Obama: 'Put aside partisan posturing'
WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama Saturday said the House should "put aside partisan posturing, end the gridlock and do what's right for the American people."
In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama said the United States is "clawing our way back from the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes" and there are "things we can do -- right now -- to help put people back to work and make life a little easier for middle-class families."
He said Democrats and Republicans have taken some steps, including a tax cut, but "Congress has refused to act on most of the other ideas in my jobs plan that economists say could put a million more Americans back to work."
"There's no excuse for inaction," Obama said. "Right now, we are seven days away from thousands of American workers having to walk off the job because Congress hasn't passed a transportation bill. We are eight days away from nearly 7 1/2 million students seeing their loan rates double because Congress hasn't acted to stop it.
The president said it "makes no sense" for Congress to allow higher education costs to rise through higher education loan interest rates or to put off needed infrastructure repairs by failing to pass a transportation bill.
"So much of America needs to be repaired right now," he said. "Bridges are deteriorating after years of neglect. Highways are choked with congestion. Transportation delays cost Americans and businesses billions of dollars every year. And there are hundreds of thousands of construction workers who have never been more eager to get back on the job. So why would we let our transportation funding run out?"
Obama said his administration and the Senate have "done their part," with the Senate passing a bipartisan transportation bill in March.
"Now, it's up to the House to follow suit; to put aside partisan posturing, end the gridlock and do what's right for the American people," the president said.
"It's not lost on any of us that this is an election year," he said. "But we've got responsibilities that are bigger than an election."
GOP promises to repeal ObamaCare
WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI) -- The Republican party used its weekly media address to attack President Barack Obama's healthcare law and continue to call for its repeal.
"Not only is President Obama's healthcare law not working -- it makes things worse by driving up healthcare costs, making it harder for small businesses to hire workers," said Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-La. "The only way to change this is by repealing ObamaCare entirely."
The address came as the U.S. Supreme Court is set to give a ruling on the controversial law, which may come as early as Monday, The Hill reported.
"So, unless the Court throws out the entire law, we should repeal what is left and implement common-sense, step-by-step reforms that protect Americans' access to the care they need, from the doctor they choose, at the lowest cost," Cassidy said.
Cassidy addressed concerns over popular parts of the law, such as insurers being required to allow parents to keep their children on their policies until they turn 26, by saying the GOP "would not repeat Democrats' mistakes."
"[Republicans] will not rush through a massive bill the American people don't support or won't even have time to read to figure out whether they do support it. And we won't take our focus off jobs and the economy," he said.
Cassidy said Republicans are focused on creating jobs, which, he said, ObamaCare hinders.
"Republicans continue, as promised, to focus on helping small businesses create jobs. The most recent jobs report pegged unemployment at 8.2 percent -- much higher than what White House officials said it would be by now with the 'stimulus' in effect," Cassidy said. ObamaCare, with its fees, tax hikes, and costly mandates, makes this worse."
Turkish warplane may have entered Syria
ANKARA, Turkey, June 23 (UPI) -- A Turkish warplane shot down by Syria Friday may have been in Syrian airspace, Turkish president Abdullah Gul said Saturday.
The plane, an F-4 Phantom fighter, was shot down by Syrian air defenses Friday morning, The Daily Telegraph reported.
In an interview Saturday, Gul acknowledged the plane may have been in Syrian airspace when it was downed, but said there was no reason for Syria to see the airspace violation as hostile.
"It is routine for jet fighters to sometimes fly in and out over [national] borders ... when you consider their speed over the sea," Gul told the Anatolia news agency. "These are not ill-intentioned things but happen beyond control due to the jets' speed."
Meanwhile, Syria confirmed it took the plane down in a statement: "Our air defenses confronted a target that penetrated our airspace over our territorial waters pre-afternoon on Friday and shot it down. It turned out to be a Turkish military plane."
Syria is working with Turkey to locate the plane's two missing pilots, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
"Turkey will take all necessary steps and will take its final position after the full [explanation] of the incident," said a statement issued by the Turkish government Friday.
U.S. issues terror warning for Mombasa
MOMBASA, Kenya, June 23 (UPI) -- The United States Embassy in Nairobi has issued a travel warning for U.S. citizens in Kenya over "an imminent threat of a terrorist attack in Mombasa."
The travel advisory came late Friday, CNN reported.
"This is to alert all U.S. citizens in Kenya, or planning to travel to Kenya in the near future, that the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi has received information of an imminent threat of a terrorist attack in Mombasa, Kenya. All U.S. government travel to Mombasa is suspended until July 1, 2012," said the warning from the United States Department of State.
The State Department also ordered all U.S. government personnel to leave Mombasa, and advised U.S. citizens to do the same.
"All U.S. government personnel are required to leave Mombasa. U.S. private citizens are not subject to the same restrictions, but should consider this information in their travel planning," the advisory further read.
Kenyans, meanwhile, were told not to worry about the imminent attack, Capital FM Kenya reported.
"There is no cause for alarm, security agents are ahead of events," said police spokesman Eric Kiraithe. "We are even working with FBI and other international agencies in this war."
Kenya has been facing several attacks from the terrorist group al-Shabaab. Mombasa, Nairobi and North Eastern regions have been most affected by the attacks.
Flooding hits northern England
LONDON, June 23 (UPI) -- Heavy rain in northern England and southern Scotland has forced the evacuation of many towns and closed rail lines, authorities said.
A spokeswoman for the Environmental Agency said "a month's rain" was expected to fall in a day, the BBC reported.
"We've seen unprecedented wet weather during June and the catchments, the soil, is all sodden and this last heavy bout of rainfall has landed on top of that soil and quickly gone down into rivers and is now going down through the Pennine Rivers," the agency's flood risk manager said, referring to the Pennine mountain chain, sometimes called the backbone of England.
The Meteorological Office issued a severe weather warning for a swath of the country from Northern Ireland across to the east coast of northern England.
In Wigan, some residents had to be evacuated by boat because debris clogged storm drains and streets were flooded. Croston on the River Yarrow in Yorkshire was cut off.
"At the moment we are an island. All three roads that lead in are flooded," Andrew Edmundsen, owner of the Black Horse Pub, told the BBC. "If you're in you're in, if you're out you're out."
National Rail said passengers on a number of lines were forced to switch to buses.
