President Obama is nominating Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove to be the top U.S. commander in Europe and NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Europe.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Thursday that Breedlove would be tapped for the new role after former U.S. commander in Afghanistan Gen. John Allen passed on it earlier this year.

Breedlove would replace Adm. James Stavridis, who has been head of U.S. European Command since summer 2009.

The Obama administration supports the growing calls for an international probe into the deaths of two Cuban democracy activists last year, the State Department said Thursday. 

The declaration follows growing pressure from Congress for an investigation into the death of Oswaldo Payá, who was killed along with fellow activist Harold Cepero in a July 22 car wreck. The driver, Spaniard Ángel Carromero, was charged with vehicular manslaughter before being released to Spain; he has since declared that he was forced off the road by a car with government license plates.

“The United States supports the calls for an international investigation with independent international observers into the circumstances leading to the deaths of Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero in Cuba,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Thursday. “The people of Cuba and the families of these two activists deserve a clear, credible accounting of the events that resulted in their tragic deaths. The United States will continue to advocate for the rights of all Cubans to speak out of defense of human rights and democracy.”

The United Nations agreed Thursday to make its oversight audits public for the first time following years of pressure from the United States to do so.

The Obama administration immediately applauded the decision. The U.S. representative to the UN for Management and Reform, Ambassador Joe Torsella, celebrated a "major step forward for UN transparency" on Twitter, while the U.S. mission to the UN put out a statement saying it was "very pleased" with the "groundbreaking decision" to make all of the internal audit reports publicly available online beginning later this year. 

"Taxpayers and citizens around the world are demanding of their governments more transparency and accountability and today’s decision helps ensure the United Nations itself maintains the standards it helps promote around the world," said Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the UN. "We believe this decision represents a turning point in the way the UN does business, and are committed to working with member states to ensure that disclosure of audit reports becomes a permanent fixture at the UN."

The United States began posting online the audits of the U.N.'s watchdog, the Office of Internal Oversight Services, in 2006 under the leadership of then-ambassador John Bolton. Torsella again urged the U.N. to make the audits public during his speech to the opening session of his committee last year.

“Will we choose true reform, or window dressing? Fiscal restraint or business as usual? Sunshine or secrecy?” he asked in September.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) urged President Obama on Wednesday to support congressional efforts to exempt bulk shipments of apples to Canada from double inspection to save money.

“The double inspection of our apples to Canada is an impediment to New York apple exporters,” Gillibrand said. “The elimination of the expensive and unnecessary second inspection would put money back in our local growers’ pockets.”

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said on Thursday that Sprint promised him they will not buy telecommunications equipment from the Chinese company Huawei.

Regulatory agencies are currently reviewing SoftBank's $20 billion acquisition of Sprint, as well as Sprint's purchase of wireless network operator Clearwire.

Rogers has argued that the Chinese government could use Huawei,the world's largest telecom equipment maker, to tap into U.S. communications networks and spy on people in the United States.  

The move comes after Chinese hackers were accused of infiltrating American companies' computers to steal product blueprints.

The mission highlights the “United States’ ability to conduct long range, precision strikes quickly and at will,” the military said.

President Obama will host the leaders of Sierra Leone, Senegal, Malawi and Cape Verde Thursday afternoon.

President Obama vowed Wednesday to use his second term to push forward a “positive agenda” with Latin America, a region that often gets short shrift compared to fast-growing Asia or the turbulent Middle East.

Obama made the remarks on Telemundo just as the White House announced that the president would be making the second trip of his second term to Mexico and Costa Rica after visiting Israel, Jordan and the West Bank earlier this month. The May 2 – 4 trip will be a chance to meet with all the leaders of Central America at the invitation of Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla. Read more...