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.

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.

A meeting in Moscow today of gas-exporting nations, including Russia, Venezuela and Iran, has some wondering if the group is trying to form the gas equivalent of OPEC. The Takeaway talks to Global Insight's senior Russian analyst, Natalia Leschenko, for more insight.

After months of unrest in Thailand, the country's parliament has elected the leader of the opposition Democrat party, Abhisit Vejjajiva, as the new prime minister.

Five employees of Blackwater are indicted in the killing of 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians.

China owns the lion's share of American debt. How is the recession here affecting the economy in China?

Russia is holding a national broadcast where citizens call in and ask questions. But it's Vladimier Putin who is taking the calls, not his successor Dmitri Medvedev.

The political aftermath of the attacks on Mumbai has involved a lot of finger-pointing from India to Pakistan. With what appears to be clear evidence of the Pakistani origins of the gunmen, many in India are simply outraged at the protestations of innocence by Pakistani politicians. The only gunman known to have survived is said to have come from Pakistan. Journalist Shaheen Shebai joins the Takeaway to examine the story.

Last week's terrorist attack on Mumbai was unsettling partially exposed the vulnerability of one of the worlds largest growing cities. Could the violent acts could actually strengthen counter-terrorism strategies the US? The Takeaway explores this with Paul Cruickshank. Cruickshank says that it may be more difficult to pull off this type of attack in the United States because we are protected by geography and demography. The American Muslim community is resistant to Al Qaeda's ideology and two oceans separate us from South East Asia. That said, the soft targets in the United States are just as vulnerable as anywhere around the world.

The occupation at Bangkok International Airport has turned into a victory rally. The anti-government protesters who have held it for over a week believe they have won. A court ruling means that the Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat has to step down and the ruling party will be dissolved. But the celebrations may be premature. The government says it will elect a new leader and transfer it's members to a new political party, there won't be an election. And neither will there be immediate relief for stranded passengers. The protesters at the airport say they'll only leave if the new Prime Minister meets their approval.

While the world is still reeling from last week’s attacks on Mumbai, questions remain as to who and why. With many fingers pointing to a Pakistan-based terrorist group, tensions in the region are running high as Pakistan and India fire off accusations and denials and rumors flow freely across the borders. The nuclear-armed neighbors have fought three wars and had many skirmishes in the past, but so far their ceasefire has held in the wake of the attacks.

Today, the people of Mumbai are making the effort to get their lives back to something approaching normality after the traumatizing events of last week. The clean-up operations at the targets hit by teams of gunmen are well underway. So, too, is the apportioning of blame.

Tensions are running high between India and Pakistan - with many Indians believing that Pakistan played some part in the attacks. The Indian military is reported to have been put on a "war footing". Pakistan has responded by saying any escalation would require it to re-deploy forces from the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan. The message from Islamabad seems to be - "if you pin this on us, we won't be able to help you with the Taliban and Al Qaida".

Joining us now from Delhi is BBC India Correspondent, SANJOY MAJUMDER

Quentin Somerville of the BBC speaks with John Hockenberry about the situation in Bangkok, Thailand, where anti-government protesters have taken the international airport.

Sadanand Dhume speaks with John Hockenberry about how India is coming to grip with the attacks.

Dhume thinks the regional repercussions will be the story as we look ahead for the rest of the week, as we find out what kind of proof, if any, India has of Pakistani involvement and what kind of Involvement that is. Depending on what is found out, the fear is that we could be facing a situation in South Asia where you have a very weak government in Pakistan and a teetering government in India amid a passionate exchange of charges and counter charges.

Adam Mynott talks to John Hockenberry about the fallout from the Mumbai attacks. Mynott reports from the largest railway station in Mumbai, the scene at the greatest death toll on Wednesday, where gunmen killed 50 people on platform 13. But today, Mynott says the people are getting back to work.

The repercussions globally from the Mumbai attacks have continued, but things are most critical in India. The most significant news is the fallout in the Indian government and reports that one of the gunman has been captured by Indian authorities and has been interrogated. The gunman is badly injured and in the hospital but has been giving some information. As to how accurate the information is, it's hard to establish. The gunman has lead authorities to believe that the attack was formulated in Pakistan, the attackers came ashore by boat and proceded to mount their attacks.

In the Indian government, there is evidence coming through that intelligence about this possible attack was circulating but was not acted upon. As a result of that, the National Home Minister has resigned and the Chief State Minister has offered his resignation and his deputy has resigned. This is probably an indication that there will be a restructuring of how India views it's security. This is going to be a major factor in the elections. The opposition are already making some accusations about the government not being prepared for this tragedy.

The Takeaway speaks with New York Times correspondent Keith Bradsher ("Eyewitness Updates: Nariman House") who's been filing via his phone from the streets of Mumbai, as well as Sumit Ganguly, South Asian expert and professor of political science at Indiana University.

As India still reels from a series of terrorist attacks that led to standoffs in Mumbai, both authorities and the public are looking for where to point the blame. The former Pakistani ambassador to the U.N. joins The Takeaway to talk about internal turmoil in India, and why it's politically convenient to look for a Pakistani connection. M. J. Gohel, executive director of the Asia-Pacific Foundation, offers his analysis from London.