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

Economic Crisis Top Item on Summit of the Americas Agenda

The fifth Summit of the Americas to be held in Trinidad and Tobago, April 17–19

One of the central issues confronting the 34 leaders of the Western Hemisphere is that the economic gains so hard won over the past six years are being threatened by the downturn in the global economy, says the White House adviser for the April 17–19 Summit of the Americas.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-121aEN.shtml

United States Hosts 32nd Meeting of Antarctic Treaty Nations

Historic Antarctic Treaty, Arctic Council joint session launches meeting

At a critical time for the Antarctic Peninsula, which scientists say is one of the fastest-warming places on Earth, and the increasing loss of summer ice in the Arctic Ocean, the first joint session of officials representing the Antarctic Treaty and the Arctic Council convened April 6 in Baltimore.

More information at our web site:

http://uruguay.usembassy.gov/usaweb/2009/09-120aEN.shtml