Hi there, Peter here. I hope the inclement weather has not hindered your journeys this morning. It certainly gives a feeling of mid-winter and the Christmas lights in Hull City centre are a welcome relief in the dark and gloomy evenings.
Presidential Takeover As you probably know, US President-elect Barack Obama has nominated his former rival, Hillary Clinton, as his Secretary of State. Former President Bill Clinton had cleared the way for his wife's appointment by reaching a complicated agreement on his financial arrangements, reports said. In the meantime, The US President-elect, Barack Obama, has visited the White House with his family at the invitation of outgoing President George W Bush. Mr Obama and wife Michelle were shown round personally by Mr Bush and the First Lady, Laura Bush. In 2000 when George W Bush took over from Bill Clinton Mr Bush looked awkward and uncomfortable as he sat next to Bill Clinton on his first visit to the White House as president-elect after eventually winning the 2000 election. The reasons why were never fully explained - after all, Mr Bush was no stranger to the place, his own father having worked there as vice-president before serving one term in the top job as Mr Clinton's predecessor. S! ome saw clues to his discomfort on the campaign trail, where Mr Bush had pledged to clean up the office of president - sullied, as he saw it, by Mr Clinton's dalliance with Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office. And, way back in 1960 when John F Kennedy took over from Dwight Eisenhower at 43, (four years younger than Barack Obama when he won the presidency), President Eisenhower, an ageing Republican with a distinguished war record, was openly dismissive of the "young whippersnapper", the Associated Press says, deriding Kennedy as a "young genius" ahead of their meeting. Its nice to know that politicians are subject to the same feelings as the rest of us! Tug of Bear The warm feeling surrounding Germany's celebrity polar bear cub, Knut, is turning icy ahead of his second birthday on Friday - because Berlin may lose him. Knut's father came from Neumuenster Zoo, which is still entitled to Knut under a contract with Berlin Zoo. Fans of Knut, who has proven a big money-spinner for Berlin Zoo, are urging the zoo director to keep him in the capital, German media report. But Knut is expected to move from Berlin in the first half of next year. After his birth in 2006, Knut suddenly became an international celebrity, drawing huge crowds to the Berlin Zoo and the cub even appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair. Billionth Mouse Swiss company Logitech has hailed a major landmark; the production of their one billionth computer mouse. Logitech's description comes at a time when analysts claim the days of the mouse are numbered. Sounding the death knell for the device is Gartner analyst Steve Prentice who said "the mouse will no longer be mainstream in three to five years." However he did acknowledge the manufacture of the one billionth mouse was a "tremendous achievement." He claimed the other technologies that will consign the mouse to the dustbin of history will involve facial and movement recognition for the mainstream market. "Just look forward five years and computer screens will be built into the walls of our homes and that would make it difficult to drive with a mouse. That's where all the new technology like multi touch and facial recognition comes in. This is where the computer stops being a computer and becomes part of a building. The company has launched a global competition to find th! e mouse with a reward of $1000 of Logitech products going to the winner. Clues as to its whereabouts will be posted on the company's blog. It was 9 December 1968 when Douglas C. Engelbart and his group of researchers at Stanford University put the first mouse through its paces. The mind boggles! Thats all for today, please join me for Look North this evening at 6.30pm on BBC One. Have a good day and take care, Peter And for the latest news and more where you live, go to: http://bbc.co.uk/humber and http://bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the BBC Look North newsletter, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/looknorthhull/newsletter/newsletter_index.shtml, enter your email address in the unsubscribe box. Your email address will be held by the BBC and kept confidential, and will only be used in relation to this newsletter. You will be given the option to unsubscribe from this newsletter each time you receive it. Please visit the BBC's Privacy & Cookies Policy (www.bbc.co.uk/privacy) for more information.
