The IMF said today that Britain will be the hardest hit country in the developed world in what is now forecast to be the ‘deepest recession since WWII’. The IMF now expects e the British GDP to fall by 2.8 % this year, not the 1.3% that was previously thought in November. Furthermore, a UN report expects 50 million jobs to be cut worldwide. A bleak outlook for the UK.
Barack Obama has held his first radio and Internet speech as the President of the United States. Not surprisingly, he concentrated on how to fix the flailing economy. His very expensive and complex plan is now being considered by congress, and also by the public, but they already had their say about two and a half months ago. Obama wants swift and expensive action.
Barack Obama has been really busy since being inaugurated on Tuesday. Sure he had to find time to retake the swearing in oath, but when that was out of the way, he went to work. He has made it painfully clear that the Bush era is over by announcing the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison, a ban on harsh interrogation and the end of CIA prisons. Busy, Mr. President?
Caroline Kennedy will learn this week if she will be selected to replace Hillary Clinton in the US Senate. Her long weeks of lobbying now over, but her campaign has not been without hiccups. Now Sarah Palin is throwing in her 2 cents, for anyone that will listen. Palin jealous of Caroline Kennedy?
Finally, we have a politician who dares to say publicly what most of them are thinking; Bush’s war on terror was a mistake. Speaking in Dubai, David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary, said that by declaring ‘war on terror’ President Bush had forced extremists to unite against the west. Mr. Miliband continued on to say that the phrase suggested that terrorism had to be tackled by force and said that historically, this was not the best way to tackle the dangers facing the West. Miliband critizing Bush.
Two of Barack Obama’s advisers have told the AP news agency that he will order an issue to close the controversial prisoner camp during his first week in office. This pledge comes just a day after Obama seemed to back track from his campaign promise of a speedy closure, saying that the termination of the camp is ‘complicated’. Obama’s Gitmo dilemma.
For a lot of people, George W. Bush is already firmly placed on the ‘worst president’ list. Not because he started a war, or because he completely ignored the dangers of global warning, or his utter failure to act after hurricane Katrina, but because his total ineptness. He never should have become president, let alone a politician. Will history improve Bush’s record?
The French President Nicolas Sarkozy has today arrived in the Middle East to do what no one has been able to do before him; crate peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Very few thinks he will succeed, and few thinks that peace is his only agenda. Sarkozy’s mission.
The traditional act of giving clemency by the US president happened again on Tuesday. 19 convicted criminals had their slate wiped clean. 24 hours later president Bush took a quite remarkable step, and reversed one of them. One last mishap for Bush?
Joe Biden visited Larry King on Monday, and much of the interview he talked about the move into the White House. Biden said that domestically he isn’t worried about the soaring expectations to the president elect, but internationally he is. He told Larry King that he had been contacted by several world leaders who were excited to finally have an American leader who they think has a policy that reflects their own, and who will listen and work with them. Biden’s worries for Obama.