Washington, DC - Officials from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs and the U.S.-Japan Bridging Foundation will hold a “send-off” ceremony today at the U.S. National Arboretum for the first 100 dogwood trees going to Japan as part of the Friendship Blossoms Initiative.

Raleigh and Asheville, NC win $100,000 grant through Sister Cities International's Sino-African Initiative....cultural understanding and business go hand in hand through Sister Cities International’s Sino-African Initiative (SAI).

At each stop he will engage with journalists, students, civil society leaders, and government spokespeople on public diplomacy and communication efforts, support for democratic institutions and freedom of press, and economic statecraft, among other topics. He will also underscore the U.S. Government’s commitment to the region.

In a brief visit lasting several hours, Sheikh Hamad was inaugurating a $250 million Qatari investment project to help Gaza rebuild from the damage caused by an Israeli offensive against Hamas in December 2008 to January 2009. The project includes a new housing development that will be named in his honor in the southern city of Khan Younis.

During her China tour, Begum Khaleda Zia sought Beijing's assistance in a number of economic projects in Bangladesh, including the second Padma Bridge, although the implementation of the first Padma Bridge is still hanging between certainty and uncertainty due to wrong policies of the ruling Bangladesh Awami League.

A report in this paper that the total water storage capacity of the country has gone down by 29 percent in part due to dwindling storage of large dams is quite chilling. The big dams including Tarbela, Mangla and Chashma have greatly lost their storage capacity due to silting. There are limitations in removing the silt. Thus, it is obvious that new reservoirs like Kalabagh must be built.

Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Mike Hammer will travel to Kampala, Uganda, Nairobi, Kenya, and Pretoria and Johannesburg, South Africa, departing Washington, DC on October 22nd. At each stop he will engage with journalists, students, civil society leaders, and government spokespeople on public diplomacy and communication efforts, support for democratic institutions and freedom of press, and economic statecraft, among other topics.

Tonight’s presidential debate will focus mostly on the Middle Eastern conflicts. But the candidates should take the time to discuss where the world is cooperating. One such place is the developing world where nation-states are joining to deliver electricity to those 1.3 billion people who are now going without any power.