Thesun 2009-04-27 Page10 Obama Dominates In First 100 Days

10

theSun

| MONDAY APRIL 27 2009

news without borders

Obama dominates in first 100 days WASHINGTON: In his high-velocity first 100 days, Barack Obama has sketched the outlines of a presidency of astounding ambition, which would remake the United States at home and transform its role abroad. Yet the new president’s agenda still faces tests of fire posed by a punishing economic crisis, the scheming of US allies and foes abroad and a poisoned political environment back home. “It is clearly the most ambitious agenda at least since the 1960s,” said Princeton University historian and political scientist Julian Zelizer. Inheriting a crisis of a magnitude few recent predecessors faced, Obama seems to have steadied America’s nerves despite the wrenching financial blight. He unleashed a huge government intervention in the economy, passed a historic US$787 billion (RM3 trillion) stimulus bill and now has high-stakes environmental

and healthcare reforms on the launchpad. Abroad, Obama swapped George W. Bush’s swagger for a cupped ear, giving Russia respect it craves, reaching out to Muslims and vowing to drain decades of enmity with foes Cuba and Iran. He previewed fundamental policy changes towards China, Mexico and Cuba, apologised to Europeans for past US “arrogance,” mandated the closure of Guantanamo Bay, outlawed torture and ordered withdrawal from Iraq. Obama doubled down in Afghanistan and Pakistan, ditched US denial on climate change and called for a world free of nuclear weapons. Tom De Luca, professor of political science at Fordham University, said Obama’s foreign policy was “breathtaking in its scope.” “I think it clearly illustrates the immense self confidence Obama has in himself and in his administration.” Obama, 47, once panned by rivals as inexperienced,

slipped on the mantle of president with ease, in unflappable style. Despite missteps on cabinet nominations and the fallout of Bush-era terror interrogations, his team has mostly dominated the political message. The result: Obama is carrying the American people with him. Fifty-six percent in a USA Today/Gallup poll said he had done an excellent or good job. A Fox News poll gave Obama a job approval rating of 62%, though like other surveys, found a sharp gap between Democrats and Republicans. But talking about change is easy, effecting it is not: Obama admits America is a “big ocean liner – it’s not a speedboat; it doesn’t turn around immediately.” Many initiatives, including engaging Iran, battling the global crisis and subduing North Korea also depend on events and actors outside Obama’s control. – AFP

EARTHREPORT Week Ending April 24 Diet to save earth

Citizen Nades: Can a GP do heart surgery? pg 12

BRITISH researchers stirred up a portly pot of controversy with their findings that point to overweight people contributing to global warming more than their slim counterparts. Writing in the International Journal of Epidemiology, Phil Edwards and Ian Roberts of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine point to food production being a major contributor to global warming. They also say that changing diets and less physical activity have resulted in the average UK citizen consuming 19% more food than 40 years ago. Overweight people can be responsible for the emission of a ton more of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide than thin ones, mainly due to their eating more food and the additional fuel needed to carry them in cars and other vehicles, the study says.

century average. Land areas of the southern hemisphere experienced their fourth warmest March on record, while the dry surfaces north of the equator experienced the 12th warmest March on record.

Airlifted from extinction ABOUT 50 surviving members of one of the world’s rarest species of frog are being airlifted from one of its two last remaining refuges in the Caribbean in a desperate bid to save it from extinction. An invasive fungus has nearly wiped out the “mountain chicken” since it probably arrived on the British colony of Montserrat earlier this year. Named for its unique taste and popularity as a delicacy, the frog once inhabited five Caribbean islands. Britain’s Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Zoological Society of London and the Parken Zoo in Stockholm will use the airlifted mountain chickens in captive breeding to prevent the species from being entirely wiped out.

Rivers of change A NEW study by US researchers suggests that climate change may be causing rivers in some of the world’s most populous regions to lose water. The findings may indicate global warming could potentially threaten future supplies of food and water. Scientists from the National Centre for Atmospheric Research examined stream flows from 1948 to 2004 and found significant changes in about one-third of the world’s largest rivers. The rivers that were delivering less water to large populations included the Colorado in the southwestern United Sates, the Ganges in India, the Yellow River in northern China and the Niger in West Africa.

Earthquakes Balmy march DESPITE what seemed to have been a winter that wouldn’t end across many parts of North America, March 2009 turned out to be the 10th warmest worldwide since records began in 1880. The US National Climatic Data Centre calculated the combined global land and ocean surface temperature for the month was 55.87 degrees Fahrenheit, which is almost one degree warmer than the 20th

TWO strong quakes in South Asia’s seismically active Hindu Kush mountain range killed at least 22 Afghans and destroyed hundreds of homes early on April 17. The stronger quake caused many mudand-brick homes to collapse on sleeping villagers in the middle of the night. • Earth movements were also felt along the Israel-Lebanon border and in western China’s Xinjiang region, islands north of Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island, northern Colombia and central Alabama. – Universal Press Syndicate