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The United States Senate approved legislation on Thursday that would let President Obama impose sanctions on Iran’s gasoline suppliers and penalize some of Tehran’s elites, a move aimed at pressing Tehran to give up its nuclear program.

U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar proposed the creation of a Science Envoy program in April 2009. His legislation was soon passed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. On November 3rd, Secretary Clinton announced the creation of a U.S. Science Envoy Program.

Congress passed a bill Tuesday that would make widows and widowers of U.S. citizens eligible for green cards even if their spouses died before their applications were approved...Now, surviving spouses can apply for a green card for themselves and their children regardless of when the U.S. citizen died or how long they were married.

As the pressure built early last week for President Obama to forgo diplomacy with Iran in favor of imposing new sanctions, Iran's top opposition leader posed a piercing question to the world. "Which one of [Iran's leaders] can be expected to care about the agony their behavior imposes on people?" Mir-Hossein Mousavi asked. By belying the bankruptcy of the alternatives, his question underscored the importance of President Obama's diplomatic engagement with Iran.

The US House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a bill to triple non-military aid to Pakistan to USD7.5 billion in the next five years with riders demanding strong counter-terrorism measures and preventing attacks on the West or its neighbours like India.

Much has been made of made of Congressional concerns over the Defense Department's role in strategic communication and as the de facto leading public diplomat in policy, engagement, and personnel. At first the lack of informed media coverage - and shallow or error-filled when it exists - is ironic considering the subject, but there it is part of a trend when considering that in general public diplomacy and the laws governing it are also subject to misinformation and misinterpretation

The U.S. embassy in Rangoon says the committee staffers are visiting Burma as part of a regional tour to assess U.S. public diplomacy and assistance programs.

The House of Representatives has approved legislation authorizing U.S foreign assistance programs and other spending for the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years. Lawmakers debated a range of global issues before the 235 to 187 vote approving the measure.

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