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President Barack Obama believes some Americans voted against him because of his race. But he also thinks a number of people backed him in 2008 because his would be a historic presidency.   “I have no doubt there are people who voted against me because of race … or didn’t approve of my agenda because of race,” Obama said in an interview published Thursday by the Chicago Tribune . “I also suspect there are a bunch of people who are excited or voted for me because of the notion of the first African-American president … Those things cut both ways.” Obama, facing his final year in the White House, hopes to have set “a tone for the next president” that’s not as harsh as the rhetoric heard on the campaign trail. Donald Trump, for example, has called for a temporary ban on Muslims traveling to the U.S. and a wall on the southern border to keep out Mexican immigrants. The president has alluded to the billionaire businessman’s controversial propos...

Obama: I was a nerd before it was cool   President Barack Obama is letting his nerd flag fly. In an interview with Popular Science , Obama marveled that being a “nerd” has become something to be proud of, unlike when he was a kid. “What’s remarkable is the way 'nerd' is such a badge of honor now. Growing up, I’m sure I wasn’t the only kid who read Spider-Man comics and learned how to do the Vulcan salute, but it wasn’t like it is today,” Obama said. “I get the sense that today’s young people are proud to be smart and curious, to design new things, and tackle big Read more: Obama: I was a nerd before it was cool

BURBANK, Calif. (KABC) -- Motorists should expect traffic delays in select areas of the Southland Thursday afternoon as President Barack Obama is set to arrive at Los Angeles International Airport as part of a multi-day trip. Mr. Obama is scheduled to arrive at the airport around 3:25 p.m. and then head to the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank to tape an interview with Ellen DeGeneres. He'll then head to two separate fundraising events in Hancock Park before spending the night in Westwood. The Los Angeles Police Department urged commuters to avoid: the area around N. Hollywood Way between N. San Fernando Boulevard and Forest Lawn Drive from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. the area around N. Hollywood Way between Forest Lawn Drive and N. San Fernando Boulevard from 4:45 to 6:15 p.m. the area around Rimpau Boulevard between W. Pico Boulevard and W. Sixth Street from 5:30 to 7 p.m. the area around Wilshire Boulevard between S. Hudson Avenue and S. Arden Boulevard from 5:30 to ...

FIRE crews battled a huge blaze at the Tata Steel plant this morning.   Mid and West Wales Fire Service said it was called to the Port Talbot plant which is believed to have   started in the coke oven, at about 8am. For more detail   BREAKING: Fire after 'explosion' at Tata Steel plant

HEALTH Secretary Jeremy Hunt has confirmed he will impose an unpopular new contract on junior doctors after months of talks have reached "the end of the road".   The Health Secretary announced the new contract will be imposed from August 1 in the House of Commons on Thursday. His announcement - just hours after the trainee medics finished their second strike - comes as a massive blow for England's 54,000 junior doctors - any doctor below consultant level. A deadline for the British Medical Association (BMA) to accept the deal passed on Wednesday night, which the Government's chief negotiator Sir David Dalton earlier warned would mean talks had reached "the end of the road". Defiant junior doctors have reacted to the news by threatening to step-up industrial action by carrying out even more strikes over the next five months. And fears over a mass exodus of the much-needed medics have now been heightened after a poll released on Wednesday r...

VIGILANTES patrolled the streets of a British town after claims of a mass brawl at a school sent racial tensions to fever pitch.   As many as 100 people in Crewe, Cheshire, were wandering the streets in large groups after reports of rape threats being made against school children. Police have put extra patrols in the town in a bid to calm tensions sparked by a fight at school. Parents have claimed their children had their hair pulled and were threatened with rape. Many have taken to social media to claim that a large group of Eastern European students lashed out and made the threats at the Sir William Stanier Community School. School officials and police have flatly denied the accounts, saying that only six students were involved in the fight. Speaking to Express.co.uk, one parent said there were “a few” separate fights in the school’s playground. The parent went onto claim her child was knocked to the ground and injured her head. It is understood many parents kept ...

In his final year in office, President Barack Obama is returning to an issue that was at the heart of the first piece of legislation he ever signed at the White House: closing the gender pay gap.   Obama on Friday unveiled new rules that would compel companies with more than 100 workers to provide the federal government annual data for how much they pay employees based on gender, race and ethnicity. That information would be used to help public enforcement of equal pay laws while giving more insight into discriminatory pay practices, he said from the White House. Historically, full-time female workers have only been paid a fraction of their male counterparts: In 2014, it was 79 cents for every dollar, according to t...