Countering "Innocence of Muslims" Through Dialogue:  In the wake of protests over the film "Innocence of Muslims," U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia Paul Jones invited leaders of the Muslim community to his residence for an informal dialogue.  Representatives of youth organizations, non-governmental organizations, and the Islamic community joined Ambassador Jones to discuss the U.S. Government's position on freedom of speech and how it is an integral element of the U.S. Constitution.  One guest took the opportunity to present the Ambassador with a sympathy card for Ambassador Chris Stevens' family.

@america Hosts Discussion on Human Trafficking in Indonesia:  During a film showing at Jakarta's high-tech cultural center, @america, Ambassador Marciel and 120 govern�ment officials and non-governmental organization activists watched "Never Again," an Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP)-funded docu�mentary about a young Indonesian woman who was traf�ficked, abused, and infected with HIV.  In his remarks, the Ambas�sador noted that combating human trafficking is one of the U.S. Government's high�est human rights priorities.  Indonesia's Vice Minister of Women's Empowerment also spoke at the event.  Recently, @america has also hosted events on the U.S. elections, corporate social responsibility, U.S. tourism, filmmaking, and regional American cuisine.

Mongolia's First Museum Touch Tour for the Blind:  During a recent International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) on museum management in the United States, a manager of the Mongolian Museum of Natural History learned about museum touch tours for blind patrons.  Upon her return to Mongolia, the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Ulaanbaatar worked with her to arrange the first-ever touch tour at the museum for 20 visually impaired students of the Embassy's English Access Microscholarship Program.  The students touched dinosaur bones, relief maps, and Mongolian wildlife that usually cannot be touched by museum guests.  The program was a great success and the museum intends to offer it to other groups in the future.

International Women - Empowered Through Sports:  On Thursday October 4, Assistant Secretary Stock, Deputy Assistant Secretary Satterfield, and representatives of ESPN and other sports, business and
diplomatic leaders joined 17 remarkable women as they enjoyed the closing luncheon for the inaugural Global Sports Mentoring Program.  From 17 different countries, the female emerging leaders were in the U.S. for a fast-paced mentorship experience with senior American women in the sports sector.  Their time in the U.S. opened a window of opportunity for participants and mentors to develop lasting relationships and an enhanced global network.  

OneBeat Forms Global Bonds and Networks through Music: During their tour from Florida to New York City, OneBeat brought their musical diversity to Washington D.C. through discussions and performances at a wide range of venues.  Assistant Secretary Ann Stock met with these young musicians and heard about their new collaborations and networks created through this innovative global music exchange.  The New York Times reported on OneBeat's musical diversity in its October 3 article, A United Nations of Music.

OneBeat

Alumni Flash Mob Marks U.S.-Armenia Diplomatic Relations: U.S. Embassy Yerevan's October 7 flash mob in downtown Yerevan brought together 200 alumni of U.S. Government-funded exchange programs as well as Armenian youth.  

Dancing flash mob in Yerevan, Armenia October 7, 2012

PDAS Ereli Congratulates Iraqi Conservation Institute for Preserving Cultural Heritage: On October 6 Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (PDAS) Adam Ereli delivered a message of congratulations from Secretary Clinton in Erbil, Iraq, celebrating the success of the Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage.  Founded in 2009 with support from ECA's Cultural Heritage Center and Public Affairs Section Baghdad, the Institute has provided international-level education in the preservation of heritage sites and collections to over 100 Iraqi professionals. 

Culinary Diplomacy in Action in the Azores:  Kicking off one of the first 'hands-on' events of the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Culinary Partnership, Chef Ming Tsai gave an inspirational cooking/life lesson to 80 students from the School for Tourism and Hospitality (EFTH) during his visit to the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores.  At a time when U.S. and Portuguese authorities are negotiating the possible downsizing of the U.S. presence at the Lajes airbase on the Azorean island of Terceira, Chef Ming Tsai's presentation shifted the media focus to the strong ties that unite the United States and the Azores.

SUSI Student Leaders in Turkey Express Themselves through Graffiti:  U.S. Institute for Scholars (SUSI) Student Leader Social Entrepreneurship Program alumni painted a mural with American graffiti artist Caleb Neelon in Beyoglu Municipality near a city youth center for disadvantaged kids.  SUSI alumni also created a mural in Hatay (located on the Syrian border) at Mustafa Kemal University.  The project honors the university's 20th anniversary and showcases America's diverse art scene.  Thanks to support from ECA's Office of Alumni Affairs and Public Affairs Section Istanbul, Turkey, Caleb Neelon led training workshops on producing graffiti art and discussed the value of freedom of expression with the young volunteers.

Dolphin Diplomacy Makes a Splash in Montenegro:  All major Montenegrin electronic and print media reported positively on the presentation of the U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program and the multi- national exercise "Dolphin 2012," a training program in the Bay of Kotor which took place throughout the month of October.  The program, which included a civilian team of marine mammal handlers and veterinary staff from San Diego, received extensive media coverage October 9th on public and private television, and local radio.  On October 10, the dolphins were already hard at work detecting and marking locations of possible Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) but took a few moments to pose for a group of journalists.

U.S. Jazz Singer Delights Crowds in Belarus:  Florida-based Kevin Mahogany shared his brand of jazz and big band vocals with hundreds of Belarusian jazz fans at concerts in Minsk and Mogilev October 6-7. Mahogany was invited by the Equilibrium Arts concert agency, with partial support from the U.S. Embassy in Minsk.  Mahogany performed classic and original compositions with the local Belarusian jazz group "Apple Tea" and the big band group "Symphonic Drive Orchestra," comprised of students from Minsk State Music College.  This was one of the first U.S. jazz vocalist and bebop artists to visit Mogilev.  Increasing ties between Americans and Belarusians is a priority goal for the Mission, and cultural programming has have proven to be an effective vehicle. 

GIST Tech Connects Young Pakistani Entrepreneurs:  To advance innovation in Pakistan, the Public Affairs team in Islamabad gathered more than
300 young Pakistanis, and 19 viewing groups at universities throughout Pakistan, to participate in an online Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) Tech event with the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES.) Live tweets from @innovgen, IIP's Innovation Generation team, sparked a leading Pakistan entrepreneurship influencer to re-tweet and "favorite" six of @innovgen's comments to his 14,000 followers.  The event also had a 30-person live audience from Washington, D.C.'s MIT Enterprise Forum, a GIST-implementing partner.

New Burmese Political Atmosphere Allows Book Translation:  IIP's book translation program has finalized the Burmese version of Development as Freedom, by Amartya Sen, for Public Affairs Section Rangoon.  Four years in the making, Burmese censors had redacted significant portions of the initial translation, especially the phrase "human rights" - edits which were unacceptable to the author and publisher.  Due to the recent changes in the country, IIP had an opportunity to renegotiate with the publisher and in cooperation with post, the book will soon be ready for distribution at the American Center Library in Rangoon for use with advanced English language classes.

IIP Experts in Turkmenistan:  American children's author Ken Derby, a former IIP expert speaker, was on hand at the Turkmenistan International Book Fair to read excerpts and sign his work, the first American book published in Turkmenistan.  The Embassy helped translate the book, which was released at the Turkmenistan International Book Fair, attended by schoolchildren, university 

students, and the general public.  IIP expert speaker and soccer star Gwendolyn Oxenham also visited Turkmenistan to talk about how sports impact individuals and communities, breaking Turkmen stereotypes that soccer is only a man's sport.  Oxenham took time in the evenings to play in pick up soccer games with local community men, earning their respect by being the only female among men who initially underestimated her abilities. 

ACCESS Classes in Lebanon Recognize International Day of the Girl:  In support of International Day of the Girl on October 11, ACCESS students in Lebanon engaged in community service activities to help young, less fortunate girls.  The ACCESS classes in Kfarheem and Moukhtara met with the local mayor to discuss the importance of education in empowering girls.  The mayor inspired the girls to become active in the public sector. The ACCESS students shared this message with children at the Abie orphanage expressing that they can build a brighter future for themselves through education.

PAS Tel Aviv Supports Sustainability through the Camera Lens:  As a part of the International Photography Festival in Jaffa on the theme of environmental sustainability, Public Affairs Section (PAS) Tel Aviv held a photo contest for the students of the International GLOBE program.  The Embassy Facebook page featured 35 submissions, generating lively discussions among the students, teachers, and parents from Jewish and Arab backgrounds.  The Festival also featured a PAS-initiated, youth-at-risk photography project from the Beit HaGefen-Jewish-Arab Center in Haifa.  The works and lectures of PAS-sponsored American photographers Fern Shaffer and Richard Rothman were some of the highlights of the Festival.

New York Foreign Press Center Increases Foreign Media Engagement During UNGA 2012: The New York Foreign Press Center (NYFPC) provided briefings by Assistant Secretaries Blake (South Asia), Jones (Near Eastern Affairs), Gordon (Europe), Campbell (East Asia Pacific), Jacobson (Western Hemisphere) and Carson (Africa) during the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly, the first time in recent memory that all six of the State Department's regional bureau leaders have briefed the foreign media during the annual and intense period of bilateral and multilateral meetings in New York.  Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Mike Hammer's standing room only United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) wrap-up briefing capped a week of briefings, teleconferences and backgrounders organized by the NYFPC.  In addition to foreign journalists resident in New York City, the NYFPC was able to include journalists visiting from overseas and Washington in its UNGA outreach, including Kazak, Sri Lankan, Afghan and Uzbek media representatives.   During the week, the NYFPC also supported foreign media outreach by the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Grossman, the Acting Special Representative for Global Food Security Shrier, Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs Pascual and Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan Ambassador Lyman.     

FPC Tour Gives Foreign Journalists Extraordinary Access to Historic Debate:  Twenty-five journalists from Libya, Egypt, and India

Journalists from Zimbabwe, Haiti and Macedonia learn about solar energy at the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, CO, as part of an exploration of election issues.

 ...And Brings U.S.-based Media to the Debate:  As a companion to the foreign reporting tour, the FPC arranged a reporting tour for domestic-based foreign media to travel to Denver October 1-3.  After accompanying the foreign tour to the University of Denver, the domestic tour visited a small coffee roasting factory, Novo Coffee, and learned how local government policies and tax benefits supported its growth.  They also visited DaVita Healthcare to discuss how Medicare and government healthcare plans would affect the private dialysis and renal company's services, and met with Denver Mayor Michael Hancock to discuss the city's economic growth.  The tour culminated in attendance at the first Presidential debate.

Afghanistan: Embassy Kabul Corrects False Narrative: On October 2, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Kabul Mission Director KenYamashita was interviewed for a series by NBC that focused on development progress in Afghanistan over the past decade, among other topics.  Countering earlier pieces in the series that suggested wasteful spending, Yamashita noted the achievements in healthcare, education, and women's rights over the last ten years and stressed the strong accountability measures in place to address corruption and waste.  

Turkmenistan: Breaking Stereotypes - Soccer is a Woman's Sport Too:  Sports Envoy Gwendolyn Oxenham travelled to Turkmenistan and gave 

presentations to young and older audiences on the impact of sports on individuals and the community.  Her visit helped break the stereotype that soccer is a man's sport.  None of the official venues Oxenham visited had female soccer players, so the people she met were surprised to see a professional female player.  Oxenham also attended an educational fair organized by Embassy Ashgabat to speak about sports in U.S. colleges and universities.

Daniel Pearl World Music Day Draws Large Crowd in Uzbekistan:  Embassy Tashkent's third annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days concert attracted 1,000 enthusiastic music fans on October 5.  The concert was open to the public and featured performances by singer Nasiba Abdullaeva and the Ofarin Dance Theatre.  Opening the event, Ambassador Krol explained that the purpose of World Music Days is to promote peace through music.