Watch President Barack Obama's Inauguration

Watch the coverage of President Obama's Inauguration.

Use This Link: http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/national/inauguration09/main503703.shtml

Barack Obama Officially Elected President

Major news companies are reporting that Barack Obama has defeated John McCain to become the first African American president of the United States. Obama had announced his presidential candidacy two years ago and now he will become the next president of the USA.

Def Jam Executive Found Dead

Shakir Stewart, Executive Vice President of Def Jam, was found in his home dead from a gunshot wound to his head on Saturday. Police found him after responding to a a shooting at an undisclosed address. The official cause of death has not been released yet but police suspect that he committed suicide. No arrests or charges have been made. He was the person who signed the music artists Young Jeezy and Rick Ross to the label.

Register to Vote Online

The presidential election is coming soon. Use the website Rock the Vote to register to vote online if have not registered yet. Please Visit: http://rockthevote.com/

Heart Doctor Pioneer Michael DeBakey Dies

Dr. Michael DeBakey, the famous cardiovascular surgeon that pioneered the bypass surgery and inventor of many devices to help people with heart problems, has died at the age of 99 from natural causes at the Methodist Hospital in Houston, TX. In 1932, while he was still in medical school, he invented the roller pump, which later became the most important part of the heart-lung machine. The machine takes over the responsibilities of the heart and lungs during surgery. He was also the pioneer in the development of artificial hearts and heart pumps to help people waiting for transplants. He had helped to create more than 70 surgical instruments in his lifetime.

In the 1950s, DeBakey was the first person to perform the replacement of arterial aneurysms and obstructive lesions. He had developed bypass pumps and connections to replace parts of diseased arteries.

He had performed more than 60,000 heart surgeries in his career that lasted 70 years. His patients had included the Duke of Windsor, the Shah of Iran, King Hussein of Jordan, Turkish President Turgut Ozal, Nicaraguan leader Violetta Chamorro, President Kennedy, President Johnson, and President Nixon. He was a consultant when Russian President Boris Yeltsin had surgery.

He served as the chairman of the President’s Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke during President Johnson’s administration. He had helped to establish the National Library of Medicine and was the author of more than 1,000 medical reports, papers, chapters, and books on surgery, medicine, and similar topics.

In 1953, he performed the first Dacron graft to be able to replace part of occluded arteries. In the 1960s he started coronary artery bypasses. In 1966, he was the first person to successfully use a partial artificial heart. In the 1990s, he helped to create the Michael E. DeBakey Heart Instititute at Hays Medical Center.

Nelson Mandela in London to Celebrate Birthday

Nelson Mandela, the former South African president, is in London for the week to celebrate his 90^th birthday. He is set to attend an outdoor concert that is in his honor in Hyde Park on this coming Friday. The performances will include Queen, Annie Lennox, Leona Lewis, and the Soweto Gospel Choir. Amy Winehouse will also perform if her doctors say that it is okay for her to do so. The proceeds from the concert will go to 46664 charity, which is the AIDS charity named after the number Mandela wore while he was imprisoned by South Africa’s apartheid authorities.

Mandela is also set to meet supporters, which include Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, and talkshow host Oprah Winfrey. The concert coincides with the 20^th anniversary of London’s Free Mandela concert. Mandela was released from prison in 1990 after being incarcerated for 27 years and was elected as the first black president in South Africa in 1994.

Senator Edward Kennedy Suffers From Seizure

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the brother of the late President John F. Kennedy, has been hospitalized after suffering from a seizure. He was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital where doctors worked hard to try to find the cause of the seizure. He was flown to the Massachusetts General on Saturday after becoming sick and being treated in the emergency room of Cape Cod Hospital.

Luckily, he did not suffer from a stroke, as the physicians first thought and he is currently doing well. Over the next couple of days he will have more evaluations done on him to find the cause and what should be done to treat him.

France Steps Up Citizen Surveillance

The president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, has decided to increase the amount of surveillance in public places in an effort to keep citizens safer by installing more police video cameras on city streets and sidewalks. There are already 300,000 of cameras set up in public places but Sarkozy wants to triple that number in the next few years.

The French government also has granted itself access to information every citizen’s bank cards, Internet searches, subway cards, electronic tollbooth passes, and more. Most citizens in France don’t know about the secret tracking devices and people have even been refused loans and lost their jobs due to errors that they have caused.

Cuba Announces New Leader

Cuba’s parliament has named 76 year old Raul Castro, Fidel Castro’s brother, as president. Officials overlooked younger candidates to give a 77 year old man name Jose Ramon Machado the number 2 spot. This officially marks the end of Fidel’s 49 year rule.

Raul Castro says that he plans to consult with Fidel on all major decisions of the state. Raul plans to implement economic reforms that could improve the lives of many Cubans. He has plans of a revaluation of the Cuban peso, which citizens use to pay for government services, such as utilities, public transportation, and the amount charged for food rations.

Cuba’s parliament chose a new 31 member ruling body that is called the Council of State to lead the country. The president of the council serves as the head of the state and government.

Fidel Castro Resigns as Cuba’s President

Fidel Castro has resigned as Cuba’s president and has decided not to accept a new term as president. This will allow Fidel’s brother, Raul, to implement reforms that he wanted to implement since he took over as acting president when Fidel had gotten sick in 2006.

The National Assembly is going to meet to pick the governing Council of Sate, which includes who will be the next president. It is most likely that Raul, Fidel’s brother, will be the next president of Cuba. Fidel had ruled Cuba for almost 50 years before he resigned.

Rapper Jay Z Leaving Def Jam Exec Job

The rapper Jay Z has announced that he will leave his position as president of the Def Jam Records label after his contract expires this year. He gained the position as president three years ago. He plans to still release music through his Roc-A-Fella/ Def Jam label after his contract expires on Dec 31^st.

Rudy Giuliani Says He is Prepared For An Alien Attack

Watch the video as Rudy Giuliani says that he is prepared for an alien attack: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e5d_1192463554&p=1

Student Tasered at John Kerry Speech

Watch the video of a student that was tasered at a John Kerry speech. Click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqAVvlyVbag

Mentally Ill Man Charged with Threatening to Shoot President Bush

It is reported in Tampa, FL that a mentally ill homeless man, named Timothy Wade Pinkston, was charged with threatening to shoot President Bush. Secret Service agents were called to the psychiatric unit of St. Joseph’s Hospital where Pinkston resided. Pinkston told the hospital workers that he planned on going to Washington and shoot the president. When the Secret Service agents arrived, he repeated the threat. He said that he doesn’t like the president’s foreign policy or the way he is handling the war in Iraq.

Pinkston was charged with a federal crime of threatening the president. He also was charged in 1991 with threatening the president and sent threatening letters to the governor of Georgia.

The President's Daughter is Getting Married

It is reported that the President's daughter, Jenna Bush, has gotten engaged on August 15th to her boyfriend, Henry Hager. No wedding date is set yet. It seems as if the Bush family is very happy so far.

Jenna plans to publish a book this fall called Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope. It is about a 17 year old single mother in Panama living with HIV.