Obama hits Warren on trade as debate in Senate opens

Obama hits Warren on trade as debate in Senate opens

WASHINGTON

As the Senate prepares to debate his trade agenda, President Barack Obama is sharpening his criticisms of a vocal opponent on the left.

In a weekend interview with Yahoo Politics, the president said Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is factually wrong and politically motivated in fighting his efforts to obtain “fast track” authority to negotiate trade agreements that Congress can accept or reject but not change. The Senate faces a key procedural vote Tuesday. Warren is among those who say trade deals hurt the U.S.

Obama said Warren is “a politician like everybody else.” He said he agrees with her on most topics but on trade “her arguments don’t stand the test of fact and scrutiny.” Some Warren fans consider her largely above politics.

2 babies die, 29 sick from bad vaccines

MEXICO CITY

Mexico’s public health system has suspended infant vaccines and mounted an investigation after two babies died and 29 were sickened in an impoverished community in southern Mexico.

The Mexican Institute for Social Security says six of the 29 babies are in grave condition after receiving vaccinations for tuberculosis, rotovirus and Hepatitis B. The cause of the adverse reactions is not known, the institute said Sunday. The institute said it stopped vaccines nationwide Saturday as a precaution.

Castro thanks pope

VATICAN CITY

Cuban President Raul Castro paid a call Sunday on Pope Francis at the Vatican to thank him for working for Cuban-U.S. detente — and said he was so impressed by the pontiff he is considering a return to the Catholic church’s fold.

‘’Bienvenido [welcome]!” Francis said in his native Spanish, welcoming Castro to his studio near the Vatican public audience hall. The Cuban president, bowing his head, gripped Francis’ hand with both of his, and the two men began private talks. The meeting lasted nearly an hour, as the Argentine-born Francis and Castro spoke in Spanish.

Francis will visit Cuba in September en route to the United States.

The pontiff “is a Jesuit, and I, in some way, am too,” Castro said at a news conference. “I always studied at Jesuit schools.”

Associated Press