Barack Obama

After a two-year wait, Costa Rica will finally have a new U.S. ambassador. Stafford Fitzgerald Haney has been confirmed as the 58th U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica just in time to celebrate the Fourth of July with expats here.

"Today is a victory for hard-working Americans all across this country," Obama said in the White House Rose Garden, eschewing overt political gloating despite a victory that cements his signature domestic policy achievement.

The leak was embarrassingly timed for French lawmakers, who were expected to approve sweeping new powers to spy on citizens later on Wednesday.

MIAMI, Florida – One result of the recent warming of relations between Cuba and the United States was a surge in “boat people” headed to U.S. shores. Following the recent announcement of historic talks between the two nations, many Cubans are concerned that the revised Cuban Adjustment Act and its “wet-foot, dry-foot policy,” which grants Cubans who reach U.S. soil automatic political asylum, will soon end.

In the six months since President Obama announced a new opening to the island, sales of U.S. foodstuffs — among the few U.S. products allowed, with restrictions, under the embargo — have dropped by half, from $160 million in the first quarter of 2014, to $83 million this year.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The White House signaled its intent Monday to veto legislation that would stymie President Barack Obama's push to open travel to Cuba, the latest political clash over his landmark foreign policy goal.

The decision means Cuba will now have better access to U.S. banking facilities and aid, and a ban on arms exports and sales is also lifted.

The account -- which already had nearly 150,000 followers in the first half hour and a million followers shortly after -- instantly became one of the world's top hacking targets, but will also allow U.S. President Barack Obama to tweet directly for the first time.

The late U.S. diplomat and strategist George Kennan is remembered as the creator of the doctrine of “containment,” which formed the centerpiece of the United States’ policy for waging the Cold War. But Kennan was also among the key architects of another U.S. grand strategy: the “dominance and discipline” approach toward Latin America. While less discussed, the latter strategy has long outlasted the Cold War. Fortunately, this may finally be changing, thanks to U.S. President Barack Obama.

Cuba's designation remains a curious one and, like much that still shapes the U.S-Cuba relationship, is a relic of the past. Here's what you need to know about Obama's planned move to enter the present.