Tens of thousands of Greek workers took to the streets on Wednesday, May 5, 2010, to protest against tight budget cuts that the government needs to do in order for the country to get out of debt. As a result, planes, ferries and trains were brought to a halt as transport workers joined the huge mass of demonstrators who started a two-day strike on Tuesday.

The number of protesters reached 20,000 by noon. Bankers, teachers, pensioners, doctors, garbage collectors, civil servants and students all met in a public square in Athens for the rally. They then marched to the parliament building.

In the meantime, demonstrators in Central Athens threw sticks and plastic bottles at riot police officers. In another rally, Communist Party members put up large banners near the Parthenon. One of these banners said, “People of Europe Rise Up.”

This widespread strike is the first to be organized after the government announced spending cuts to secure the economic bailout package from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union.

An aid package worth €110 billion for Greece was announced on Sunday, May 2. Shortly thereafter, George Papaconstantinou, the country’s finance minister, announced the cost cutting measures needed to meet EU and IMF’s deal.

Greece’s parliament was scheduled to vote for appropriate measures last May 6. These measures include higher taxes and wage freezes.

About 1,700 police officers were deployed to control the demonstration and maintain order.

Kazakhstan Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Kanat Saudabayev discussed several OSCE concerns with Georgia during his visit last February 17, 2010. With Kazakhstan holding the chairmanship of the OSCE, Kanat Saudabayev gave a recap of the organization’s plans to support the Geneva Discussions, as well as its support for the democratic reform processes.

According to Saudabayev, finding solutions to resolve protracted conflicts such as that of South Caucasus is considered as one of the main priorities of Kazakhstan. After meeting up with Foreign Minister Gregory Vashadze, Kanat Saudabayev shared the OSCE’s commitment to continue its efforts of attaining a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Kanat Saudabayev also believes that the similarities between Kazakhstan and Georgia’s history will serve as an important factor in achieving progress.

Saudabayev noted Georgia’s commitment in resolving the problems within the outline of the Geneva Discussions. The Geneva Discussions; which involves the EU, UN and OSCE co-chairs; has been taking place since October of 2008. The OSCE Chairman says that maintaining the ongoing dialogue is important and probably the only way to attain a peaceful resolution. With this, the Kazakh foreign minister revealed that Georgia’s constructive approach to the dialogue is warmly welcomed.

In addition to this, Saudabayev also calls for the resumption of the activities initiated by the IPRM, or the Incident Prevention Response Mechanism. This, according to him, will help resolve Georgian Ossetian issues. Holding regular IPRM meetings is important in promoting communication, as well as in lifting tensions from both territories. Saudabayev also believes that the OSCE can provide a big help to the IPRM.

Finally, the Kazakhstan OSCE chairman also gave assurance that the OSCE is ready to support Georgia whenever it goes through the democratic reform process, especially for its municipal elections this May.

Saudabayev knows that Georgia’s municipal elections is crucial as it will give Georgia the chance to show its commitment to free and fair elections and political pluralism.

Officials of the justice department announced that federal authorities and the local police arrested a Pakistani man believed to be the driver of the SUV used during a failed bomb attack on Times Square last May 1, 2010.

The Pakistani was identified as Faisal Shahzad, a 30-year old naturalized American citizen. He was taken into custody late on Monday, May 3, at the John F. Kennedy Airport while he was trying to fly to Dubai. It was also revealed that Shahzad recently got back from a trip to Pakistan.

According to reports, the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder used in the failed bombing attempt was purchased by the Pakistani from a woman in Connecticut. It was found in the middle of Times Square, and was loaded with propane, gasoline, fertilizer and fireworks.

U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr said in a statement that investigations are ongoing, but they found strong evidence, enough to make the arrest. Holder added that the attempted terrorist attack was meant to kill Americans.

The previous owner of the SUV told authorities that the buyer looked Middle Eastern or Hispanic but could not remember his name. Agents disclosed only a few details about the suspect, Monday’s arrest and those involved in the failed bombing.

According to a joint statement released by the FBI, the NY Police Department, and the Manhattan United States Attorney’s Office, Shahzad is set to appear in a federal courtroom in Manhattan Tuesday to face charges.

Sixty-eight people were killed and 60,000 homes destroyed as a cyclone swept through the Indian states of Bihar and West Bengal on the evening of April 13, 2010. The storm toppled trees, houses, and telephone lines as it passed through the eastern region of the country that borders Bangladesh.

Packing speeds of 100mph (160 kph), the cyclone snapped telephone lines and electricity lines, uprooted trees, and injured hundreds of people, according to Srikumar Mukherjee, the West Bengal Civil Defense Minister.

Officials said that thousands of mud huts in Bihar and another 50,000 in West Bengal were demolished.

Mukherjee added that the villages in West Bengal that were massively hit were Raiganj, Hematabad, and Kiran Dighi. Rescue teams and police officers have recovered 31 bodies from these areas.

In the northeastern Bihar districts of Kishenganj, Purnea, and Araria, 50 people were reported dead due to the storm, according to state official Nitish Kumar.

Additionally, a prison wall in Bihar’s Araria district collapsed, which led authorities to transfer over 600 inmates to another jailhouse, Kumar said. Government offices and local schools were used to house those who have been left homeless.

In related news, in Bangladesh, five people died and dozens were reported injured because of tropical storms.

Eight passengers of a Cathay Pacific airplane suffered injuries on Tuesday, April 13, when the aircraft made an emergency landing at Hong Kong International Airport because of engine failure. The Airbus A330 came from the Indonesian city of Surabaya.

Once the plane landed, the 300 plus passengers and 14 crew members aboard flight CX 780 were evacuated, according to the spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Department.

The eight passengers who were injured were taken to the hospital. This was according to Tony Tyler, chief executive of the Hong Kong airline, during a press conference. “It appeared there were some engine problems that the aircraft experienced on (landing).”

He added that investigators had begun analyzing the cause of the engine problem.

As stated by the Civil Aviation Department, a small fire suddenly developed in the engine after the plane landed. However, it did not take long for the fire to be extinguished by firemen.

According to Hong Kong government officials, six of the twin-engined planes exploded after landing while two of the right landing gears deflated. They added that officials from Britain and France will also participate in the investigation.

As a result of this incident, one runway at the airport was closed and 35 flights suffered delays.

The A330 aircraft which started serving Cathay Pacific in 1998, went through all the necessary service procedures and checks before taking off.

A passenger plane bounced on the runway while it was landing, skidded, crashed into a nearby shallow canal, and broke in two. This accident happened in the morning of April 13, 2010 in Manokwari, a remote area in eastern Papua, Indonesia. Out of the 103 passengers, which included three infants and three children, 78 were injured and no one was killed.

Bambang Ervan, the Transportation Ministry’s spokesperson, said that the Boeing 737-300 aircraft was attempting to land at the airport located in the coastal town of Manokwari and that investigators are analyzing the cause of the crash.

Some reports said that bad weather may have been one of the factors.

The airline is called Merpati, a state-owned airline known to provide flights to remote and mountainous areas of Indonesia. Merpati is banned to fly in Europe because of its poor safety record. In fact, the airline suffered two plane crashes last 2009. The first one was when an airplane lost its front wheels during takeoff, and the other was when a Twin Otter crashed, killing 16 of its passengers.

Papua, a mountain-filled region, has seen a considerable number of air accidents in the past. Last year, several smaller aircrafts and two cargo planes crashed there.

Indonesia has made several efforts to improve its safety record and Merpati is still upgrading its aging fleet.

An earthquake that hit China on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, left at least 400 dead and 8,000 injured, according to a Chinese television network. The earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.1, caused great damage to a dominantly Tibetan county in the western province of Qinghai.

The quake that shook an area 20 miles from the county seat of Yushu tore apart an elementary school, a portion of a Buddhist tower in a public park, the town’s main hospital and numerous houses, Chinese officials said to the media.

As stated by Zhuo Huaxia, a local Tibetan official, many were buried in the collapsed houses and several others were still injured and treated in the local medical centers.

The town of Yushu is located approximately 500 miles southwest of Xining, Qinghai’s capital. This town is home to about 100,000 people, many of whom are herdsmen. A number of houses that were affected by the earthquake were made of logs and mud.

“The death toll may rise as lots of houses collapsed,” said an army official. The official further added that the roads that lead to the airport has been slowing down rescue efforts because they were damaged.

According to the US Geological Survey, the quake was measured at magnitude 6.9. Additionally, there were at least six aftershocks, the strongest of which was measured at a magnitude of 6.2.

Warsaw – The body of Poland’s late first lady was met by an emotional welcome when it was flown home from Russia on Tuesday, April 13. On the same day, the Parliament organized a special event dedicated to their president and the rest of the lawmakers who were killed in the plane crash.

Resting in a wooden casket covered with Poland’s white and red flag, Maria Kaczynska’s body arrived at Warsaw’s Okecie airport at 10:30 am. Her remains were aboard a military CASA plane and were met by Marta, her only child, and by the late president’s twin, Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

The late first lady’s body was taken to the Presidential Palace inside a Mercedes Benz hearse, the same way her husband’s remains were ferried on Sunday, April 11.

Although Tuesday was a workday in Poland, hordes of Warsaw residents lined the road to the palace while gently tossing bouquets of flowers on top of the vehicle.

The coffins containing the first couple’s bodies will be placed on view to the public at large in the Columned Hall of the Presidential Palace, so that people can pay their respects.

The Tu-154 crashed while it was trying to land during foggy weather at Smolensk in Russia. Everyone aboard was killed, including President Lech Kaczynski and several other military, religious and political leaders of Poland.

The international aid group Red Cross announced on Tuesday, April 13, that an armed group kidnapped eight of their staff members in the eastern region of Congo.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the kidnap victims – one Swiss national and seven Congolese – were captured by the Mai Mai Yakutumba rebels near the town of Fizi in the province of South Kivu.

“The ICRC has been able to get in touch with some of our colleagues after the incident,” said spokesperson Marcal Izard, who refused to say if they have made contact with the kidnappers.

The Swiss Foreign Ministry stated that it has full knowledge of the situation and that it is working with the Red Cross, as well as with the Congolese authorities.

South Kivu is home to several Red Cross offices. This region, as with much of eastern Congo, is a place that has been ravaged by violence ever since the genocide incident in 1994 that happened in neighboring Rwanda.

The leader of ICRC’s mission in Congo, Franz Rauchenstein, said that their activities are carried out as a means of protection and assistance for the victims of armed conflict.

He further added that they will continue to impart their strictly neutral and humanitarian work, and hope that the kidnap victims will be able to return to their homes soon.

Many Red Cross staff members have become kidnap targets in other conflict areas in the past.

On Tuesday, March 9th 2010, Jolanta Gadek, speaker for Poland’s Podlasie province, revealed that Prince Charles and his wife will be visiting a rare European bison herd in their distinctive natural habitat. A unique herd of some 800 European bison subsisted in the Bialowieza forest, a wooded area that extends as part of Poland’s boundary with Belarus. The European prehistoric forest is said to be rare and is a protected national park. The European Bison herd is categorized as endangered.

The bison is a relative of the North American Buffalo and has existed in the forest since before the First World War. However as the years passed, the European bison was all but wiped out by German troops and local poachers. The existing herd found recently was bred from seven present animals.

The royal couple will also stop at a nearby mosque in the eastern Polish community of Kruszyniany on the Polish-Belarussian boundary occupied by descendents of Tatars who, at the closing stages of the 17th century, were given land by Poland’s King Jan III Sobieski as compensation for their service in the military. The country’s tiny Tatar community is also comprised of the predominantly Roman Catholic country’s native Muslim inhabitants.

According to a statement released by the British Embassy in Warsaw, the visit will center on mutual aid in the area of defense and matters concerning ethnic and religious minorities, and environment protection.

Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales was born on the 14th of November 1948. He is the eldest son of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and Queen Elizabeth II. Since 1958, his major designation has been HRH The Prince of Wales. Prince Charles is known as The Duke of Cornwall in Cornwall and as The Duke of Rothesay in Cornwall.

In Washington on March 8, 2010, US President Barack Obama and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou met and discussed economic issues concerning Greece’s attempts to surmount a severe debt crisis. The Prime Minister arrived in Washington after visits to France and Germany as part of efforts to generate support for his economically crippled nation.

In his initial address to the public during his arrival, Papandreou called on the U.S. to clear out on speculators submitting to reports that some US funds have placed big bets against the euro currency. The European monetary unit has come under market pressure since it was revealed that Greece’s public debts have increased to €300 billion, or $408 billion, over its yearly financial output.

Papandreou revealed that the consequences of any speculative attacks on the euro would also be damaging to the United States. The Prime Minister said that both nations must proclaim that “enough is enough” to parties that constantly focus only on instant returns without considering the effects on the larger economic front, specifically on issues relating to foreclosed homes and job loss.

PM Papandreou met with President Obama at the Oval Office on March 9. Economic issues took the spotlight during their meeting.

Papandreou is doubtful to request for financial assistance from the United States although his Socialist government has proposed it could petition to the International Monetary Fund for help if they are snubbed by the European Union.

After talks with the Greek leader on March 8th, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed that neither the prime minister nor the country has requested anything from the United States. Clinton further said that Papandreou wished for the United States to petition for economic reforms in the emerging nations.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, on the other hand, assured the Greek leader that the United States will stand by Greece in its most critical period.

As one of the leading financial institutions in the world, Citi Group has continued its commitment in citing and giving special recognition to over-achieving staff from their offices all around the globe. For 2010, and as part of the company’s dedication to microfinance, especially among poor nations in the world, Citi again collaborated with the Central Bank of Nigeria in awarding their Nigerian employees who excelled in 2009 in the area of microfinance.

Last January 21, Citi handed out recognitions to their employees who showed a firm resolve in pursuing and making microfinance available to entrepreneurs from all over the country. The awards aim to encourage more locals to become entrepreneurs themselves through Citi’s micro-entrepreneurship program. The awards were divided into five major categories including Best Micro Business Model, Most Marketed Product, Most Innovative Product, Employment Generation and Best Female Entrepreneur. Microfinance institutions from all around Nigeria contributed in choosing the award recepients for each category.

An estimated $40,000 was awarded by the company to the Growing Business Foundation, so that it can push through with the awards in Nigeria. Last year, Citi Group donated a total of $1.2 million to Micro-Entrepreneurship Awards program in 20 countries where it is operating, including Nigeria.

The program has been successful, especially since it has increased awareness and curiosity among the people in middle to low-income countries regarding micro-entrepreneurship. The program aims to support micro-entrepreneurs financially so that they may be able to continue the role that they play in their local economies. The program became even more relevant last 2009 as the whole world felt the effects of the worldwide economic recession.

“Entrepreneurship is a key driver in any economy and we are proud to be supporting Nigerian entrepreneurs who are working hard to grow their businesses and local economies,” comments Emeka Emuwa of Citibank Nigeria Limited.

Hope continues to grow for the Haitian people as more and more individuals and groups continue to provide aid and donations to the people of Haiti. People from all over the world, from ordinary citizens to some of the most influential people, have chipped in and done their part in raising the hopes of the victims amidst all of the rubble and destruction surrounding them.

Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief, a telethon aimed to raise funds for Haiti and its people, was held recently and was participated in by many of Hollywood’s best and brightest celebrities. Filled with performances and appearances by some of today’s most popular stars, the telethon was one of the avenues where people came to show their support for the Haiti relief operations. Stars like George Clooney, Wyclef Jean, Jay-Z, Rihanna and U2 spearheaded the event and lent their talents to the show.

Some of the world’s biggest corporations also sent aid to the country. These include Cable News Network (CNN), Procter & Gamble, and some others who pledged generous amounts of money and sent their own teams of medical staff to reinforce the efforts in Haiti.

US President Barack Obama expressed his support and help to their neighboring country and deployed thousands of US Army personnel to provide stability in the earthquake-ravaged country.

Ben Stiller, founder of stillerstrong.org and Haitian Schools Initiative, and also a participant in the Hope for Haiti telethon, said that it is crucial for the world to help the victims in Haiti. He says that the more money people will raise, the more money there will be for building schools for the children of Haiti.

Since almost every infrastructure in the country was brought down by the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that hit the country early in January 2010, food and shelter, among other things, are needed now more than ever by the thousands of victims left homeless by the devastating disaster.

The Haiti earthquake last January 12, 2010 provided the world with various pictures of human tragedy, devastation and death. Hit by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, the people of the little island country of Haiti have been set up in temporary relocation camps outside of Port-au-Prince. The Haitian government is also focusing its efforts on finishing the building of temporary schools where the earthquake survivors and their families will eventually settle.

The tragedy has shown how people can join together to help their fellow humans. Several governments and powerful individuals, including Hollywood celebrities, have pledged wealth and utilities to the island nation to aid and somehow help Haitians recover from the traumatic tragedy.

Ben Stiller, one of the most recognizable Hollywood stars around the world, has launched the Haitian Schools Initiative that is aimed at providing Haitian children with temporary schools and places to learn while they clean up the rubble and repair everything that has been damaged by the earthquake.

“Our goal is to help kids get back in school as quickly as possible,” Stiller says of his initiative.

He adds that schools, for him, represent a safe haven for kids, especially in these times of crisis. Schools provide not only a place where children can learn but also a place where healthcare, nutrition and other important services can be conducted and given.

Through his start-up organization, stillerstrong.org, Stiller is partnering with the organization Architecture for Humanity in making sure that the constructions of these schools will not be delayed and will be done as soon as the Haitian government finalizes all of its relocation plans.

Already working in Haiti, even before the earthquake struck, Ben Stiller and Architecture for Humanity estimated that a temporary school would cost somewhere around $45,000-$75,000. Launching stillerstrong as a fun campaign in 2009, Ben Stiller has continued on his mission to rebuild hope for the children of Haiti.

For several weeks now, headlines from all over the world have mentioned, in one way or another, the devastation and tragedy that struck the country of Haiti. With thousands of people feared dead, buried in the rubble and thousands more literally left homeless by the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake, people from all over the world have pledged help for the victims in Haiti.

Procter & Gamble, one of the world’s most recognized companies, has given the people of Haiti various contributions amounting to over $1 million dollars and counting. Several P&G executives, employees and even retirees have pledged to help and support Haitians in any way they can.

P&G products and cash have been donated to help aid not only the victims themselves, but also the other volunteers who are helping in Haiti.

In addition to all these, P&G has also provided 6 million packets of PUR, a technology the company offers to help purify water. This quantity is said to be enough to provide the victims with clean water for three months, a supply worth 60 million liters. PUR packets disinfect and purify water through a cloth filter. It removes dirt and other harmful substances in the water, making it safe to drink. P&G has been constantly supplying PUR packets to disaster-stricken countries, like the countries devastated during the Asian Tsunami in December 2004.

The Cincinnati-based company, known for its products such as Tide detergents, Pampers Diapers and Crest Toothpaste, said that their donations are ready whenever relief agencies need them.

P&G has partnered with several organizations in aiding the relief operations in Haiti. These include AmeriCares, Global Medic, CARE, PSI, Samaritan’s Purse, Pure Compassion Ministries and World Vision. It has also sent medical teams to Haiti to help care for the Haitians who got sick and injured in the January 2010 quake.

One of the world’s most beautiful volcanoes oozed lava last night, threatening to erupt over a tourist town in the Philippines.

Most of the 50,000 villagers living within 4-5 miles of the danger zone around Mount Mayon were evacuated earlier today. The red-hot volcano was spewing lava and ash that reached up to 100 meters high.

Renato Solidum, head ot the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, said that the magma has been rising at the volcano for the past two weeks and that an explosion could be imminent. The institute has upgraded Mayon’s status to level three, meaning that it could erupt in the very near future.

Jukes Nunez, a local emergency official, said: “It’s ten days before Christmas. Most likely people will be in evacuation centres, and if Mayon’s activity won’t ease down we will not allow them to return to their homes. It’s difficult and sad, especially for children.”

Mount Mayon is considered one of the world’s most perfectly formed volcanoes because of its symmetrical cone. Most recently, Mount Mayon was active over a four-month period in 2006. At that time, 30,000 people were moved to safety zones. Mayon’s most violent eruption in 1814 killed more than 1,200 people.

Source: Times Online UK

Despite repeated calls from the international community to reinstate ousted Honduras President Manuel Zelaya, coup leaders have remained defiant, even announcing its withdrawal from the Organization of American States (OAS).

The June 28 Honduras coup which ousted President Manual Zelaya triggered international condemnation. The United Nations have called upon the OAS to “take a leadership role to find the peaceful solution to that issue whereby the constitutional order can be restored.”

In the United States, there are mixed reactions from observers and political analysts, some insisting that the U.S. support the coup while some hinting that the U.S. is playing neutral and has no serious intention of resolving the impasse.

Honduras military officials responsible for the coup claims it based its actions on a Supreme Court ruling nullifying Zelaya’s plans for an extended term through constitutional change.

Roberto Micheletti, the speaker of Congress, replaced him as interim President.

John Thomson of the National Review Online insists that the U.S. should support the coup, arguing that Zelaya’s comeback would only be a victory for Hugo Chavez, whom the deposed leader supports. Thomson views the Honduran crisis as “a battle between democracy and leftist autocrats who have manipulated themselves into permanent power in their countries and want to add Honduras to the list.”

Barry Grey and Rafael Azul of Global Research claim that the U.S. is taking a neutral position on Honduras despite its public condemnation of the coup. They opined that after an unsuccessful attempt to back attempts to unseat Chavez several years back, the U.S. could not publicly support the coup, but it was well aware of it. It also observed that the official US line post the coup was that “it attempted unsuccessfully to convince the Honduran military not to proceed with the coup, amounting to a tacit acknowledgment that Washington was well aware of the coup plans.”

Presently, the Honduras crisis is at a stalemate.

A Reuters report released on Feb. 17, 2009 indicates that Ford Motor Company has come into agreement with the United Auto Workers to diminish its labor costs on a par with Japanese competitors. Although the terms of the agreement remain to be undisclosed until the VEBA discussions have been concluded, Ford Motor Company revealed that the deal would include adjustments in its operating practices, benefits, and labor costs. Additionally, the agreement covers 42,000 employees from Ford Motor Company and members must ratify it.

This is another aspect of helping Ford Motor Company survive in the absence of government loans. In December 2008, the United Auto Workers settled on suspending the job banks program as their way to help U.S. auto manufacturers in the midst of their crisis.

About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is a global automotive manufacturing company that offers a wide range of vehicles from cars and trucks to SUVs and crossovers as well as vehicle services. Henry Ford founded Ford Motor Company, which was incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company pioneered the use of moving assembly lines demonstrating efficient manufacturing sequences for the large-scale manufacture of cars and for the comprehensive management of an industrial workforce. With its headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, Ford Motor Company has now become the fourth largest automaker in the world based on global vehicle sales in 2007, producing 6.553 million automobiles and employing 245,000 people at approximately 100 plants and facilities around the world. Aside from the Ford brand, Ford Motor Company also carries the Mercury and Lincoln brands in the United States. Additionally, Ford Motor Company owns Swedish car manufacturer Volvo Cars and it also has a small stake in British luxury sports car manufacturer Aston Martin and Japanese automaker Mazda.

About the United Auto Workers
The United Auto Workers (UAW), also known as the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, is a labor union representing workers in Canada, Puerto Rico, and the United States. Based in Detroit, Michigan, the United Auto Workers was founded in May 1935 to represent workers in the automobile manufacturing sector.

Today, United Auto Workers has become one of the biggest and most diverse unions in North America with over 800 local unions, around 513,000 active members and over 575,000 retired members coming from a wide range of sectors including colleges, universities, hospitals, small companies, private non-profit organizations, multinational companies, and state and local governments. The union works to continually develop good partnerships with employers as well as negotiate “industry-leading” benefits and wages for its members. The United Auto Workers presently has 3,100 contracts with 2,000 employers in Canada, Puerto Rico, and the United States.

Ford and the UAW in the News:
UAW leaders recommend approval of Chrysler deal.

UAW gears up to join boards of the carmakers

2010 Fusion Hybrid goes 1,445 miles on single tank

On June 21, 2009, the Senate confirmed Hillary Rodham Clinton as the 67th United States Secretary of State. It was the first day in office for President Barack Obama and while he was busy engaging himself in several affairs, Hillary Clinton’s nomination for the post as Secretary of State was finally confirmed in the full Senate by a vote of 94-2.

The two senators who opposed the confirmation were Republicans David Vitter of Louisiana and Jim DeMint of South Carolina. Prior to the confirmation, hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee commenced on January 13, 2009. By January 15, the said body voted 16-1 to approve Hillary Clinton.

Both Republicans and Democrats in general share the same sentiment that such prompt confirmation was essential for the new president to be able to start with his work in dealing with the current major and critical foreign policy issues such as Iran’s nuclear threats and the increasing violence in the Middle East, particularly the wars in Gaza and Iraq.

As a result of the confirmation from the Senate, Hillary Clinton was sworn in as the 67th U.S. Secretary of State in her office, which is located in the Russell Senate Office Building. Present at the private ceremony was her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and her Senate staff. On the same day, Hillary Clinton resigned from the Senate, submitting her resignation letters to Vice President Joe Biden, president of the Senate; and New York Governor David Paterson.

A few Republicans expressed their concerns over conflicts of interest that may arise considering that the fundraising efforts for Bill Clinton’s foundation included donations overseas. Nevertheless, both parties in Congress greatly supported Hillary Clinton for the post.

Hillary Rodham Clinton was born on October 26, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois. She attended Maine East High School and then entered Wellesley College from where she graduated in 1969 with a B.A. degree in political science with departmental honors. Hillary Clinton then obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School in 1973. Back in Yale, she served on the editorial board of the Yale Law Review and Social Action, worked for the Yale Child Study Center, interned with Marian Wright Edelman, and met Bill Clinton, whom she married in 1975.

Following graduation, Hillary Clinton practiced law, working as a staff attorney for the Children’s Defense Fund in Cambridge, Massachusetts and as Consultant to the Carnegie Council on Children. She also joined in the impeachment inquiry staff advising the House Committee on the Judiciary during the Watergate scandal. In 1975, she taught at the University of Arkansas Law School and then joined the Rose Law Firm in 1976. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the board of the Legal Services Corporation. She held the title “First Lady of Arkansas” for twelve years (1979–1981, 1983–1992) when her husband Bill Clinton became governor of the said state twice. Hillary Clinton was First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001; she then served as a U.S. Senator from 2001 to 2009. Hillary Clinton was a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2008 election but lost to Obama.

• Official State Department biography of Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton.
• Secretrary Hillary Clinton faces a tough job in securing Mideast peace process.
• Hillary Clinton criticizes George W. Bush on North Korea policy.

On Feb. 19, 2009, UNESCO released the online version of its Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, identifying some 2,500 endangered languages from around the world. The paper version of the atlas’ 2009 edition to be launched in May was funded by Norway, engaging a group of more than 30 linguists.

UNESCO has revealed around 2,500 languages in danger of extinction out of a total of 6,900 languages that are being used today. This sends out an alarming call to societies considering that the last atlas compiled back in 2001 listed 900 languages in danger of extinction.

Based on the degrees of endangerment designated by UNESCO, there are 538 languages that are critically endangered, 502 are severely endangered, and 632 are definitely endangered while 607 are unsafe.

Meanwhile, a significant number of languages have already journeyed down the road to extinction. In fact, over 200 languages have gone extinct over the last three generations. The Ubykh in Turkey has already been wiped out. Aasax in Tanzania has disappeared by now. The same can be said of Tefvic Esenc, the Alaskan native language Eyak, and Manx in the Isle of Man.

There are 199 languages in the world spoken by less than 10-12 people. The Indonesian language Lengilu now only has four speakers who remain alive while only six people use Karaim in Ukraine. There is now only one living native speaker of the Latvian language Livonian.

According to Christopher Moseley, Australian linguist and editor of the Atlas’ 3rd edition, the endangerment of language is a universal phenomenon. Linguists also said that an endangered language is not necessarily restricted to small or remote countries. India holds the most number of endangered languages with 196. United States is next with 192, followed by Indonesia with 147. Moreover, UNESCO predicted that languages in the Sub-Saharan Africa would reduce by at least 10% over the coming century.

In the United States, Wichita has merely 10 speakers in Oklahoma while no more than 35 people in northeast Wisconsin speak Menomonee. Gros Ventre of north-central Montana has fewer than 10 speakers and all of them are elderly with no one fully fluent.

For this reason, the UNESCO’s Endangered Languages Programme seeks to stimulate cooperation among countries so they can take heed of this disturbing situation. It also seeks to foster solutions from authorities, experts, and communities for the preservation of these languages.

UNESCO deputy director Francoise Riviere stressed the need for people to be proud of speaking their language in order for it to thrive. Efforts have been made by some societies to revive their languages. Cornish, for instance, is now being revived in Cornwall, southern England. Livonian in Latvia, Sishee in New Caledonia, and Hebrew are also being revived.

Related Sources:

UNESCO lists the degrees of endangerment categorized based on language
transmission.

UNESCO provides an interactive atlas of the world’s languages in danger
wherein users may search according to certain parameters.

UNESCO features an article on safeguarding languages in peril.