President Obama tackles first day

President Obama tackles first day

Obama tells ABC’s Good Morning America he will act swiftly on the economy Barack Obama is beginning his first full day as US president, in the midst of an economic crisis and two wars. Within hours of his inauguration, he requested a halt to military trials at the Guantanamo detention camp. One judge has already suspended a case. Despite celebrating his inauguration through the night, Mr Obama plans to meet economic and military advisers. He is expected to discuss plans for an $825bn rescue economic package – as well as the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Mr Obama became America’s 44th president – and its first black leader – at noon on 20 January, and attended numerous events to mark the historic occasion as millions of supporters also enjoyed a party atmosphere. We will see what Mr Obama does with the history which is now his to shape Kevin Connolly BBC News New era begins World hopes Making history But as the euphoria dies down, the serious issues of the financial crisis and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will top his agenda, correspondents say. Mr Obama has already ordered last-minute regulations signed by his predecessor, George W Bush, to be put on hold. Congressional leaders say they intend to pass the economy stimulus bill by the middle of February. Regarding Iraq, Mr Obama promised that on his first day in office he would give his military commanders a new mission – to end the war there. More than 140,000 US troops are still stationed in Iraq, five years after an invasion which the new president consistently opposed. President Obama has promised to withdraw combat troops from Iraq within 16 months – and the Iraqi government has said that US forces are welcome to leave before the 2012 deadline set at the end of last year. Guantanamo move On Tuesday, Mr Obama and his Secretary of Defence Robert Gates asked for military tribunals at Guantanamo Camp to be suspended for 120 days “in the interests of justice”. GUANTANAMO BAY Q&A: Guantanamo detentions ‘Struggle’ over Guantanamo Hearings had been due to take place on Wednesday in the case of the five men accused of plotting the 11 September attacks. The judge in the trial of Omar Khadr – a Canadian man accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan in 2002 – agreed to the requested suspension. Also on Wednesday there will be a debate over the appointment of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. Approval for her appointment was postponed after a Republican senator demanded a debate about foreign donations to a foundation headed by her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Mrs Clinton’s nomination is expected to be confirmed in a vote immediately after the debate. Several other cabinet positions are still to be confirmed. The US Senate, which traditionally moves swiftly to affirm a new president’s cabinet, approved six members on Tuesday, including Janet Napolitano as homeland security secretary and Steven Chu as energy secretary. Timothy Geithner, the nominee to head the treasury department, is due to face the Senate finance committee on Wednesday to explain his initial failure to pay payroll taxes he owed while working for the International Monetary Fund. Mrs Clinton’s confirmation will follow a debate on her husband’s funding Mr Obama last week called Mr Geithner’s tax problems an embarrassment but an “innocent mistake”. Other Obama nominees still to be confirmed are Eric Holder as attorney general, and Tom Daschle as head of health and human services. The new administration acted quickly after his inauguration to halt measures rushed through in the last days of the Bush administration – a common tactic by new leaders. Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel ordered all agencies and departments to stop all pending regulations until a legal and policy review could be conducted, the White House said. Such a review can be used by an incoming administration to delay so-called “midnight regulations” introduced between November’s election and January’s inauguration.

Controversy over EU art

 

David Cerny is the enfant terrible of the Czech art world, and so when the government commissioned him to create an installation, several eyebrows were raised.

They were not raised in vain. The artwork, called Entropa, shows the EU’s 27 members as snap-out plastic parts of the sort used in modelling kits. Each represents a country according to the crudest national stereotypes.

Bulgaria is shown as a Turkish toilet, Romania as Dracula’s castle, and the Netherlands is underwater, with just a couple of minarets poking through the waves. But even more controversially, Denmark is made up of Lego building blocks which, from a distance, form an image of the Prophet Mohammed. And Germany is a network of moving autobahns – lit up, they resemble a crooked swastika.

Czech officials originally praised the rough sketches for the piece, saying making fun of prejudice was the most effective way of destroying it. But it’s not clear if they were aware just how provocative the finished result would be.

Rob Cameron, BBC News, Prague