Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the Middle East peace process needs to focus on the conflict’s core issues. President Obama and the First Family light the National Christmas Tree. The 1975 Biological Weapons Convention is being used to prevent bioterrorism and to expand information-sharing. The United States is building a strong U.S.-Africa partnership. The third annual Bali Democracy Forum presents an opportunity to learn from other countries. A bright future is in store for the U.S. solar market. And finally, a former Iranian student activist talks about his time in prison.

Focusing on Core Issues in Middle East
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The United States believes it is time for the Middle East peace process to focus on the core issues of the conflict: borders and security, settlements, refugees and Jerusalem, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says. “It is no secret that the parties have a long way to go and that they have not yet made the difficult decisions that peace requires,” Clinton, right, says.

The Obamas Light America’s Christmas Tree
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President Obama and the First Family lit the National Christmas Tree in front of the White House last night. Addressing the crowd at the tree-lighting ceremony Obama said: “On behalf of Malia, Sasha, Michelle, Marian — who’s our grandmother-in-chief — and Bo — don’t forget Bo — I wish all of you a merry Christmas and a blessed holiday season.”

Bio-Weapons Convention at 35
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The 1975 Biological Weapons Convention is being used today to prevent bioterrorism and to expand information-sharing and communication that can be used to combat any pandemic, spread deliberately or otherwise. It originally was designed to ban the development, production, and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons by nation states.

U.S.-Africa Priorities
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The United States government is very much focused and engaged on a wide array of issues across the African continent with an overall goal of building a strong U.S.-Africa partnership, says Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson. Carson says top priorities in Africa remain the same: strengthening democracy, good governance and adherence to the rule of law.

The Bali Democracy Forum
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Praising the opportunity to “listen and learn from the experiences of other countries,” Under Secretary of State Judith McHale expressed U.S. support for the third annual Bali Democracy Forum.

A Bright Future For Solar
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The U.S. solar market could grow eightfold to $8 billion by 2015, says a recent study by GTM Research, a market analysis company focusing on renewable energy industries. Driving growth are state policies that require power companies to generate a certain portion of their electricity from renewable sources, the report says.

Iran’s Students Day
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Abolfazl Jahandar, a former Iranian student activist and political prisoner, spoke at Virginia’s George Mason University on what Iran marks as Students Day, the anniversary of the slaying of three student demonstrators by Iranian police in 1953. Jahandar, left, spent three years in prison, including 400 days in solitary confinement, for his activism.