| First American Indian Woman Doctor Posted: 19 Nov 2011 04:02 AM PST  Profile America — Saturday, November 19th. As National American Indian Heritage Month continues, the accomplishments of many pioneering men and women are being honored. One of these is Susan La Flesche, an Omaha Indian from Nebraska who set her sights on becoming a doctor. Her dedication resulted in her attending the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. Not only did she graduate in 1889 but did so at the head of her class, becoming the first female American Indian physician. La Flesche returned home to Nebraska, where she married, raised a family, and built the first Indian hospital in the state. Eighty percent of American Indians and Alaska natives 25 and older have a high school diploma, and 16 percent have earned at least a bachelor’s degree in college. Profile America is in its 15th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Sources: Chase’s Calendar of Events 2011, p. 541
NIH, Changing the Face of Medicine
U.S. Census Bureau, Facts for Features, CB10-FF.22
http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb10ff22.html  
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| US to Slap Isolated Iran With New Sanctions Posted: 19 Nov 2011 03:39 AM PST The United States is getting ready to hit Iran with new, tougher sanctions, with one top official saying Tehran now faces an "unprecedented" degree of isolation.
U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity late Friday, said the sanctions could be unveiled as early as Monday and would target Iran's petrochemical industry. They said the new sanctions would seek to stop foreign companies from investing in ventures like oil refineries.
The officials said foreign companies that violate the ban would be cut off from access to the U.S. market, and that European countries could introduce similar sanctions later next week.
Separately, U.S. national security adviser Tom Donilon said Saturday that Iran is finding itself more isolated than ever before.
Donilon spoke to reporters while traveling with U.S. President Barack Obama in Indonesia. The national security adviser also said that like the U.S., China and Russia want to make sure Iran does not develop nuclear weapons.
On Friday, both China and Russia sought to ease the tone of a resolution by the United Nations' nuclear watchdog that was critical of Tehran. The final wording cited "deep and increasing concern" over Iran's nuclear activities but stopped short of referring Iran to the U.N. Security Council or setting a deadline for the country to comply with the International Atomic Energy Agency's requests for additional information.
The 35-member IAEA board adopted the measure about a week after announcing in a report that there is "credible" evidence Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons.
Iran has dismissed the IAEA report. The country's IAEA envoy, Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, said the measure will only strengthen Iran's determination to continue its uranium enrichment activities.
He also said Iran would not attend a U.N. atomic forum next week focusing on efforts to create a Middle East region free of nuclear weapons.
The U.S. praised the IAEA for passing the resolution. A White House statement says the agency "spoke with a unified voice" in holding Tehran accountable for its "continued failure to live up to international obligations."
The U.N. Security Council has passed four sets of sanctions on Iran for refusing to stop nuclear activities that have both civilian and military uses. 
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| US, China Discuss South China Sea on Final Day of Bali Summit Posted: 18 Nov 2011 11:50 PM PST U.S. President Barack Obama met in Bali Saturday with China's Premier Wen Jiabao as leaders attending the East Asia Summit brought their meetings to a close. U.S. officials say the two discussed regional tensions over the South China Sea.
The Obama - Wen meeting, announced by the White House on short notice Saturday morning, occurred before leaders at the summit held a formal plenary session and a working lunch.
Neither commented before or after. But U.S. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon said they spoke briefly about the South China Sea issue following up on a conversation from the previous day, and that there would be more discussion among leaders later.
In remarks to ASEAN (Southeast Asian) leaders on Friday, Premier Wen said solutions should not involve "outside forces. . . under any pretext." The comments were widely seen as directed at the U.S. - Australia agreement to base 2,500 U.S. Marines in Australia.
Speaking to reporters Saturday, National Security Adviser Donilon reiterated that the U.S. takes no sides in the South China Sea issue, but believes disputes need to be resolved peacefully. Donilon said, "The U.S. has an interest in the freedom of navigation, the free flow of commerce, the peaceful resolution of disputes. We don't have a claim, we don't take sides in the claims, but we do as a global maritime power have an interest in seeing these principles applied broadly." Donilon said he would not comment on the specifics of any nation's claim, but did note that the South China Sea issue was raised by ASEAN countries in discussions Friday.
More broadly, he was asked whether what one reporter called the "sharp tone" Mr. Obama has sounded during his Asia-Pacific trip could lead elements in China's military to believe the U.S. is attempting to isolate or contain China.
Donilon said President Obama has made a point of repeatedly welcoming China's peaceful rise and economic success, and anything he has said during his trip has "nothing to do with isolating or containing anybody." Donilon said, "The U.S. goal in the region is to have a stable, peaceful, and economically prosperous region and that is in the interests of everyone in the region, including the Chinese." Donilon said the United States has been "very direct" with China about its plans in the Asia-Pacific region, adding Washington has worked to deepen the "military to military conversation" to achieve more transparency regarding military plans and intentions. China's regional economic role and its strategic intentions in the South China Sea have been a major focus at this summit as well as during Mr. Obama's nine-day Asia-Pacific trip that emphasized the importance of regional trade. Mr. Obama said this in his speech to Australian troops and U.S. Marines in Darwin this past week after the announcement of a new military access agreement. The president said, "There is another reason we are deepening our alliance here. This region has some of the busiest sea lanes in the world, which are critical to all our economies." National Security Adviser Donilon called the overall U.S. relationship with China complicated. But he said Beijing recognizes that the U.S. is a principle Pacific power intent on meeting its obligations and commitments to partners and allies.
At the same time, he said the U.S. is engaged in an "important conversation" with China about economic issues not limited to currency policies, including what he called areas that "impair the fair access" by the United States and other countries to China's economy.
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| Muslim Protesters Demand End to Surveillance Posted: 18 Nov 2011 09:35 PM PST Hundreds of Muslims staged a rally and public prayers in New York City Friday, to protest alleged ethnic and religious profiling in their community by the city's police department.
Demonstrators gathered in New York's Foley Square chanting for an end to surveillance. They also held signs condemning the New York City Police Department for allegedly infiltrating mosques, spying on Muslim student groups, cataloguing Middle Eastern restaurants and compiling data on Arab cab drivers. The charges came to light in a recent investigative report by the Associated Press.
In a sermon at the rally during traditional Friday Muslim prayers, Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid said Muslims in the United States are unapologetic about their faith and uncompromisingly American.
"Our American identity is based on ideals, and principals and affirmation of truth. We affirm the American dream," he said.
One of the signs at the rally said "The police watch us. Who's watching the police?"
The National Lawyers Guild does just that. A team from the non-profit federation of lawyers, legal workers, and law students came to the rally to observe interaction between the protesters and police. Guild member Bina Ahmad said government surveillance without probable cause violates the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. She said there is no valid reason for infiltrating the Muslim community.
"We all have the right to be free and equal citizens, have the right to free speech, to be free of a police state," said Ahmad. "We have the Fourth Amendment, your right against unreasonable search and seizure. And we're all law-abiding citizens."
An NYPD liaison with the Muslim community declined VOA's request for comment, pointing instead to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly's recent testimony at a City Council hearing about the surveillance. Kelly said the NYPD does not engage in racial profiling, but rather, "follows leads wherever those leads may take us." One council member asked if police have ever gone to a mosque or followed a person without a specific lead. Kelly said he could not answer that definitively. 
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| UN Members Condemn Alleged Iranian Plot on Saudi Official Posted: 18 Nov 2011 08:42 PM PST The U.N. General Assembly has overwhelmingly condemned Iran for an alleged plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador in Washington.
It sounded like something out of a novel. Last month U.S. officials charged that agents linked to Iran's powerful Al Quds force were plotting to kill Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir, at a Washington restaurant.
One of the men charged in the scheme - an Iranian with U.S. citizenship - was arrested and has pleaded not guilty. A second man is believed to be in Iran and has not been apprehended.
The two allegedly hired a man they believed to be a member of a Mexican drug cartel to carry out the attack - either through a bombing or gunning the ambassador down. But the would-be assassin also was an informant on the payroll of U.S. authorities and told them the details of the plot, stopping it before it could play out.
Outraged, Saudi Arabia brought a resolution before the 193 members of the U.N. General Assembly Friday condemning terrorism in all its forms, and specifically deploring the alleged plot. It was co-sponsored by more than 50 other member states.
The resolution, which is not binding, was adopted by a vote of 106 in favor, nine opposed and 40 abstentions. It calls upon Iran to comply with all of its obligations under international law - particularly in regard to cooperating with international efforts to bring those involved in the plot to justice.
Saudi Ambassador Abdullah Al-Mouallimi told the General Assembly that the resolution was balanced, and despite evidence pointing to the involvement of Iran or one of its agencies, did not directly condemn either.
Through a translator, the ambassador said, "Justice demands that we give full opportunity to the Islamic Republic of Iran to come clean and to prove its innocence if it is not involved in this plot. This issue is either of two probabilities only: either Iran is confident of its innocence and can refute all the allegations directed to it, in which case it should respond to this call in a confident and serene manner, and to do that as soon as possible. Or, alternatively, Iran or one of its organs or one of its citizens is involved in the plot; in which case it is only natural it will deny and try to avoid assuming its responsibilities."
Ambassador Al-Mouallimi told reporters after the vote that there is "overwhelming evidence" to implicate elements related to, working for or belonging to Iran's Revolution Guards Corps in the plot. He said that evidence includes a taped confession, recorded conversations, a trail of money, as well as other intelligence.
Iran's U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee objected to the resolution as it was drafted and offered several amendments, which the assembly overwhelmingly voted down. The Iranian envoy said bringing this matter before the General Assembly set a "dangerous precedent" for settling political scores.
"This allegation which is now the basis of this draft resolution is yet another plot, not against the Saudi ambassador, but a plot against my country, and another step along same well known path. Against this backdrop it should not be acceptable for any of us that this General Assembly, too, be used for advancing a political agenda against a member state," said Khazaee.
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said attacks on diplomats - who are considered internationally protected persons - are acts of terrorism. She welcomed Friday's resolution as a "measured and appropriate response" and noted that a fair judicial process is underway in the United States to prosecute the one suspect who is in custody.
Relations between Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran have been tense for a number of years as the two oil-rich powers look to expand and solidify their supremacy in the region. 
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