Barack Obama: Finger Lickin Good?

One German company's supposedly good intentions and attempt to capitalize on the success of President Barack Obama has been met with outrage on this side of the Atlantic. The company, Sprehe, recently began marketing a new fried chicken product called "Obama Fingers".

NYC Councilman Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn) is mad and is calling for a boycott:

"It's racist and inappropriate. We should do all that we can to see to it that no [company] disrespects the first black President."

Todd Shaw, assistant professor of political science and African-American studies at the University of South Carolina, says that the stereotype is blatant and "broadly offensive" to African-Americans. "This sends a shiver down the spines of Germans and Americans, given our interesting histories of race and racism," he added.

Sprehe sales manager Judity Witting said that the connection between Obama and fried chicken - a stereotype that has long been associated with blacks in the U.S. - never even occurred to her:

"It was supposed to be a homage to the American lifestyle and the new U.S. President.

Tensions over the handling of the global economic crisis intensified today as the prime minister of the Czech Republic, which also holds the European Union presidency, make the comment that U.S. stimulus measures are the "way to hell.". Speaking before the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, PM Mirek Topolanek argued that President Barack Obama's fiscal package and financial bailout "will undermine the stability of the global financial market."

Topolanek's statements come just one week before a meeting in London of the Group of 20 that brings together the leaders of the world's biggest economies. The EU presidency rotates every six months, and the country holding the position is expected to speak on behalf of the whole 27-nation bloc.

Obama is preparing to travel to Prague in less than two weeks for a summit which is intended to boost transatlantic relations and show that the US and Europe are united over economic policy. However, Topolanek's statement underlines potential ideological strains between the two, and suggests that all of Europe perhaps isn't as on-board as Obama believes.

Others in the EU are critical of Topolanek, stating that his comments reflect that unlike other Eastern European countries, the Czech economy has proved resilient:

While staying in Britain for his sell-out concerts this summer, Michael Jackson is planning to adopt a child. Jackson, who already has three children, has told his associates to make contact with a British adoption agency with links throughout the world.

A source close to Jackson claims that "His life is his children. Whereever he goes, they go, and he has said it would be good to have another child."

Jackson is planning to spend about three weeks in England before his concert residency kicks off, simply to explore the country and get used to the time zone. During this time, he wants to have meetings about a possible adoption. Sources say that he hasn't decided whether he wants a boy or girl, just that it would be good for the family to have another brother or sister.

However, any attempt at adoption is bound to spark a flurry of protests due to the former allegations of sexual abuse that had been brought against Jackson, now 50.

But the source says, "Michael feels that the British fans really understand him. He feels he has shaken off the sex abuse allegations. It is a new beginning."

On Tuesday the world learned of a tragic skiing accident involving British actress Natasha Richardson. Throughout the day reports surfaced indicating that she was brain dead and even dead, and getting a definitive answer was just not happening amidst all the rumors and confusion. Today it seems we have more information. While Richardson, 45, has not died from her injuries, it is not looking good. People.com reported Wednesday morning that her injuries are beyond recovery, and that she was relocated from a Montreal hospital to New York so that her family can say their final goodbyes.

According to People, Richardson's family is now at her side, holding a bedside vigil. TMZ published a photograph of her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, entering the hospital and looking extremely distraught. Her husband, fellow actor Liam Neeson, 56, is also there along with the couple's two boys.

Tuesday night a friend of the family told People:

“There is no chance. It is a fact that her heart is beating but she is brain dead.”

Doctors told described her condition to those closest to her as "leakage of blood between the brain and skull."

On Wednesday German prosecutors said that they have charged John Demjanjuk, a retired auto worker living in a Cleveland, Ohio suburb, with more than 29,000 counts of accessory to murder for his stint as a guard at the Nazi Sobibor death camp. Prosecutors also revealed that they will seek his extradition from the U.S.

Demjanjuk, 88, stands accused of participating in the murders while he was a guard at Sobibor in occupied Poland between March and September 1943. Demjanjuk denies any involvement.

Munich prosecutors said in a statement: "In this capacity, he participated in the accessory to murder of at least 29,000 people of the Jewish faith."

Efraim Zuroff, a top Nazi hunter at Israel's Simon Wiesenthal Center, indicated that he was pleased with the actions of the German authorities. "We hope that the process can be expedited to ensure that this Holocaust perpetrator will finally be appropriately punished. We're on our way to a victory for justice today," he continued.

Demjanjuk was a native of Ukraine and emigrated to the U.S. in 1952. He gained citizenship in 1958. Denying any war crimes, he said he served in the Soviety army and was a prisoner of war when captured by Germans in 1942.

After failing to reach a new licensing agreement with the Performing Rights Society, YouTube has decided to stand by its decision to block and remove all premium music videos to UK users. On Monday March 9, thousands of videos were made unavailable to UK YouTube users.

YouTube's director of video partnerships, Patrick Walker, said that the company remains committed to reaching some kind of agreement, but that such agreement needed to be done "at a rate which is sustainable to all."

Walker said that the move was "regrettable", but that YouTube was continuing to talk to the PRS. He said:

"The more music videos YouTube streams, and the more popular those music videos are, the more money YouTube will generate to share with the PRS and its song writers. It's a win-win arrangement.

YouTube, however, cannot be expected to engage in a business in which it loses money every time a music video is played - that is simply not a sustainable business model."

The Brits Say Yes.

During Barack Obama's run for the White House, one of his perceived weaknesses was in international affairs. The new President's interactions with one of America's closest allies - the United Kingdom - may be proving the critics right. According to reports in various British media outlets, the U.S. President snubbed British Prime Minister Gordon Brown during his visit to the White House last week.

On Friday The Daily Telegraph miffed:

"President Obama has been rudeness personified towards Britain. His handling of the visit of the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, to Washington was appalling."

The list of offenses is quite long. First, Obama is said to have cancelled a planned, podium-to-podium news conference with Brown, and also recently removed a bust of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill from the Oval Office. Adding further insult to the PM's visit were the cheap and thoughtless gifts that the President gave Mr. Brown and his family.

Liverpool Hope University in the Beatles' hometown of Liverpool, England have designed a new course of study which allows fans to study the works of the Fab Four and earn a degree. The university has created a Masters of Arts degree entitled "The Beatles, Popular Music and Society."

During the degree programs four 12-week modules, students read the history of the band. They'll also learn the influence that the group has had on the music industry, and are expected to write a dissertation at the end of the program.

The Beatles degree program is believed to be the first post-graduate course of its kind. And while may write this off as a fluff degree, top officials at the school insist that it is a serious study. They even claim that they've had a huge response from prospective students.

Mike Broken, senior lecturer in popular music at the university, says:

"There have been over 8,000 books about The Beatles but there has never been serious academic study and that is what we are going to address.

Forty years on from their break-up, now is the right time and Liverpool is the right place to study The Beatles."

Need to use the restroom? That'll cost you, if Ryanair's new plan to begin charging passengers to use the toilets while flying comes to fruition. Company CEO Michael O'Leary said that customers might have to fork over £1 to "spend a penny" on flights.

O'Leary said Friday, "One thing we have looked at in the past and are looking at again is the possibility of maybe putting a coin slot on the toilet door so that people might actually have to spend a pound to spend a penny in future."

He added, "We are always looking at ways of making air travel cheaper. We are all about finding ways of raising revenue so we can keep lowering air fares."

There's one problem with this plan, however. By charging people to use the bathroom, it could result in fewer drink purchases during flights.

Last night was the Brit Awards, The British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards which are about the equivalent of the U.S.'s Grammy Awards. The biggest winner of the night was the Welsh singer Duffy and her debut album, Rockferry. Other top awards went to Kanye West, Katy Perry, and Kings of Leon. The night's biggest loser was Coldplay, who had been nominated for numerous awards, but failed to actually win any.

Here is a list of the winners:

:: Mastercard British Album – Duffy ‘Rockferry’
:: British Group – Elbow
:: British Single – Girls Aloud ‘The Promise’
:: British Male Solo Artist – Paul Weller
:: British Female Solo Artist – Duffy
:: British Breakthrough Act – Duffy
:: British Live Act – Iron Maiden
:: International Album – Kings of Leon ‘Only By The Night’
:: International Group – Kings of Leon
:: International Male Solo Artist – Kanye West
:: International Female Solo Artist – Katy Perry
:: Critics’ Choice Award – Florence & The Machine
:: British Producer of the Year – Bernard Butler
:: Outstanding Contribution to Music – Pet Shop Boys