US President Barack Obama will give his annual State of the Union speech Tuesday evening 25 January US time, and it is drawing more than the usual attention, in part because of the extent to which social media will be used to include voters in the post-speech discussions. Questions cana be sent via Twitter and Facebook and the president will host an interview on YouTube Thursday. This is his second State of the Union address, on of Washington’s biggest events, with pageantry and live television streaming. It comes just after Democrats lost their House majority, with their Senate majority shrinking, maker it tougher in theory for the president to push through legislation.
Links to other sites: CNN, Economist, US Department of State, history of the State of the Union addresses, Washington Post
Live streaming for the speech, from the White House, and other streaming options
US must also end its addiction to fossil fuels, president insists
US President Barack Obama told Americans during his first televised news conference, a 17-minute speech, that BP will be held accountable and must pay for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that has sent millions of tons of oil into the water for the past two months. “This oil spill is the worst environmental disaster American has ever faced,” he said”And unlike an earthquake or a hurricane, it is not a single event that does its damage in a matter of minutes of days.” Obama also insisted that Americans must see this as a signal that it is time to end the nation’s addiction to fossil fuels. He argued that the long-term cost of oil dependency is far greater than that of breaking with it.
Links to other sites: Financial Times, Houston Chronicle with text of Obama speech, Miami Herald, NPR
The US has sent a bill for $69 million to BP for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill that appears closer to being plugged, but which is still leaking. US President Barack Obama said on the Larry King TV show that he had not seen the kind of rapid response from BP that he would have liked, and he canceled a trip to Asia because of the continuing oil spill problems.
Links to other sites: Miami Herald, New York Times, Times, UK
US President Barack Obama’s announcement 21 January that he intends to limit the size of some lucrative activities by American banks was cheered by France, but Asian markets have reacted negatively and the dollar lost gains it made earlier in the week. France’s Finance Minister Christine Lagarde told French media that the US was finally following her country’s lead and regulating markets for greater stability. Asian stock markets fell for a fifth straight day, with fears that China will raise interest rates coupled with concern that US banking curbs will weaken that country’s economic recovery.
Links to other sites: Bloomberg, Market Watch, NPR, Reuters,
US President Barack Obama 25 November became the latest head of state to say he will be in Copenhagen for the climate conference, COP 15, in mid-December. Obama’s staff announced his travel plans as part of a statement that he is personally committed to cutting US emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels during the next 10 years, and by 83 percent by 2050. The US House of Representatives, the lower house of Congress, have passed a climate change bill, but the Senate, the upper house has not. A formal US commitment will require full congressional approval in the form of a jointly agreed bill.
China’s envoy to the conference, Yu Qingtai, announced Thursday 26 November that his country will go to COP 15 determined to have the same framework that was part of the Kyoto agreement, which the Copenhagen summit is designed to replace. Kyoto called for 37 wealthy countries to make commitments to cutting Co2 emissions, but not developing countries. The US was the only major country not to sign the Kyoto agreement.
Links to others sites: COP 15, CNN, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, White House blog
US President Barack Obama has arrived in Beijing, China after visiting Shanghai where he met with students and called for greater Internet freedom for the Chinese. Obama said in a town-hall style meeting with students that he believes the free flow of information strengthens societies. Obama will try to calm Chinese fears about Washington’s response to the global economic crisis. China is the world’s biggest owner of US Treasury bonds. Chinese leaders have said they fear that the US will try to devalue its way out of the massive obligations it has assumed to save the banking industry and to stimulate a faltering economy.
The government’s head of banking regulation, Liu Mingkang, Monday 16 November criticized the US Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy, saying it is having a “massive impact on global asset prices.” He said a weak dollar and low interest rates were endangering the economic recovery, especially in emerging econmies.
The US continues to call on China to revalue its currency, which it says is making Chinese exports cheaper and undermining other countries’ efforts to stimulate their economies. Economist, Financial Times, Reuters
© Chappatte, distributed by Globe Cartoon. More cartoons on Chappatte’s web site. Geneva-based Patrick Chappatte works for the International Herald Tribune, for Geneva newspaper Le Temps, and for NZZ am Sonntag. All cartoons reproduced with permission.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was in Washington DC for talks with US President Barack Obama Tuesday, 18 August, his first visit in almost 6 years. Egypt is a key ally of the US in the Middle East, and the US needs its involvement in the issues of the Israel-Palestine peace process and Iran’s nuclear programme. Relations with the previous US administration of George W. Bush were strained by the latter’s insistence on human rights in Egypt. Mubarak asked in his meeting with Obama that Israel take “concrete steps” towards the peace process, which observers say means that Israel stop settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.
Obama has publicly called on Israel to stop construction, a major point of contention between Palestinians and Israelis. Yesterday, 18 August, reports from Jerusalem indicated that Israel had not approved any new building in the occupied territories since end March. Israeli officials have played down the fact because of the difficulties it raises within the ruling coalition in Israel. BBC, Jerusalem Post, Reuters
The inauguration of Barack Obama as US President today is expected to pull in millions of television viewers worldwide. Here are sources for some of the basic information about the next US president and his inauguration that you might want handy if you’re part of the TV audience:
Moving Day! Movers pack up Bushes, unpack Obamas in six hours, from America.gov
Huffington Post, Obama’s own page
The national sense of change, National Public Radio
Transition holds clues to Obama governance, New York Times
Videos of inaugural speeches from past US presidents, Chicago Sun Times
The hopes of a nation and of the world for a brighter future are riding on Barack Obama as he steps into the American presidential shoes just after noon Tuesday, Washington DC time (18:00 Swiss time). But before the problems weigh him down the public is hoping he will make their spirits soar with his much-awaited inaugural speech. CNN
