Posted by Joseph A. Mussomeli on Apr 25, 2008 - 11:19 AM
![A currency trader counts Cambodian money in Phnom Penh, Cambodia Feb. 15, 2008. [AP]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/2008_0425_cambodia_m.jpg)
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Posted by Morgan Obrien on Apr 19, 2008 - 09:00 AM
![Pope Benedict addresses the UN General Assemby at UN headquarters April 18, 2008. [AP photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/2008_0418_pope_bh_m.jpg)
Pope Benedict XVI's first visit to the United States maintained its impressive pace as the Holy Father flew from Washington to New York this morning, where he addressed the United Nations General Assembly.
As the third pontiff to address the General Assembly, the Holy Father spoke in French and English to a packed auditorium filled with representatives from the UN's 192 member states and discussed our increasingly interconnected world, the importance of protecting the environment, and framed his remarks around the universal necessity to protect human rights.
Along with Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, the permanent representative of the United States to the UN, and Ambassador Mary Ann Glendon,…
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Posted by Richard Michaels on Apr 18, 2008 - 11:39 AM
![Staff commemorate attack U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon on Apr. 17, 2008. [State Dept. photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/2008_0418_beirut_bh_m.jpg)
On a sunny Monday afternoon in 1983, the U.S. Embassy in Beirut was a hive of activity: employees conducted meetings, visa applicants awaited their interviews and other American and Lebanese staff ate their lunch in the cafeteria. At 12:55pm, a truck bomb indelibly changed these people’s lives, detonating on the embassy’s doorstop, killing 52 innocent embassy employees and other passers-by. As a child growing up in Wisconsin, I remember the bombing, watching the grim…
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Posted by Nancy Brinker on Apr 17, 2008 - 03:56 PM
![Pope Benedict XVI waves upon his arrival at Andrews Air Force Base Apr. 15, 2008. [AP photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/2008_0417_pope_bh_m.jpg)
The past few days have been busy ones for the Office of Protocol. In 2007, we began preparations for the visit to the U.S. by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. Since that time, our office has been coordinating with the Vatican, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Archdiocese in Washington and New York City, The United States Secret Service, The White House and local authorities. All members of the team, especially the Papal delegation and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Archdioceses, have been so gracious to work with. Meetings were held, contingency plans were…
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Posted by Heath Kern Gibson on Apr 15, 2008 - 03:26 PM
![Zulu regiments in their traditional outfits in Durban, South Africa July 9, 2002. [AP file photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/africa_map1_m.jpg)
I went home to New York for Easter weekend and was surprised to find my work life infiltrating the holiday weekend. On Saturday night I went to a popular Broadway musical. The theatre was packed, the production phenomenal and the applause lengthy. The surprise came after the curtain came down and the lead actor asked the audience to give money to a charity that helps prevent disease in Africa. My curiosity was piqued by the recipient. I had never seen a Broadway actor pitch for any charity outside of the U.S before. Surprise number two came during Easter services at the church I have been going to since I was a little girl. Three quarters of the way through, a woman went to the pulpit and spoke about a church trip she had made to Africa. The story was riveting, and then she came to the point -- a plea for the congregation to give…
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