … This is not mathematics; this is biology and chemistry. These are living organisms, and it’s messy. And your job as a citizen and as a decent
human being is to constantly affirm and lift up and fight for treating people with kindness and respect and understanding.

“And you should anticipate that at any given moment there’s going to be flare-ups of bigotry that you may have to confront, or may be inside you and you have to vanquish. And it doesn’t stop. …

You don’t get into a fetal position about it. You don’t start worrying about apocalypse. You say, O.K., where are the places where I can push to keep it moving forward.”

Trump and Obama seem to have struck a conciliatory tone since Trump’s election, at least publicly. The two met privately last week, and Obama said he will continue to counsel Trump throughout the transition of power.

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Obama warns Trump on Presidency: 'you probably won't be there very long'

President Barack Obama explained why he’s cautiously optimistic about President-elect Donald Trump during a Thursday press conference in Germany alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Obama said the “solemn responsibility” of the office and the “extraordinary demands” made on the United States “demands seriousness,” and Trump will “figure out pretty fast” that the demands of the job are “not things you can treat casually.”

“And, if you’re not serious about the job, then you probably won’t be there very long because it will expose problems,” he said. “Even when you’re doing a good job, even when you are attentive. There are so many things that come across your desk.”

The president also acknowledged that Trump’s victory was “perhaps” the biggest upset in modern political history.

“He ran an extraordinarily unconventional campaign, and it resulted in the biggest political upset in perhaps modern political history, American history, and that means that he now has to transition to governance,” Obama said.

“And what I said to him was what may work in generating enthusiasm or passion during elections may be different than what will work in terms of unifying the country and gaining the trust of those who maybe didn’t support him.”

The president added Trump indicated he understood what Obama meant and a willingness to seek what was needed for unification of the country.

“That has to reflect himself in not only the things he says but in how he fills out his administration,” Obama said. “And my hope is that is something he’s thinking about because not only is the president of the United States somebody the entire country looks to for direction, but sets the agenda internationally in a lot of ways.”

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Barack Obama on final overseas visit to reassure US allies over Trump election

Barack Obama has jetted out on his final overseas visit as President as he seeks to reassure US allies ahead of Donald Trump's administration.

The President waved to gathered crowds as he departed for Athens on Monday.

Earlier Obama said he would reassure the country's allies that the Republican President-elect plans to maintain core US strategic relationships around the world, including with NATO .


Trump slammed NATO allies during the campaign for not paying enough for their own defence and suggested the US was paying a disproportionate amount that was too much given the changes in the world.

He also told the Washington Post the United States could not fund NATO at current levels.

Trump's comments echoed longstanding US complaints that too many NATO allies do not live up to their pledge to spend 2 percent of gross domestic product on defence.

Only the United States and four other NATO allies - Greece, Britain, Estonia and Poland - met the goal last year. France and Turkey have been close.

Despite Trump's criticism of NATO spending during the campaign, Obama said the president-elect, who takes office on January 20, had indicated he was committed to maintaining ties with US allies.

The European Union agreed on a new defence plan on Monday that could see it sending rapid response forces abroad for the first time, a move seen as giving it the ability to act without the United States if necessary.

The action appeared to be galvanized in part by Trump's criticism.

Obama is visiting Greece, Germany and Peru on his last trip abroad as president.

He is expected to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders in Germany and Greece.

In Peru he will see Chinese President Xi Jinping and other Pacific leaders at an economic summit.

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Philippine President Duterte tells Barack Obama to 'go to hell'

US President Barack Obama can "go to hell" over his criticism of the Philippines brutal war against drugs, President Rodrigo Duterte says.

The European Union - another critic - "better choose purgatory, hell is filled up", Mr Duterte said.

The remarks came as the US and the Philippines began joint military exercises.

The US said there was a "strong alliance" with the Philippines.

Mr Duterte's drugs war has caused thousands of extrajudicial killings.

In a speech to local officials and business executives Mr Duterte said he was disappointed with the US for criticising the Philippines' tactics to combat the drug trade. He also described Washington as an unreliable ally.

"Instead of helping us, the first to criticise is this state department, so you can go to hell, Mr Obama, you can go to hell."

Later on Tuesday he warned: "Eventually I might, in my time, I will break up with America. I would rather go to Russia and to China.''

Mr Duterte also revealed that the US had refused to sell weapons to Manila, but added that he would be able to buy them elsewhere. "If you don't want to sell arms, I'll go to Russia. I sent the generals to Russia
and Russia said, 'Do not worry, we have everything you need, we'll give it to you'.

"And as for China, they said, 'Just come over and sign and everything will be delivered'," President Duterte said.

In response to his comments, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said: "This is an alliance that is robust and that benefits both of our countries. The diplomatic lines of communication between the United States and the Philippines remain open.

"Even as we protect this strong alliance, the administration and the United States of America will not hesitate to raise our concerns about extra-judicial killings.

"We have not yet received any sort of formal communication using those channels from the Filipino government about making substantial changes to our bilateral relationship."

The Philippines, once a colony of the US, has a longstanding defence relationship with Washington.

But Mr Duterte said last week these would be the last joint military exercises while he is in office, although later his defence secretary said there was no official order yet to that effect.

He also said he would review a defence pact signed two years ago with the US that would see more US troops sent to the Philippines.

The pact is seen as vital for the US to counter China's activities in the South China Sea.

The eight-day military drills involve 1,100 American troops and 400 Filipino military personnel, and are taking place on northern Luzon island.

They are aimed at improving readiness to respond to crises and deepening historic ties, the US military said.

Relations were strained last month when the US cancelled a bilateral meeting after Mr Duterte used insulting language to refer to the US president.

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Video: US President Obama yells 'Bill, let's go' at Bill Clinton

He’s got a country to run, Bill! Bill Clinton left President Barack Obama waiting on Air Force One after attending the funeral of president Shimon Peres in Tel Aviv. Peres, who was one of the last living founders of Israel died at age 93 on Wednesday, September 28, two weeks after suffering a stroke.

Britain’s Sky News captured President Obama, 55, standing inside the plane growing more and more impatient with Clinton, 70, the former president delayed their departure back to the United States. Clinton was reportedly chatting on the tarmac with Secretary of State John Kerry, according to thehill.com.

The current president, who is known for his relatively calm and cool demeanor, appeared as if he couldn’t wait for Clinton to finish his conversation. With his suit jacket off and his sleeves rolled up, he sighed, clapped three times and then shouted from the plane’s entryway twice, “Bill, let’s go!”

Moments later, with a talkative Clinton still not on the aircraft, the visibly exasperated but still smiling father of Malia , 18, and Sasha , 15, returned to the entryway and tried again yelling, “Bill! Let’s go. We gotta
go home!” The two presidents were reportedly due back to the capital at dinner time.

Eventually, Clinton whose wife of 40 years, Hillary Clinton , was campaigning for the presidency Friday in Florida was finally ready to make the journey back to Washington, D.C., and joined Obama on the plane with a quick pat on the back.

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