Half and half: President Obama will deliver his State of the Union address Tuesday enjoying rising approval ratings that have been strengthened by rapidly improving perceptions of the economy and increased optimism about the overall direction of the country, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Obama’s overall approval rating now stands at 50%, the highest in a Post-ABC poll since the spring of 2013. His standing is nine percentage points higher than in December and seven points higher than in October, just before Republicans captured control of the Senate, increased their House majority to its highest level in eight decades and recorded gains in local statAll Newslettersehouses. The Washington Post has the full story.
Start all over again: When Roberta Jacobson’s plane touches down in Havana this week, she will be the highest-ranking U.S. diplomat to visit the island since President Jimmy Carter’s administration. Her job? Help restore diplomatic relations severed at the height of the Cold War. Jacobson, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, flies to Cuba for two days of talks with Cuban counterparts on Wednesday, little more than a month after Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced plans to improve ties following a prisoner swap. Jacobson’s arrival will kickstart negotiations that could eventually expand to include everything from demands for compensation by Cuban-American exiles and U.S. companies to improved human rights. Bloomberg has the full story.
A global game: Iran sees no sign of a shift within OPEC toward action to support oil prices, its oil minister says, adding its oil industry could ride out a further price slump to $25 a barrel. Reuters reports the comments are a further sign that despite lobbying by Iran and Venezuela, there is little chance of collective action by the 12-member OPEC to prop up prices—entrenching the reluctance of individual members to curb their own supplies. In remarks posted on the Iranian oil ministry’s website SHANA, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh called for increased cooperation between members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Read the full story.
