Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton opens a new round of Middle East Peace talks at the State Department and releases a video seeking donations to the Pakistan Relief Fund. A U.S. program is saving energy by weatherizing hundreds of thousands of homes. And dirt bikes bring together a pair of champion riders, one from the U.S. and one from Iran.
Clinton Opens Mideast Peace Talks
Secretary Clinton opened direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that “only you can make the decisions necessary to reach an agreement and secure a peaceful future for the Israeli and Palestinian people.”
[video href="http://www.america.gov/multimedia/video.html?videoId=601995420001"]
Secretary Clinton Urges Citizens to Give to Pakistan Relief Fund
State Department Reaches Americans, World via Television and Radio
As the scope of the devastation inflicted by the flooding in Pakistan becomes ever more evident, the United States is promoting new ways for citizens to join the effort to help flood victims. In television and radio public service announcements, Clinton encourages Americans to donate to the Pakistan Relief Fund. Created by the U.S. State Department, the fund is meant to raise the profile of Pakistan’s needs to donors around the world whose generosity can help.
Weatherizing U.S. Homes
A $5 billion U.S. program to weatherize the nation’s leaky homes is now upgrading 25,000 homes a month. So far, one-third of the 600,000 homes scheduled to be weatherized have been completed under the program funded by the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
A Friendship of Champions
Noora Moghaddas, the first Iranian women’s motocross champion, and Ashley Fiolek, the two-time American champ, formed a friendship based on their passion for off-road motorcycle riding.
Recently, Moghaddas, right, visited the Fiolek, left, in the United States.
