President Obama had a second busy day in office. He immediately named former Senate majority leader George Mitchell as special envoy to the Middle East and former United Nations ambassador Richard Holbrooke as envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. This move makes it clear foreign policy is a priority for the new President. We're joined by Daniel Levy director of the Middle East Initiative at the New America Foundation for his take on these appointments. Mr. Levy was a member of the official Israel negotiating team at the Oslo B and Taba talks in 1995.

The film Slumdog Millionaire, which has just been nominated for ten Oscars, including Best Film and Best Director, opens today in cinemas across India. Set in the city of Mumbai, it follows the fortunes of a young man from the slums who has a chance to hit the jackpot on the Indian version of the television quiz show, Who Wants to be a Millionaire. So how will the film fare compared to the mega-Bollywood hits that have come out of the same city? We're joined now by Malini Agarwal a presenter for Radio 1 who is in Mumbai right now.


Recently we spoke to Vikas Swarup, the author of the book on which the film is based.

Don't forget to buy the incredible soundtrack to the film. Watch and listen below.

Salmonella-tainted peanut butter has sickened close to five hundred people in 43 states, and killed six. People started getting sick back in September, but the FDA has only recently pinpointed the source of the infection as King Nut brand peanut butter manufactured by Peanut Corporation of America in Blakely, Georgia. Bill Marler, a Seattle lawyer who represents victims of food poisoning and advises companies on food safety joins John and Adaora to explain why it takes so long to trace foodbourne illnesses and how the system could be improved.

FDA website list of recalled products: http://www.fda.gov

Russian rock band Mumiy Troll is on the brink of their first national U.S. tour despite the fact that they have been rockin’ in the USSR for almost twenty years. Their lead singer, Ilya Lagutenko, is joining us in studio to talk about how he embarked on a rock and roll lifestyle despite growing up in a small port town that was more or less cut off from all of the East and the West due to Russian security concerns.

Since August the Congolese government has been battling rebels led by Laurent Nkunda. The fighting has displaced tens of thousands of people and lefty hundreds dead. This week, the Congolese government joined forces with it's former arch enemy Rwanda in an offensive against the rebels and today the Congolese government is reporting the joint force has arrested the rebel leader Nkunda. For the latest we're joined by the BBC's Martin Plaut.

President Obama visited the State Department on his second full day in office yesterday, signaling the renewed importance of diplomacy in US foreign policy. He appointed two special envoys to troubled regions — former Northern Ireland mediator George Mitchell to oversee Arab-Israeli issues and longtime diplomat Richard Holbrooke to handle Pakistan and Afghanistan. The New York Times’ Mark Landler joins John and Adaora with a look at these two appointments and what they say about the new President's foreign policy strategy.

One of President Obama’s top priorities is to move his $825 billion stimulus plan through Congress. Although there is consensus that the economy needs to be rehabilitated, Obama’s vision of how to fix it is meeting resistance mostly among House Republicans. Joining us is one congressman who is currently withholding his support, Representative Scott Garrett of New Jersey. Congressman Garrett is a Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises for the House Financial Services Committee.

Don't like Obama's stimulus plan? Create your own!

Two of the nation's largest and most troubled banks are going through high-level personnel changes. Bank of America has taken over Merrill Lynch, and is now pushing out its chairman John Thain. And under pressure from federal regulators Citigroup has brought in a new chairman, Richard D. Parsons, who used to head up Time Warner. New York Times business reporter Louise Story joins John and Adaora to explain the high level staff shifts and what they might mean for the future of the banks.

For more, read Louise Story's article, Thain Resigns Amid Losses at Bank of America in the New York Times.

Scientists have teleported information between two atoms. All it took was zapping them for a few picseconds with laser pulses while they were trapped in a vacuum that was surrounded by metal electrodes and an invisible cage of electromagnetic fields. Sound wacky? Well, it is quantum mechanics. Before you start singing, "Beam me up, Scotty," listen to The Takeaway's favorite physicist Brian Greene talk teleportation.

Not long ago, the biggest entertainment on Oscar night was watching big budget studio movies duke it out for awards with indie underdogs. But this year’s Oscar nominations suggest that dynamic may be changing. We’re joined by David Carr, The Carpetbagger blogger for the New York Times for his take on the Oscar nominees.

We've compiled the trailers for all the Best Picture nominees. Click away!
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Milk
• The Reader
• Frost/Nixon
• Slumdog Millionaire

Across the country, Catholic schools are failing as enrollment plunges. But in rare places, Catholic school enrollment is actually on the rise. Why are so many schools failing, while a few suceed? To answer that question The Takeaway talks to Brenda Becker, a writer from Brooklyn whose daughter has spent nine years in Catholic schools and Bob Voboril, the Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas.

Just a few hours ago, New York Governor David Paterson picked Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. for Hillary Clinton's now-vacant Senate seat. The governor will formally announce his pick today at noon in Albany. According to the New York Times an aide to Rep. Gillibrand confirmed that she had accepted the appointment. Here to tell us more about the Senate's newest member is Liz Benjamin, a reporter for the New York Daily News.