Obama Takes Oath As First Black US President

WASHINGTON: Barack Hussein Obama on Tuesday took the oath as 44th, but the first black, President of the United States of America, in a historic swearing-in ceremony at Capitol Hill attended by an exuberant crowd of hundreds of thousands of people.

Obama Arrives For Historic Inauguration

Updated : Tuesday January 20 , 2009 9:02:17 PM
WASHINGTON: US president-elect Barack Obama with outgoing President George W Bush has reached the Capitol Hill for his historic swearing-in that will give him the status of 44th, but the first black, President of the United States of America.Earlier, the US president-elect Barack Obama reached White House Tuesday barely two hours before his swearing-in, and have a brief, symbolic goodbye coffee hosted by outgoing President George W. Bush.Obamas and Joe and Jill Biden separately arrived at the White House to have coffee with President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and their wives. President Bush and first lady Lara Bush greeted the two couples.Earlier on Tuesday, Obama and his family attended a private service at St. John's Episcopal Church, a tradition for those about to become president. The family of Vice President-elect Joe Biden also attended.Barack and Michelle Obama waved to bystanders, then entered the church to applause from about 200 people. The choir and congregation began singing the hymn, "O God Our Help in Ages Past."

Nation must choose hope over fear, says Obama

Updated : Tuesday January 20 , 2009 10:25:12 PM
WASHINGTON: Stepping into history as America's first black president, Barack Hussein Obama said in his inaugural address Tuesday that the nation must choose "hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord" to overcome the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.In frigid temperatures, an exuberant crowd of more than a million packed the National Mall and parade route to celebrate Obama's inauguration in a high noon ceremony. Cheering and waving, spectators stretched from the inaugural platform at the U.S. Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial far in the distance."Our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed," Obama said in an undisguised shot at Bush administration policies. "Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin the work of remaking America."He said it was a moment to recall "that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."Obama called for a political truce in Washington to end "the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics."He said that all Americans have roles in rebuilding the nation by renewing the traditions of hard work, honesty and fair play, tolerance, loyalty and patriotism."What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility, a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.""The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works," the new president said.

Michelle Obama wears gold sheath for inauguration

Updated : Tuesday January 20 , 2009 10:19:47 PM
WASHINGTON: Michelle Obama wore a sparkling gold sheath dress with matching coat by Cuban-born American designer Isabel Toledo on the day of her husband's inauguration as president.Barack Obama wore a red tie and white shirt with his suit.Toledo, who just a few years ago unsuccessfully tried to infuse more modern style into the venerable Anne Klein label, is considered among the more avant-garde U.S. designers.Michelle Obama has been noted for choosing unexpected fashion designers, including Narciso Rodriguez, Zero and Maria Cornejo and Chicago designer Maria Pinto.

Pakistan win first ODI against Sri Lanka

Updated : Tuesday January 20 , 2009 7:19:54 PM
KARACHI: Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in first one-day international here Tuesday, reported ARY OneWorld.Earlier, Pakistan paceman Rao Iftikhar returned career-best figures of 4 for 42 and Umar Gul took three wickets to help bowl out Sri Lanka for 219 runs in the first ODI.The performances of Iftikhar and Gul, who took three for 30, overshadowed the return of fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar to the one-day team after a gap of 14 months. Shoaib did not take a wicket in his seven overs.Sri Lanka got off to a fast start, reaching 71 from 53 balls with openers Tillakaratne Dilshan (42) and Sanath Jayasuriya (38) in fine form.But Gul removed both openers and later Iftikhar derailed the innings with a double strike in the 35th over when he got the key wickets of Kumar Sangakkara (49) and the hard-hitting Thilan Thushara for a duck.Sri Lanka, after winning the toss and chosing to bat first, lost wickets at regular intervals to some loose shots and were indebted to resolute knocks from Chamara Kapugedera (27) and Nuwan Kulasekara (24).

Stocks fall but hopes high as Obama gets office

Updated : Tuesday January 20 , 2009 7:37:55 PM
WASHINGTON: Barack Obama takes over as U.S. president on Tuesday with hopes riding high he can conjure up a rescue that will jolt the world's biggest economy back to life and contain the financial crisis ravaging global markets.The first African-American to become U.S. president will take his oath against the backdrop of plunging world stock markets, prospects of a drawn-out U.S. and global downturn, a trillion dollar federal deficit and fears of more crippling bank losses.Underscoring the dire state of the world economy, Japan reported consumer confidence plunged to a record low last month in yet another sign of deepening recession.Asian stock markets dropped sharply on Tuesday in the wake of European losses after Britain's multi-billion-pound bank rescue unveiled on Monday failed to assure investors and main markets in Europe were expected to keep falling."For the next two to three months, hopes for economic steps by Barack Obama will surface from time to time," said Yoshinori Nagano, chief strategist at Daiwa Asset Management. "But once equity markets recover some ground on those hopes, they are bound to face grim reality again."Obama's team has vowed to make its bailout funds work harder to get credit flowing again to cash-starved consumers and companies and is expected to announce soon changes to the second half of Washington's $700 billion bank rescue scheme.

Abu Dhabi to keep investing in solar energy

Updated : Tuesday January 20 , 2009 11:05:52 AM
ABU DHABI: Oil-rich Abu Dhabi said it will press ahead with plans to develop solar energy, shrugging off a huge drop in oil prices which is cutting the emirate's revenues."The current economic situation has no impact on Masdar's intended and planned projects," said Sultan al-Jaber, chief executive of Masdar, the government-owned Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company charged with developing clean energy.The company's most prestigious project is developing Masdar City in Abu Dhabi -- a 22-billion-dollar cluster city that is to have zero carbon emissions."We still have an appetite to look for further opportunities," Jaber told reporters on the sidelines of the World Future Energy Summit 2009 in the United Arab Emirates' capital."We are looking beyond the current economic terms," he said in reference to the global economic crisis which has reduced demand for oil.The UAE has the world's largest ecological footprint, consuming more natural resources per capita than any other nation, according to a 2008 report by the World Wide Fund for Nature.