Tag Archives: East Asia Summit

A Thwarted Bomb Plot / Room to Read / Election Day in the USA

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President Obama praises the coordinated effort of security authorities from the United States and its allies in heading off attempted aircraft bombings. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks to the East Asia Summit. The Obama administration seeks renewed international cooperation to fight corruption. A young entrepreneur from Bangladesh has a growing agribusiness. Read about an organization that opens a new children’s library somewhere in the world every four hours. And, in the U.S., Americans go to the polls to choose national, and state, leaders. 

International Cooperation Helped Thwart Attack
The Obama administration credits the diligence and cooperation of security services from the United States and its partners overseas for identifying and neutralizing two bombs placed aboard cargo jets that were bound for the United States. President Obama, right, said the plot was a “credible terrorist threat” that counterterrorism professionals are very taking seriously.


Clinton Highlight East Asia Summit
The United States wants to help strengthen the East Asia Summit as a key forum for political and strategic issues in the Asia-Pacific region, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says. “The conversations that take place here are of great consequence for every country in the Asia-Pacific region,” she says.

Snapshots of the Muslim World 
Derek Brown spent 14 months photographing people in 28 different countries including Pakistan, Senegal, Jordan and Turkey, to demonstrate the diversity of the Muslim world. His exhibit of photographs, “Imagining the Muslim World,” is on display through mid-November at Busboys & Poets in Washington D.C.

Bolder Action on Corruption
The Obama administration is pushing for bolder efforts to fight corruption, building on progress made last year by the international community. In 2009, state parties to the UN Convention Against Corruption agreed to establish a peer review mechanism of compliance with the convention.

Agribusiness in Bangladesh
Mazharul Anowar, a young entrepreneur from Bangladesh, is expanding his integrated food business. He was inspired by a recent trip to the U.S. through a State Department program which introduces foreign visitors to U.S. counterparts who give them advice on developing their careers in their home countries.

Making “Room to Read”
Room to Read began in 1998 and now operates in nine countries — India, Nepal, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zambia and South Africa. On average, Room to Read opens a children’s library every four hours.

37 States to Choose Governors
No presidential contest will top U.S. ballots on November 2, but citizens in 37 states are choosing governors who will make key decision on everything from spending policies to appointing judges. In the U.S. system, states levy taxes, establish license fees, determine how state revenues are spent, regulate businesses and administer the systems of health and safety services that affect the daily lives of their citizens.

Volunteers and Election Day
Election Day in the United States is the culmination of months of hard work — a day when volunteers of all ages and backgrounds enjoy the excitement of democracy in action. Most political organizations rely heavily on unpaid volunteers to mount effective campaigns, and both parties actively recruit volunteers on national, state and local levels.

Obama’s Asia Agenda / Clinton on Vietnam / Foreign Journalists

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Preparing for his trip to Asia, President Obama’s travel agenda is packed. Currently in Asia, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visits Vietnam and encourages engagement. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke gives an update on Afghanistan and Pakistan. The U.S. is ramping up its efforts to combat human trafficking. Meanwhile, the midterms are next week; learn more about political reporting and the concept of divided government. And, finally, foreign journalists visit the State Department as part of a unique program.

Obama’s Asia Engagement
Senior White House officials say President Obama’s nine-day visit to India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan is aimed at renewing U.S. engagement across Asia. The president’s November 6-14 visit includes meetings of the Group of 20 major economies in Seoul and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Yokohama.


Clinton in Vietnam
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is in Hanoi, Vietnam, to meet with national leaders and to attend the East Asia Summit, where she is emphasizing the U.S. commitment to strengthened engagement with Vietnam and the Asia-Pacific region.

Afghanistan, Pakistan Agree on Trade
The leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan have signed a trade agreement that will expand trade and investment opportunities for both countries, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke says. “This is the most important agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan since Pakistan’s independence,” says Holbrooke, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Combating Modern Day Slavery
The United States is intensifying its efforts to combat human trafficking, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says. Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, Holder says the Department of Justice will strengthen the ability of federal law enforcement to investigate and prosecute human trafficking crimes.

Nonstop Political Reporting
“Ideological” Internet and cable television news shows running day and night with commentators expressing personal opinions about political candidates could affect the outcome of the November 2 midterm elections, political experts say.

Can a Divided Government Work?
The prospect of a divided U.S. government — with a president of one party and at least one chamber of Congress dominated by the other party — has raised questions about what the next two years might be like in Washington.

Foreign Journalists Visit U.S.
The State Department welcomed more than 150 young international media professionals representing 125 countries to the nation’s capital as part of the fifth annual Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists. The program, named for Murrow, a pioneer in broadcast journalism, provides foreign journalists the opportunity to experience the United States firsthand while exchanging ideas with their American colleagues. At left, some of the program participants gather at the State Department.

A New Fund for Women / Clinton’s East Asia Trip / Cows to Kazakhstan

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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announces a new $44 million fund devoted to women’s empowerment and preps for her upcoming trip to Asia. The world’s major economies come to an agreement on currency. Among mobile phone users, there is a major gender gap. Learn about the craft of Lowcountry basket-weaving. And, finally, find out why the U.S. is shipping cows to Kazakhstan.

A $44 Million Fund for Women
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced that the Obama administration will commit nearly $44 million to fund women’s empowerment initiatives around the world in order to advance U.N. Security Council goals of integrating women into international peace and security efforts. Speaking at the Security Council, Clinton, right, said that the largest portion of the U.S. funding – $17 million – will support civil society groups in Afghanistan that focus on women, who she said are “rightly worried that in the very legitimate search for peace their rights will be sacrificed.”


Clinton to Travel to East Asia
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton plans extensive talks with leaders and senior officials from at least eight East Asian and Pacific nations during a 13-day trip to the region to show U.S. engagement on a range of issues. She will also address the East Asia Summit in Hanoi.

An Agreement on Currency
Only two weeks after failing to resolve differences at a meeting in Washington, financial officials of the world’s major economies agreed to avoid conflicting currency interventions and, in principle, to reduce trade imbalances.

A Mobile Gender Gap
A gender gap is preventing approximately 300 million women from taking advantage of the potential of mobile phones to improve conditions for the world’s poor.

Lowcountry Baskets on Display
The weaving of coiled baskets is a craft that was brought from West and Central Africa to the American Colonies more than 300 years ago and is still passed from generation to generation among the Gullah/Geechee people of South Carolina and Georgia.

Cows for Kazakhstan
Under an agreement between a U.S. company and the Kazakh government, the first shipments of pregnant heifers have begun making the trip from Fargo, North Dakota, to Astana, Kazakhstan. The goal is to upgrade Kazakhstan’s beef breeding stock and reinvigorate its agricultural industry by shipping cattle. In Kazakhstan, a once-strong cattle industry that sent much of its beef to Russia went into decline after the fall of the Soviet Union. A dozen flights between North Dakota and Kazakhstan are scheduled by early December, each shipping nearly 170 heifers. At left, a heifer is packed for shipping.