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A fresh team of Supreme Court justices appointed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2006 is determined to build up the professionalism of the country’s judiciary, which has suffered from Afghanistan’s 30 years of war, destruction and instability.  "We are working on how to upgrade the knowledge of our citizens … and identify who can stay and continue" as judges, as well as those who should be removed, Afghan Supreme Court Chief Justice Abdul Salam Azimi tells USINFO.

Strengthening procedures for sharing samples of potentially pandemic viruses and increasing developing-nation access to the resulting vaccines were the focus of an international meeting hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva November 20-23. The meeting drew an estimated 300 attendees, including about 100 member-state delegations, representatives from international organizations and invited experts. Attendees agreed that countries will share viruses with WHO while a detailed framework for sharing flu samples and benefits is developed.

To win primary elections in the United States, presidential candidates must convince members of their own political parties that they share the party’s political views. This means that during the nomination season, Democrats are discussing issues that matter to liberal voters, while Republicans are focusing on the topics that conservatives care about.

To win primary elections in the United States, presidential candidates must convince members of their own political parties that they share the party’s political views. This means that during the nomination season, Democrats are discussing issues that matter to liberal voters, while Republicans are focusing on the topics that conservatives care about.

An exhibition of 100 striking black-and-white photographs evokes the personal stories and hard-won victories of influential African Americans who helped shape the life of their nation over the past 150 years.  Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits -- the inaugural exhibition of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture -- traces the history of the United States from the vantage point of people who have suffered discrimination, oppression and injustice.  Even now, after decades of social progress, the images from Resistance still challenge America to live up to its own highest ideals, according to Deborah Willis, curator of the exhibition.

The time has come for a Palestinian state and peace in the Middle East, but Israelis and Palestinians will need international help, President Bush tells representatives from nearly 50 countries and international organizations at a one-day conference at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.  "The time is right.  The cause is just.  And with hard effort, I know they can succeed," Bush says, following a joint meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Security conditions have improved enough in Iraq that the United States November 27 began the drawdown of U.S. combat troops from Diyala province. "The redeployment without replacement reflects overall improved security within Iraq, as well as improved capabilities of the Iraqi security forces and the emergence of concerned local citizens," Navy Rear Admiral Gregory Smith tells reporters in Baghdad.

The scenic, waterfront city of Annapolis -- historic Colonial town and state capital of Maryland –- is the site of a Middle East peace conference November 26-28. The city has a colorful history, including serving for a brief period as the peacetime capital of the United States.

As President Bush met with Palestinian and Israeli leaders at the White House before the start of a U.S.-sponsored Middle East conference, officials highlight broad international support as essential to move the peace process forward. Some 49 nations, organizations and individuals, including 16 Arab states, have accepted invitations to the November 27 conference on the sprawling campus of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, outside of Washington, according to a State Department spokesman.

Economic leaders in other countries recognize that entrepreneurs are a sustaining force for U.S. economic growth.  But they do not always understand that the environment that fosters U.S. entrepreneurs as they start businesses includes more than bankruptcy laws to protect a person’s assets if his or her business fails.  The environment also includes an attitude that sees failure as a necessary part of the education of a successful leader. Ideas about entrepreneurship, such as the importance of failure, will be discussed worldwide during Global Entrepreneurship Week, scheduled for November 17–23, 2008.

Internationalizing the American campus can involve more than attracting international students or encouraging U.S. students to study abroad. Branch campuses and collaborative degree programs are growing areas of internationalization, but the key to internationalizing may be the faculty, according to an expert on the subject. “The major focus should be about producing globally competent graduates” who are “ready to live and work in a global, multicultural world,” says Madeleine Green, vice president for international initiatives at the American Council on Education. “If the faculty thinks about their connection with the larger world … they will communicate that through their teaching and research to students.”

The November 26-28 Annapolis Conference is important to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in two ways -- it solidifies the launch of peace negotiations and it brings together international support, especially from Arab nations, says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. For the United States, the two elements are critical to each other and to achieving success, Rice adds.

Were you to talk to Isaac Larian about his childhood in Iran, he would not wax nostalgic over childhood games or playthings.  In fact, he would tell you that, when his friends and cousins played or went on vacation, he did “constant, hard work” helping his father run a retail textile business.  Today, Larian is president and chief executive of the largest privately held toy company in the world, MGA Entertainment, based in Van Nuys, California -- and he has been named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by a leading accounting firm.

Forty-nine nations, organizations and individuals have been invited to attend the U.S.-sponsored international Middle East conference November 26-28 in Annapolis, Maryland, according to State Department spokesman Sean McCormack. "The Annapolis Conference will signal broad international support for the Israeli and Palestinian leaders' courageous efforts and will be a launching point for negotiations leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state and the realization of Israeli-Palestinian peace," McCormack says.

Palestinians traditionally value education as the way forward, so it is not surprising that the West Bank has dozens of articulate, home-grown advocacy groups. But even the most seasoned civic activists constantly seek new strategies to communicate their message. Recently, the U.S. Consulate General invited an experienced U.S. activist to work with local advocacy groups on communicating their message through the media as part of the United States’ continuing support for democratic development in the Palestinian Territories.

On Thanksgiving Day, when most Americans enjoy a holiday meal with friends and family and give thanks for the good things in their lives, many also take time to prepare and serve meals to the needy.  Others donate to food drives, work at food warehouses or deliver groceries to soup kitchens, churches and other charitable groups. “As we count our many blessings, I encourage all Americans to show their thanks by giving back,” President Bush says during a speech at Berkeley Plantation in Virginia.

Creation of a Palestinian state and resolution of long-standing Arab-Israeli issues are the focal points of a U.S.-sponsored international conference November 26-28.  The meeting, however, will not lead to Palestinian statehood immediately nor even in the next few months, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says in discussing expectations for the meeting.

Innovative U.S. companies are transforming the business paradigm through products, services and operations that address social and environmental problems. “We have a different definition of success,” says the founder and chief executive officer of a company that supplies and markets organic products made of the açai fruit from the Amazon rain forest in Brazil. “Being financially strong but weak on ecological conservation and social equality is not a success for us.”

While young Americans often are criticized for not voting, many are showing that young people can be political leaders despite their age. USINFO talks with a 26-year-old congressional candidate and two young mayors about their experiences. Young people "are the future of your country," 20-year-old Mayor Michael Sessions of Hillsdale, Michigan, tells his contemporaries. "So you need to start shaping it now and get involved somehow." Sessions was elected to lead his town of 8,200 while still in high school.

While young Americans often are criticized for not voting, many are showing that young people can be political leaders despite their age. USINFO talks with a 26-year-old congressional candidate and two young mayors about their experiences. Young people "are the future of your country," 20-year-old Mayor Michael Sessions of Hillsdale, Michigan, tells his contemporaries. "So you need to start shaping it now and get involved somehow." Sessions was elected to lead his town of 8,200 while still in high school.