Paula Wolfson
U.S. President Barack Obama's top counter-terrorism advisor says a threat from an al-Qaida affiliate led to the closure of the American embassy in Yemen. VOA's Paula Wolfson reports this same group has been linked to the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. airliner.

John Brennan says the embassy was closed to protect the lives of its staff.

"There are indications that al-Qaida in the

(inan.info)-By David Gollust
The State Department-VOA News-

The Obama administration on Wednesday defended its decision to reverse the policy of its predecessor and seek a seat on the United Nations' Human Rights Council. Critics of the move contend that the U.N. agency is beyond reform.

The decision is being criticized by U.S. conservatives who say it only legitimizes a fatally-flawed organization. But Obama administration officials say they believe engagement can reform the U.N. body, even though they say they have no illusions about the difficulty of the process.

The Human Rights Council was formed in 2006 to replace the U.N.'s Human Rights Committee, which was widely discredited for accepting countries with poor human rights records as members.

Critics say the successor organization has been no improvement, with the council disregarding rights abuses in places like Zimbabwe and Sudan's Darfur region, while being a sounding board for criticism of Israel.

The Bush administration initially agreed to fund the council and participate as an observer but later withdrew, citing its undue focus on Israel.

In an announcement late Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said the United States will seek a seat on the panel in

By Alison Klayman
Beijing

The United States and China are both prioritizing the issue of climate change. They are looking to energy efficiency as a primary means to reduce carbon emissions and as an area for new jobs and economic growth.

"It begins with energy," said President Obama in his late February address to Congress.

President Obama promised government investment in three areas that he called "absolutely critical" to America's economic future. The first one on his list was energy.

However, President Obama went on to praise China, and not the United States, for making the greatest strides towards the goal of energy efficiency.

"We know the country that harnesses the power of clean, renewable energy will lead the 21st century. And, yet, it is China that has launched the largest effort in history to

By Paula Wolfson
Ottawa

President Barack Obama (r) and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the Parliament building in Ottawa, 19 Feb 2009
U.S. President Barack Obama made a quick trip to Canada on Thursday - his first foreign journey since assuming office. His talks with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper focused on the global economic recession, trade, energy, the environment and the future of Afghanistan.

They met at a time of global turmoil and stressed their common ground.

"The economy and our security are

(inan.info)-By David Gollust
State Department

US Secretary Of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at the Asia Society, in New York, 13 Feb. 2009
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a policy address preceding her trip to Asia beginning Sunday, said the United States is ready to offer North Korea normal relations and a peace treaty if it scraps its nuclear program. The Secretary also announced that military-to-military U.S. ties with China are being renewed.

The Secretary, previewing the four-nation Asian tour that will be her first trip abroad in her new job, called the North Korean nuclear program the most acute challenge to stability in Northeast Asia.

In the most explicit recent comments by the United States on the subject, she told New York's Asia Society that a

(inan.info)-By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill


At the U.S. Capitol Thursday, members of Congress marked the seventh anniversary of the September 11, 2001 al-Qaida attacks on the United States with a ceremony and statements of remembrance. VOA's Dan Robinson reports, lawmakers gathered on the Capitol's west front, coinciding with other observances in New York City, at the Pentagon, and elsewhere honoring victims of the attacks and those who responded to them.

Leaders from both major parties offered tributes in memory of the nearly 3,000 who died in the attacks, and to the thousands of emergency, fire, law enforcement, and other workers who responded.

From the House of Representatives, the Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader John Boehner:

PELOSI: "For them and for all, in Pennsylvania and New York, who suffered and died that day, we now observe a moment of silence."

BOEHNER: "Despite the scars, the attacks of 9/11 failed. They failed and today freedom and democracy are taking root in parts of the world where they once were only a far off dream."

From the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Minority leader Mitch McConnell:

"REID: "The terrorists hoped that our nation would crumble as quickly as the buildings they destroyed. But they soon discovered that America's resolve cannot be measured by the strength of our stone, our cement or our steel."

McCONNELL: "Seven years ago today, a small band of wicked men attacked America and all its represents. They had hoped we would remember that day and their terrible deeds with fear and confusion and doubt. And of course this day will always be a day of sadness for Americans. But September 11th has also become a day of solemn pride for our country, solemn pride in the memory of the courage and the sacrifice we saw."

Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer recalled that the Capitol itself might have been destroyed by the al-Qaida terrorists who hijacked aircraft, but was spared along with the lives of those in it, by the heroism of passengers aboard United Flight 93 who battled terrorists before that plane crashed in Pennsylvania.

"We were spared that because seven years ago today a handful of ordinary Americans found they

(inan.info)-Paris Awaits Obama
By Lisa Bryant
Paris

After a stop-over in Germany, democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama is due in Paris Friday, where he is expected to meet with President Nicolas Sarkozy. Lisa Bryant has more for VOA from the French capital.

As elsewhere in Europe, the U.S. presidential campaign has riveted France - particularly that of Democratic hopeful Barack Obama. Partly because French are eager for a change from the Bush administration, which is generally unpopular here.

Senator Obama is expected for a late afternoon talk with President Nicolas Sarkozy - who

(inan.info)-By VOA News

South Korea's Foreign Ministry says kidnappers have released five South Korean hostages in northern Mexico.

A ministry official in Seoul said the four men and one woman were released unharmed early this morning Korean time. The official, Lee Jeong-gwan, said they will be handed over soon to South Korean authorities.

The kidnap victims were seized on July 14 while they traveled by car in the city of Reynosa, along Mexico's border with the

(inan.info)-By David Gollust
State Department

The United States Tuesday imposed financial sanctions against six Iranian individuals and five companies for alleged ties to the country's nuclear and missile programs. U.S. officials confirm meanwhile that overall trade with Iran has been increasing. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

The Bush administration is expanding its blacklist of Iranian firms and individuals linked to proliferation activities even while acknowledging that trade with Iran, mainly in food and medicine, has grown sharply since 2001.

The State and Treasury Departments said five Iranian companies are being added to a sanctions list, as well as six individuals including a nuclear scientist and a former Revolutionary Guard Corps commander.

The scientist named is Mohsen Fakhrizadeh-Mahadbadi, a senior Defense Ministry official and former head of Iran's Physics Research Center. He was previously cited in a U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution and Iran has refused to allow him to be interviewed by the International Atomic Energy Agency about his work with the physics center.

The former Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, Yahya Rahim Safavi, was also cited in the 2006 U.N. resolution. He was replaced as chief of the elite force last year and became military adviser to the country's supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Among the Iranian firms named is the Tehran-based company Tamas, said to be involved in uranium mining and refining.

The listing forbids U.S. business dealings with the Iranian companies and individuals and freezes any assets they may have in U.S. banks.

Officials here concede they may have few U.S. business links, but Acting State Department Spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said their proliferation involvement has now been exposed worldwide:

"The government of Iran uses firms and individuals to hide behind as they try and develop their nuclear program," he said. "This is a known fact. And as long as they continue to do this, we

(inan.info)-By Kurt Achin
Rusutsu, Japan

Leaders of the world's advanced economies have been meeting with counterparts from some of the world's poorest African nations on the first day of the G8 summit in northern Japan. As VOA's Kurt Achin reports from Hokkaido, the G8 leaders are facing criticism for failing to come through on promises they made to Africa's neediest inhabitants.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Monday the main challenges facing the G8 summit are of special importance to Africa.

"Food and fuel, sustenance and energy, malnutrition and health, it does not get more basic than that," he said.

G8 leaders discussed those themes with invited leaders from eight African nations here in northern Japan, at a secluded resort hotel in Toyako. Two years ago, at a similar gathering in Scotland, the G8 promised to boost aid to