Friday 28 March, 08 Distribution 

Official Announcement:

Secretary Rice:Travel to the Middle East, March 28-31, 2008

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to Israel and Jordan on March 28-31, 2008. She will meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to support their ongoing bilateral dialogue and the serious effort underway to achieve agreement this year on the establishment of a Palestinian state, living side by side with Israel in peace and security. The Secretary will also discuss efforts to improve conditions on the ground and to advance Palestinian economic development and capacity building. (more)

Presidential Candidates' Speeches:

Senator Obama's speech on the issue of race in America

“We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.”

Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America’s improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.  (full text) (بالعربية)

Sen. John McCain’s speech before the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles

When I was five years old, a car pulled up in front of our house in New London, Connecticut, and a Navy officer rolled down the window, and shouted at my father that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. My father immediately left for the submarine base where he was stationed. I rarely saw him again for four years. My grandfather, who commanded the fast carrier task force under Admiral Halsey, came home from the war exhausted from the burdens he had borne, and died the next day. In Vietnam, where I formed the closest friendships of my life, some of those friends never came home to the country they loved so well. I detest war. It might not be the worst thing to befall human beings, but it is wretched beyond all description.   (full text) (بالعربية)

E-Learning Project:

University of Georgia Partners with Tunisia on e-Learning Project
Tunisian professor’s work gains international recognition

Like many developing countries, Tunisa has burgeoning numbers of students. Unlike many developing countries, Tunisia has pioneered an innovative approach to educating its young population.  In 2002, the country established the Virtual University of Tunis (VUT) to address the needs of some students through distance-learning while also offering opportunities in higher education to all who qualify. That same year, an engineering professor at the University of Georgia (UGA) created an educational partnership between her university and her home country, Tunisia.  (Read more)

Fighting Opium:

Fighting Opium Trade in Afghanistan: Myths, Facts, Policy
Fact sheet addresses unified efforts to combat illegal drugs in Afghanistan

Fact Sheet
Fighting the Opium Trade in Afghanistan: Myths, Facts, and Sound Policy
We, the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom, in conjunction with the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, ISAF and international partners, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, are now engaged in a comprehensive initiative to fight the production and trafficking of opium in Afghanistan. There is significant skepticism among the public and the media regarding the counternarcotics effort.  We therefore provide the following paper to correct some of the myths about the illegal drug trade in Afghanistan, and to clarify how our programs address the situation on the ground.  (Read more)