President Obama delivers remarks in Indonesia. The U.S. and Indonesia team up to improve water services. It takes international cooperation to go after sophisticated criminal syndicates. The U.S. sets conditions that could lead to Sudan’s removal from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. In Australia, ministers meet. And, finally, the Hispanic vote flexes its muscle in U.S. elections.
Obama Reaches Out to Muslim World
President Obama says that since becoming president he has worked to repair relations between the United States and Muslim communities around the world that have been frayed over many years by mistrust and suspicion. “We can choose to be defined by our differences, and give in to a future of suspicion and mistrust. Or we can choose to do the hard work of forging common ground, and commit ourselves to the steady pursuit of progress,” he says. Above, Obama talks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta.
Obama Questions New Israeli Construction
President Obama says Israel’s plan to build 1,300 new apartments in East Jerusalem is not helping the ongoing peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Speaking in Jakarta, Obama says he had not yet had a full briefing concerning Israel’s intentions in the announcement of the new construction, but said “this kind of activity is never helpful.”
Obama’s Return to Indonesia
Barack Obama said it felt “wonderful” to return to Indonesia as President of the United States many years after he had lived in the country for four years as a boy. “The sights and the sounds and the memories all feel very familiar and it’s wonderful to be able to come back as president and hopefully contribute to further understanding between the United States and Indonesia,” Obama said November 9 in a press conference with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
A Water Partnership for Indonesia
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is continuing its partnership with Indonesian organizations to help 2 million people gain access to improved water supplies and 200,000 people gain access to adequate sanitation facilities. The effort builds on 66 months of programs across Indonesia through the USAID-funded Environmental Services Program.
Cooperation on Crime
The Obama administration is developing innovative global partnerships across the Pacific and Atlantic to fight increasingly sophisticated transnational criminal enterprises.
U.S. Makes Offer to Remove Sudan from Terror List
The United States has conditioned its willingness to accelerate the process of removing Sudan from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism provided that Sudan fully implements its obligations under the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, including preparing and conducting a January 9, 2011 referendum in southern Sudan and respecting the referendum results.
U.S.-Australia Talks
Women’s empowerment and military cooperation topped the agenda as the defense and foreign ministers of Australia and the United States met in Melbourne. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the session “a broad, far-reaching and extremely valuable set of consultations.”
The Hispanic Vote in America
The 2010 midterm elections in the United States demonstrated the growing importance of the Hispanic vote across party lines, according to election analysts. Hispanics generally favored Democratic candidates over Republicans, and some analysts credit them with keeping the Senate in Democratic hands. At right, Nevada Democrat Harry Reid greets Hispanic supporters at an October rally.