Posted by Graham Lampa on Jul 01, 2009 - 03:44 PM
![Acting Assistant Secretary Dr. Eliot Kang at The Hague, Netherlands, June 16, 2009. [DTRA Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0701_eliot_kang_m.jpg)
In his Prague speech calling for renewed international action to rid the world of nuclear weapons, President Obama singled out nuclear terrorism as “the most immediate and extreme threat to global security.” To address the threat of terrorists acquiring nuclear weapons, the President called for nations to come together to turn the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism…
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Posted by Thomas E. Weinz on Jul 01, 2009 - 10:59 AM
The Scottish poet, Robert Burns, noted that our best laid plans “…gang aft agley.” Aye, Robbie, and June 30 was a fine example. The USS Dubuque was originally chosen for Pacific Partnership 2009; it is an amphibious ship with a well deck, which is an internal deck that can hold a landing craft. The landing craft is loaded within Dubuque itself, and is simply floated out to sea when ready. But in May, several Dubuque crewmembers contracted H1N1 flu, and the USNS Richard E. Byrd replaced the Dubuque. Byrd is a cargo ship and uses cranes to lower cargo onto piers or other fixed platforms. But Apia’s…
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Posted by John Whittlesey on Jun 30, 2009 - 02:27 PM
![Sea turtle surfaces for air in waters off Caribbean Island of Bonaire, May 30, 2008. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0630_sea_turtle_m.jpg)
In 2007, a rare Kemp's Ridley sea turtle, whose normal habitat is the warm waters of the Caribbean and the southeastern United States, took a very wrong turn and swam all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to southern England. The turtle was found near Devon, England, nearly dead from starvation and hypothermia.
The turtle, later named Willy, was rescued, taken to the Sea Life Center in Weymouth, and nursed back to health.
In 2008, the NGO Marine Environmental Monitoring contacted the U.S. Embassy in London for help in shipping Willy back to the United States. The Embassy's Environment Section worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, wildlife authorities…
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Posted by Thomas E. Weinz on Jun 29, 2009 - 04:43 PM
![USNS Mercy sets sail for Singapore from the Philippines, June 18, 2006. [AP File/ U.S. Navy Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0629_bryd_samoa_m.jpg)
The annual humanitarian mission, this one known simply as Pacific Partnership 2009 (PP2009), is about to begin. It will commence on the two major (and the one very small) islands of Samoa, which are called Upolu and Savai’i, and will continue across thousands of miles of the Pacific over the next several months, visiting five island nations, ending in the Republic of the Marshall Islands on September 18.
The devastating earthquake-induced tsunami that struck on December 26, 2004, killed more than 200,000 people in 13 countries, more than 128,000 in Indonesia…
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Posted by Nancy Carter-Foster on Jun 29, 2009 - 10:57 AM
![Red sports car speeds past municipality worker on embankment in Moscow, May 18, 2008. [AP File]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0625_moscow_road_m.jpg)
Driving may seem like a commonplace activity to many Americans, but it is still a dangerous task at home and in much of the world. Nearly 1.3 million people die and 20-50 million more worldwide are injured in road crashes every year. That translates to 3,500 people dying and 137,000 more being seriously injured or disabled every day. More than half of those killed in traffic crashes are people in the prime of their lives, between the ages of 15-44. It is also the second leading cause of death for children between the ages of 5-15. Road crashes are the leading non-natural cause…
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Posted by Scott Gration on Jun 26, 2009 - 05:12 PM
![Special Envoy to Sudan Gration delivers remarks, Washington, DC, June 23, 2009. [State Dept. Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0626_sudan_cpa_m.jpg)
About the Author: General Scott Gration serves as U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan.
We stand at a critical time in Sudan’s history. It has been four years since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended the longest running…
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Posted by L.J. Krizner on Jun 25, 2009 - 05:33 PM
![Chef prepares food at the Food Bank in Manchester, NH, Nov. 21, 2008. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0625_soup_kitchen_m.jpg)
Have you ever cracked 50 dozen eggs at once – and then scrambled them? The State Department Young Professionals have!
Motivated State Department employees from State’s Young Professionals Group (YPro) generously offer their time, energy and cooking skills to Miriam's Kitchen, one of the soup kitchens in the District of Columbia.
Each month, YPro volunteers rise extra early to arrive at Miriam’s by 6:00 a.m. in time to crack eggs, make biscuits, fill the coffee pots and cereal bowls, and serve up to 250 guests. A dedicated group, YPro volunteers also participate…
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Posted by Rachel L. Cooke on Jun 24, 2009 - 11:32 AM
![Students at Lincoln Center Mazar e-Sharif participate in web chat, June 18, 2009. [State Dept Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0624_kabul_webchat_m.jpg)
Embassy Kabul’s Election Team – a group of political officers who are assisting Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission on issues such as election security, voter registration and training for voting officials – joined forces with the embassy’s Public Diplomacy Section on June 18 to host a web chat about the upcoming presidential and provincial council elections in Afghanistan.
The Political Section’s Lyra Carr and Robert Gerber spent over an hour answering a phenomenal 76 questions, and there were more that we simply couldn’t get to. Over 100 people participated in the web chat. Many of the participates joined the chat from seven Lincoln…
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Posted by Peter Villano on Jun 23, 2009 - 04:10 PM
![Afghan deminer clears a landmine area in Parwan province, north of Kabul, July 16, 2008. [AP File]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0623_afghanistan_demining_m.jpg)
In a small village in Afghanistan’s Kunar Province, a young Afghan man works to remove landmines in his village. Several weeks ago, he was unemployed and worried about supporting his family. He would travel long distances looking for work. Now, he is employed locally as a deminer by an Afghan non-governmental organization (NGO), and returns home every afternoon to see his wife and children.
The Kunar project is a community-based initiative, which centers on the removal of landmines and other unexploded bombs that threaten…
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Posted by Erin Hatch on Jun 23, 2009 - 02:34 PM
![Pink corals seen on Palmyra Atoll in the Pacific, date unknown. [AP/ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0623_marine_conservation_m.jpg)
On Wednesday, June 17, the State Department’s Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science (OES) met with twenty undergraduate students from Malaysia, Singapore, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea who were competitively selected to participate in a “Study of the United States Institute on the Environment” (USIE) program, coordinated by the East-West Center and funded by the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The program provides a platform for international undergraduate students to meet with leading scientists, community leaders, business owners, state and…
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