US president-elect Barack Obama and his family returned to Chicago early yesterday morning from their 12-day holiday in Hawaii and prepared to fly onward to Washington in the coming days.
Obama’s chartered plane landed in his hometown, where thermometers showed minus 1˚C. When he left Honolulu about eight hours earlier, temperatures were hovering above 20˚C. He joked to reporters during a brief New Years Day visit to the press cabin that his wife and girls weren’t speaking to him because of the change in climate.
Earlier in the day, he said goodbye to residents on the island where his family vacationed.
“I wish I could hang out with you but I’ve got to go home,” Obama told onlookers on Thursday as he left his morning workout at Kailua’s Marine Corps Base Hawaii near Honolulu.
He won’t be home long: The Obamas are expected to fly to Washington on Sunday.
While on vacation, Obama took advantage of his last break before he takes office on Jan. 20 and rented a US$9 million beach-front home.
He had few public events, other than small talk with residents who followed his every move.
He played golf three times — and bemoaned his performance each time — and basketball at his alma mater, the private Punahou School.
He also made the quick motorcade to the nearby Marine Corps base for workouts.
He stayed out of the escalating situation in the Middle East, where Israeli troops have launched an offensive against Hamas leaders who fired rockets from Gaza. Aides say there is only one president at a time, but Obama received security briefings and spoke with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and his incoming national security team.
Michelle Obama similarly remained out of sight, other than the occasional trip to the gym. She did not join Obama and the girls when they went to an aquatic park or to the zoo, nor when he visited the nearby Marine base on Christmas Day.
The Obamas won’t have that out-of-sight ability much longer.
Obama plans to meet with US President George W. Bush and former presidents at the White House on Wednesday, as well as meetings with Democratic leaders on a legislative package to aid the nation’s ailing economy. And seven-year-old Sasha and 10-year-old Malia are to start school at Washington’s elite Sidwell Friends School on Monday.
The president-elect plans to meet Democratic and Republican congressional leaders on Monday to discuss their legislative agendas, including how to jump-start the struggling US economy, a Democratic congressional aide said on Thursday.
Obama plans to first meet House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and they will later be joined by Republican leaders Representative John Boehner and Senator Mitch McConnell, the aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia