Senate Democrats retreat on Burris due to pressure from Obama
Under pressure from the president elect Barack Obama himself, the Senate Democrats hastily retreated on the accused Roland Burris as the successor to the Obama. According to Obama and the critics such a standoff was shedding negativity on the future administration. 
Even though no formal agreement had been made regarding swearing in Burris as the successor he could be seen posing for photos at the capital along with Senate leaders. A forty five minute meeting followed up at the end of which supportive words were put forward for the nomination.
According to Democratic officials Obama held talks with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in order to look for a way to put an end to the dispute immediately. Obama said during the conversation that if Burris had the legal standing the legal standing to be seated albeit the controversy that surrounds him then it should be done sooner than later.
The disputes arose when some of Burris’s supporters had apparently made some racial remarks. Following Obama’s departure from the Senate, the former Illinois attorney general would be the only black member of the Senate.
Burris said during a discussion between him and Reid along with Dick Durbin that “My whole interest in this experience is to be prepared to lead Illinois, very shortly I will have the opportunity to do that.” These statements were not disputed by Reid nor Durbin. The problem was that they believed that the Democrats would not be willing to seat a senator who was nominated by a governor that is being accused of selling the seat. Obama agreed with their decision.
Obama said speaking to the press that Burris was fond of him and that the two would be looking forward to work with each other. Reid and Durbin then made public statements regarding the dispute “First of all, understand we don’t have a problem with him as an individual,” He praised him by calling him an extremely nice person but went on to say “At this stage, the process is working out.” Durbin added “I’ve known him for such a long time. We are friends and on a first-name basis.”
The latest developments and the tone that has been set amongst the Senate officials suggest that the former state attorney general will eventually get the chance to be seated. This is however conditional to whether Burris is able to clear his name of the dispute regarding how he got to the position that he is in.
Israel commences ground operation in Gaza
The Israeli government had made its goal clear prior to starting the military offensive. It said it would do whatever was necessary to eradicate Hamas from its roots irrespective of how long it would take. Yesterday Israel commenced the ground operation it had been preparing to launch since the past couple of days.
With troops moving in on foot the risk of civilian casualties increases. As it is the confrontation has cost over 430 Palestinian lives along with the death of four Israelis up till now.
Gaza is a densely populated region and a ground operation aimed at hunting down Hamas targets is bound to give rise to civilian casualties. At the same time however the Israeli military will also be exposed to new threats. Hamas has been in the region for almost two years within which it has managed to accumulate a considerable amount of ammunition. The world has been witnessing the kind of fire power that Hamas is equipped with in the recent rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli territory. Hamas has been making use of sophisticated long range missiles amidst the Israeli air strikes.
Hospitals in Palestine reported three civilian deaths overnight whereas the Hamas run television channel Al Aksa reported that five Israeli soldiers had been killed. The Israeli military did not confirm the claims made by Al Aksa and dismissed the effort as being a tactic to lower the military’s morale.
International pressure has mounted in the past couple of days urging both the sides to accept an immediate cease fire but such efforts have been shunned completely. Many European cities witnessed protests appealing to Israel to stop the bloody campaign against the Palestinians.
The White House has been rather conservative in restricting Israel from wreaking the havoc that it has been amongst the civilian population of Gaza. The most it could do was issue a statement urging Israel to “be mindful of the potential consequences to civilians.”
The Israeli military is however determined to continue its campaign until it gains control over the missile launching sites Hamas has been using to target southern Israel. Military officials have stated that their aim is not to reoccupy Gaza yet it is engaged in a grueling operation that has resulted in heavy loss of civilian lives.
Military coup attempt denied in Guinea
Confusion reigned upon the death of one of the longest ruling strongmen of Africa as the twenty four year reign of Guinea’s president came to an end. There was an instant attempt to stage a military coup by a group of soldiers right after the president’s rule came to end. Their attempt was however foiled by government officials that managed to stand in their way.
The streets of Conakry were stormed by troops in armored personnel carriers. No blood shed or violent incidents were reported from the capital city however. The group of soldiers aimed to take control of the airwaves in order to announce that the current constitution along with the ruling government has been suspended.
The government was quick to come back with a response saying that no such suspension had been made. The Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souare said during a state broadcast from his office that the government is going to continue functioning the way it did.
The group of soldiers that had declared the coup had given itself the name of National Council of Democracy and Development. They had one of their uniformed representatives on television declare that they will be taking charge of the destiny of the Guinean people whereas another similar statement was made on the radio. The uniformed made statements saying “The Constitution is dissolved the government is dissolved. The institutions of the republic are dissolved.”
The reign of the previous president Lansana Conte came to an end at the age of 74 after twenty four long years of being in command. The president had been suffering from unspecified illness from quite some time which finally took away his life. The intimidating leader actually belonged to the generation of rulers that had risen to the position of power through the use of the gun.
The current attempt of the military coup was quite reminiscent to the way in which Conte had come into power. The latest attempt was however denied by government officials who have managed to keep the current constitution in force.
Obama puts science over politics by appointing scientists at key science positions
The Bush administration was accused of placing politics over science because of the way it dealt with the science agencies of the nation. The successor president has however reversed the stand of the Bush administration by appointing top scientists of the country at key science positions.
The fundamental change initiated by the newly elected President who is set to take office in the first month of 2009 has been welcomed by the science academy and the American public in general. Mr. Obama has proposed marine biologist Jane Lubchenco and Harvard physicist John Holdren at top science posts. The two gentlemen are experts on climatic change and have been advocating forceful government response.
The Harvard physicist will be playing the role of Obama’s science advisor as he has been appointed at the post of director of White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. On the other hand the marine biologist Lubchenco has been appointed as the head of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This department is responsible for conducting all the government related research on global warming and is also in charge of ocean and atmospheric studies.
Holdren has also been tagged with the responsibility to direct the president’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology. The Nobel Prize winning scientist Harold Varmus will also be joining him as the co-chairman. Harold has previously served as the director of the National Institute of Health. Eric Lander, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will also be joining them.
Obama was recorded as saying “From landing on the moon, to sequencing the human genome, to inventing the Internet, America has been the first to cross that new frontier because we had leaders who paved the way,” during his weekly radio address. He went further on to say “Leaders who not only invested in our scientists, but who respected the integrity of the scientific process.”
He said with regards to his choice of appointing the carefully chosen team of scientists “I could not have a better team to guide me in this work.”