U.S. first lady Michelle Obama has arrived in Haiti for a brief visit, three months after an earthquake devastated the Caribbean country. A Haitian government official tells VOA she will meet with Haitian President Rene Preval and then visit a children's hospital during the previously unannounced trip.

The scene from Treme instantly reminded me of the critical role of culture in the regeneration of a post-disaster community or locale. Whether the trauma is caused by a war, a natural disaster or an economic crisis, cultural outreach is a complementary tool to existing methodologies of social recuperation.

Ridding the world of nuclear weapons – one of President Obama’s prime goals – is so lofty and difficult that it must come in baby steps.Obama’s efforts toward a nuclear-free world, however, will falter unless he does much more to deal with underlying motives to obtain atomic weapons – indeed all weapons of mass destruction – in every part of the world.

Rightfully, Americans breathed a sigh of relief this past Christmas when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab failed in his alleged plan to detonate explosives aboard Northwest Airlines flight 253 to Detroit. In the short run, what he stands accused of doing was a failure. In the long run, however, whether he succeeded or failed depends on what we do in response.

Representatives of 47 nations, including dozens of foreign heads of state, joined in the largest such gathering on U.S. soil since the San Francisco conference that launched the United Nations in 1945.

"Our primary concern is to make an easier road for overseas Chinese students who want to go back to China, but we also want to make it easier for those in China who wish to study in the U.S.," says [Chinese Returnees International] member Sue Wang, a graduate of Michigan State University.

His Majesty King Abdullah and US President Barack Obama on Monday reaffirmed the Jordanian-US partnership in talks that focused on means to strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation in the areas of education, science, culture and entrepreneurship.

This is the clearest signal that the US will refuse to negotiate on separate elements of the controversial accord, but intends to push it through the UN process as a single "take it or leave it" text.