Geneva, Jan. 19 : The Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at U. S. President George W. Bush during the latter''s surprise visit to Baghdad last month, will seek political asylum in Switzerland, his Geneva-based lawyer has said.

According to a foreign news agency report, lawyer Mauro Poggia says Muntadhar al-Zeidi''s life is in danger in Iraq.

Al-Zeidi is currently in an Iraqi jail awaiting trial on charges of assaulting a foreign leader for his December 14 shoe-throwing incident at a news conference in Baghdad.

Washington, Jan. 19 (ANI): Following will be the schedule of events for Barack Obama''s inauguration as 44th President of the United States.

TUESDAY, JAN. 20 (INAUGURATION DAY)

Gates to the Inaugural Ceremony open at 8 a. m. The inaugural festivities are scheduled to start at 10 a. m. on the West Front of the U. S. Capitol. They will include:

- Musical selections of The United States Marine Band, followed by the San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus.

- Sen. Dianne Feinstein provides call to order and welcoming remarks.

- Invocation by the Rev. Rick Warren.

Washington, Jan. 19: With the recession in the United States showing no signs of ending, Americans are looking at the country’s armed forces as a viable employment option, lured by factors such as a steady paycheck, benefits and training.

As of December 2008 alone, 21,443 new soldiers have joined active duty or the reserves, reports the New York Times.

Of the four armed services, the Army has faced the toughest recruiting challenge in recent years because of high casualty rates in Iraq and long deployments overseas.

Nairobi - Incoming US president Barack Obama must act to address hunger and poverty in Africa, prominent anti-poverty campaigner Jeffrey Sachs said Monday.

"Obama has a responsibility to accomplish a great deal (in Africa)," Sachs, an economist and Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, told journalists in Kenyan capital Nairobi.

"Not because of his African heritage, but because the US has not been fulfilling its responsibilities in this part of the world," he added.

Washington, Jan. 19 : Two Methodist churches, which have stood on the same block on Capitol Hill for close to two centuries -- one congregation black and the other white, will create history on Tuesday, when they open their doors for the first time to all communities, ending decades of racial segregation.