RSS

President Obama's road to re-election will be a bumpy one.

In a report by the New York Times, the mounting conflict between America and Iran leaves Obama with options that could potentially harm the economic recovery or his image as a decisive leader.

Sanctions signed by the president against Iran's oil exports means that Obama will have to take action against strong ally countries if they continue to purchase Iranian oil.

Congress agreed to give Obama some time to delay actions if he concludes that a crackdown would disrupt the oil market. Congress also gave Obama the power to exempt any country that goes against the sanctions based on national security considerations.

However, taking adavntage of this leeway would give critics of President Obama the ammunition they need to claim that he is weak on Iran. Iran is thought by the West to be capable of creating nuclear weapons.

Republican candidate Mitt Romney stated in November that if Obama is re-elected, Iran will have a nuclear weapon.

President Obama is expected to make his decision in late June.  

Twenty-nine people are still missing after the Costa Concordia cruise ship crashed into the west coast of Italy on Friday night.

According to BBC, the area’s chief coast guard Marco Brusco said there’s “still a glimmer of hope” that survivors will be found.

A team of divers are searching the ship for any potential survivors. BBC quotes the head of the diving team, Rodolfo Raiteri, as telling the AFP news agency that conditions within the ship are “disastrous” and “cluttered.”

However, the local mayor, Sergio Ortelli, seems hopeful. According to BBC, he told AFP that “an air pocket could have allowed people to survive a few days.”

Emergency crews as well as the divers will continue their search.

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has granted an amnesty to his opponents.

According to the BBC, this would apply to all those who committed a crime during the 10-month uprising. 

Several thousands of people have been detained in the past year. 

Countless others have been killed during the protests. 

The official pardon is not the first Assad has granted. 

This leaves some skeptical of the impact it will have on the current crisis.

A luxury cruise ship, the Costa Concordia, hit an underwater rock and partly sunk last Friday night near the Tuscan shore, in Italy, according to the CBC.

Search and rescue teams have been deployed all weekend to find any remaining missing persons. So far five people have died and at least 15 are still missing.

 Survivors lashed out at the captain and his crew to the media. They claimed the crew was incompetent and did not know how to properly evacuate the passengers.

 Authorities arrested Capt. Francesco Schettino on Saturday. He is facing possible charges of manslaughter and abandoning his ship before all his passengers were evacuated.