Secretary Clinton on U.S. Human Rights Agenda for 21st Century

"Today, I want to speak to you about the Obama Administration’s human rights agenda for the 21st century. It is a subject on the minds of many people who are eager to hear our approach, and understandably so, because it is a critical issue that warrants our energy and our attention. My comments today will provide an overview of our thinking on human rights and democracy and how they fit into our broader foreign policy, as well as the principles and policies that guide our approach.
But let me also say that what this is not. It could not be a comprehensive accounting of abuses or nations with whom we have raised human rights concerns. It could not be and is not a checklist or a scorecard. We issue a Human Rights Report every year and that goes into great detail on the concerns we have for many countries. But I hope that we can use this opportunity to look at this important issue in a broader light and appreciate its full complexity, moral weight, and urgency. And with that, let me turn to the business at hand."

See complete speech:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-338aEN.shtml

Launching of the Frank and Kathy Baxter Science Corner

The Frank and Kathy Baxter Science Corner of the Alianza Binational Center debuted yesterday with a live video conference featuring former Apollo XI astronaut, Buzz Aldrin.
Buzz spoke with Uruguayan students and scientists telling of his experience as a crew memeber of Apollo XI and landing on the Moon forty years ago, and the future prospects for the peaceful use of space to benefit mankind.
The Frank and Kathy Baxter Science Corner is intended to create an environment of communication between the Uruguayan and U.S. scientific communities for the exchange of advanced scientific information, to provide support materials and to encourage the study of science.
Frank Baxter is a former U.S. Ambassador to Uruguay.

See photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/usembassy_montevideo/sets/72157622969466564/show/

Obama’s Acceptance of Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo

Today, President Obama formally accepted the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."
"I come here with an acute sense of the costs of armed conflict -- filled with difficult questions about the relationship between war and peace, and our effort to replace one with the other," remarked President Obama in his acceptance speech. "There will be times when nations -- acting individually or in concert -- will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified," he added
See complete speech:
http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-332EN.shtml

Clinton Cites AIDS as Defining Health Challenge of Today

Washington — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton highlighted the continued threat HIV/AIDS poses to the world in a special event at the White House, calling HIV/AIDS “the defining health challenge of our time.”
Speaking November 30 with senior administration officials responsible for the global fight against HIV/AIDS, Clinton said, “We are gathered on the eve of World AIDS Day to renew and recommit ourselves” to helping the 33 million people worldwide afflicted with the disease that still has no known cure.
World AIDS Day was adopted by 140 countries in 1988. It is commemorated every December 1 to raise awareness about the pandemic that has killed more than 25 million people since it began in 1981.

Clinton used the White House event to mention a new five-year global AIDS strategy that will be unveiled later in the week and to announce that Washington will host the 2012 International AIDS Conference since the ban on people with AIDS entering the country had been lifted by President Obama.

See complete article:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-322EN.shtml

Video Contest

To commemorate the independences of the United States and Uruguay, the U.S. Embassy Montevideo has launched an online video contest inviting contestants to submit a three-minute video on the subject "Uruguay and the United States".
The contest is open to all interested parties. Entries can be submitted individually or in teams. More than one entry per person or team is allowed. The videos can be in Spanish or in English. The use of subtitles is encouraged. Videos containing unauthorized copyrighted material will be disqualified.
Contestants must submit their videos, no more than 3 minutes in length, directly to YouTube, as a response to the promotional video of the contest: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qU14W4vqNA.
A panel of renowned experts in communications will be selected to judge the entries. The winner, to be announced as soon as the panel has reached a decision, will be awarded a high definition digital video camera.
The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, August 25, 2009, Uruguay's Independence Day.

U.S. Regions Experiencing Climate Change Effects Now, Report Says

By Cheryl Pellerin

The first U.S. report in nearly a decade to assess the impacts of climate change in different regions of the United States confirms and extends research that describes rising sea and air temperatures and sea levels, melting ice, intensified hurricanes and many other changes that are happening now. Such changes will continue into the future, affecting water resources, agriculture, coastal areas and health.
Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, called a state-of-knowledge report, was released June 16 during a briefing at the White House by John Holdren, assistant to the president for science and technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the U. S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The report, in development for more than a year, “tells us why remedial action is needed sooner rather than later,” Holdren said in a statement. It shows “why that action must include both global emissions reductions to reduce the extent of climate change and local adaptation measures to reduce the damage from the changes that are no longer avoidable.”
Findings are based largely on results of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), which began as a presidential initiative in 1989 and that Congress included in the Global Change Research Act of 1990. Thirteen federal agencies participate in the work of the USGCRP.

[See complete article: http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-208EN.shtml]

U.S. Electric System Begins Long Transformation to a Smart Grid

Following the lead of some European and Pacific Rim nations, U.S. government technical and regulatory agencies, electric utilities, energy service providers and private companies are working to turn the nation’s century-old electric power grid into a 21st-century “smart grid”.

More information on our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-128EN.shtml

Obama to Allow More Travel, Money Transfers to Cuba

Actions intended to reach out directly to the Cuban people

The United States will allow Cuban Americans unlimited travel and money transfers to family in Cuba, the White House says.
Cuban Americans may also send clothes, personal hygiene items, seeds, fishing gear and other personal necessities to family members in Cuba. Businesses will be able to obtain licenses to sell cellular telephones, television services and other telecommunications devices to Cubans, with family members in the United States allowed to pay for them, the White House said.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-126EN.shtml