Tag Archives: NATO summit

U.S. Support for Liu / The Côte d’Ivoire Vote / Seeds of Peace

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Days before he is to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, the United States is supporting jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. The U.S. calls for a smooth transition of power after elections in Côte d’Ivoire. In the past couple of weeks, the U.S. has participated in five European summits. Mobile phones are giving people access to financial systems in Africa for the first time. An American educator will be speaking about higher education in Africa. And, an unlikely friendship grows from Seeds of Peace.

U.S. Backs Jailed Nobel Winner
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Barry White, the U.S. ambassador to Norway, will attend the December 10 Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in a show of support for jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. The U.S. House of Representatives has also passed a resolution honoring the Peace Prize winner for promoting democratic reform in China and calling for his immediate release from prison. At right, a banner picturing Liu is installed at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo.

The Côte d’Ivoire Vote
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The U.S. urges President Laurent Gbagbo to hand over power and authority to Alassane Ouattara, who won the second round of Côte d’Ivoire’s presidential election. If that does not happen, the U.S. will take further steps such as travel bans or sanctions directed against President Gbagbo, his family and associates, says U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson.

For U.S., Five European Summits
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The United States participated in five summits over the past couple of weeks, engaging with nations from Europe, Central Asia and North America. These summits presented “an unprecedented opportunity for engagement with our partners in Europe and Eurasia,” says Philip Gordon, the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs.

Mobilizing African Banking
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In African countries such as Tanzania and Malawi, mobile telephones are taking a first step into the formal financial system. Almost 1 million active customers in Tanzania use mobile-phone payments to transfer funds to relatives, buy supplies, pay doctors and save money for future emergencies.

A Moroccan Higher Ed Conference
Barbara Brittingham, president of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges’ Commission on Institutions of Higher Education, will be a featured speaker alongside leading Moroccan and international experts and officials at the Moroccan Fulbright Alumni Association’s annual conference.

Seeds of Peace Take Root
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Seeds of Peace is an organization that brings teens from conflict areas around the world to a summer camp in Maine, U.S.A., where they foster trust, understanding and communication. For Joseph Katona, left, a Jewish kid from Los Angeles, and Omar Dreidi, a Palestinian kid from Ramallah, it meant a lasting friendship.

Obama and NATO / A U.S.-E.U. Energy Agreement / Nueva York

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President Obama attends the NATO and U.S.-E.U. Summits in Lisbon and discusses relations with Europe in an op-ed. The U.S.-EU Energy Council comes up with an alternative energy agreement. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will attend a European security summit next month. The U.S. Navy launches a Persian Gulf rescue. The U.S. and Russia want to save an endangered big cat. And finally, check out a photo gallery about Nueva York.

The U.S.-E.U. Relationship
President Obama praised the U.S.-European relationship for its deep cooperation and close ties as he arrived in Lisbon for the 2010 NATO Summit and U.S.-European Union Summit. Obama, right, added that these summits offer “an opportunity to deepen our cooperation even further and to ensure that NATO—the most successful alliance in human history—remains as relevant in this century as it was in the last.”  

Obama on Europe and America
As he arrives in Lisbon for the NATO and U.S.-European Union Summits, President Barack Obama calls America’s relationship with Europe “the cornerstone of our engagement with the world” in this op-ed. 

A U.S.-E.U. Energy Agreement
The U.S.-EU Energy Council agrees to enhance coordinated efforts to find additional sources of energy and to coordinate research and regulations. The deal was announced on the sidelines of the 2010 NATO Summit in Lisbon by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and European Union High Representative for Foreign Policy Catherine Ashton.

Clinton to Join OSCE Summit
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will attend the 2010 Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Summit December 1-2 in Kazakhstan, Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake says.

U.S. Navy Rescues Iranian Sailors
U.S. Navy sailors come to the assistance of two stranded Iranian mariners in the Persian Gulf, providing them with care until they could be picked up by an Iranian coast guard vessel.

Teaming Up to Save the Tiger
The United States, Russia and others are meeting at the 2010 International Tiger Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, November 21–25 to find new ways to protect the world’s ever-dwindling population of tigers.

Photo Gallery: Nueva York (1613-1945)
This fall, the exhibit “Nueva York (1613-1945)” will document four centuries of cross-cultural influence and cooperation between Latin America and Spain and New York. This photo gallery shows some of the pieces on display in the exhibit. At right, a baseball used by Esteban Bellán, who in 1869 became the first Latin American ballplayer to play in the major leagues.

Protecting Americans Overseas / New Afghan Power Transfer Plan / An Interfaith Thanksgiving

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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says it is important to protect Americans traveling overseas. A top U.S. terrorism official says cooperation among nation’s has been successful in fighting terrorism. At the upcoming NATO summit, a new Afghan power transfer plan will be announced. Through two different State Department programs, a group of Gaza entrepreneurs and a group of 100 young foreign legislators visit the U.S. Also, thousands of Libyans hoping to study in the U.S. attend an education fair in Tripoli. 19 artifacts illegally taken from King Tut’s tomb are returning to Egypt. And finally, a minister, a rabbi and an iman come together to celebrate an interfaith Thanksgiving.

Protecting Americans Overseas
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says it is important for the State Department and the American private sector to cooperate on protecting Americans who travel overseas. Speaking to security professionals in Washington, Clinton, right, says the Obama administration knows “how important it is not to withdraw from the world,” despite the risks that many private Americans must take when traveling.



Nations Team Up Against Terror
Cooperation among nations fighting the global war on terror has been remarkable in the nine years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, says Ambassador Daniel Benjamin, the State Department’s top counterterrorism official.

New Afghan Power Transfer Plan
The United States and its NATO partners are preparing to announce plans to transfer security control of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces to the Afghans by the end of 2014. U.S. Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder says that in addition to Afghanistan, another key issue of the upcoming summit will be the adoption of a new 21st-century Strategic Concept.

Gaza Entrepreneurs Visit U.S.
Ten Gaza entrepreneurs recently made a three-week tour of America through a program sponsored by the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem, an International Visitor Leadership Program entitled “Entrepreneurship and Business Management.”

Future Foreign Leaders Visit
More than 100 young legislators and activists from 17 countries came to the United States this fall to learn about U.S. government, to see the U.S. midterm election, and to engage in learning sessions hosted by U.S. law makers.

In Libya, a U.S. Education Fair
Thousands of Libyans hoping to study in the United States attended the “2010 Study in the USA Education Fair” November 6–7 at Al-Fateh University in Tripoli.

Artifacts Go Back to Egypt
Artifacts illegally taken from the Egyptian boy-king Tutankhamun’s tomb are going home, as the Metropolitan Museum of Art will formally return 19 artifacts to Egypt. Zahi Hawass, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt, hailed the return as “a wonderful gesture.”

An Interfaith Thanksgiving
Learning more about other religious faiths helps strengthen one’s own, say a minister, a rabbi and an imam. The three came together recently — as they have each year for the last five years — to celebrate a joint interfaith service of thanksgiving with at least 200 people from the three congregations. At right, Imam Abu Nahidian, Rabbi Sunny Schnitzer and Reverend David Gray.