The United States welcomes the appointment of Nathan Gatten, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at American Airlines to the United States Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council (ABAC). Gatten will join current U.S. ABAC member Scott Price of UPS and Ms. Zivanonic-Smith of NCR. He will replace at the end of the year Richard Cantor of Moody’s Corporation, who served on the council since 2016.

These American business executives will join their ABAC counterparts from other APEC economies to advise APEC Leaders on issues affecting the continued growth of the region’s economy. ABAC, created in 1995, consists of three business representatives from each APEC economy. ABAC meets throughout the year to discuss policy recommendations, undertake activities to promote trade and investment, and reports annually to the Leaders.

Gatten has more than twenty years of public and private policy experience at senior levels in government and the private sector working on legislative and regulatory issues across multiple sectors, including transportation and financial services. Prior to joining American Airlines, he served as Managing Director and Head of Global Government Relations at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

APEC is the premier organization for facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade, and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. Under the APEC structure, the United States and 20 other of the world’s leading economies come together to facilitate regional economic cooperation through trade and investment liberalization, and tackle a wide range of issues critical to ensuring regional prosperity and economic growth.

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The Secretary’s Special Representative for Syria Engagement, Ambassador Jim Jeffrey and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Levant Affairs and Special Envoy for Syria Joel Rayburn will travel to Turkey and Jordan, December 4 – December 14.

In Turkey, the Ambassador will meet with Turkish leaders and other senior officials to discuss the promotion of stability and security in Syria. He will also conduct with Turkish officials a High-Level Working Group on Syria ‎to address security concerns of our two countries and continue progress on issues of mutual interest regarding the ongoing crisis in Syria.

In Jordan, Ambassador Jeffrey will meet with Senior Jordanian officials to emphasize the importance of maintaining pressure on the Syrian regime and encouraging all possible efforts to advance the political track as called for in UNSCR 2254. The Ambassador will also thank the Jordanians for their continued support for the hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees in Jordan and discuss additional ways to ensure consistent, unhindered access to humanitarian and medical aid for the population of Rukban. He will also meet with U.S. personnel focused on Syria policy issues from around the world.

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The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs is pleased to announce Team Yamakapi, from the Zoohackathon in San Diego, California as the 2018 Zoohackathon global winner. The runners-up were Team CheeTrack, from Entebbe, Uganda and Team Zoocchini, from New Delhi, India.

Zoohackathon supports U.S. efforts to reduce wildlife trafficking, raises public awareness among new and diverse audiences, and empowers participants to become part of the solution. During this year’s Zoohackathon, over 275 university students, software professionals, and wildlife enthusiasts created unique technological solutions to combat wildlife trafficking. Events took place in Kuala Lumpur, Madrid, Mumbai, New Delhi, Entebbe, and San Diego.

Team Yamakapi, participants of Zoohackathon San Diego, developed “Conscious Consumer,” a Google Chrome browser extension that educates online shoppers about product sustainability through sensitive key terms related to conservation. Consumers receive a notification alerting them if a product they are attempting to buy contains certain key terms, illegal wildlife parts, or is unsustainable. The browser extension aims to help change consumer purchasing behavior, reduce demand for illegal wildlife products, and prevent the extinction of wildlife species.

Team CheeTrack, from Zoohackathon Entebbe, created an online solution that identifies and tracks cheetahs in captivity using artificial intelligence and machine learning. Team Zoocchini, from Zoohackathon New Delhi, developed “Claw Net,” a web tool and interactive platform that identifies web searches through “code words” commonly used to refer to illegal wildlife items. ClawNet also contains a map of trade routes for law enforcement, illustrating which buyers and sellers respond to the identified web searches.

For more information about Zoohackathon, visit www.zoohackathon.com or contact OES-PA-DG@state.gov. Follow Zoohackathon on social media at @StateDeptOES and #Zoohackathon.

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As consultations are set to commence between the Republic of Yemen Government and the Houthis in Sweden, the United States calls on parties to engage fully and genuinely, and cease any ongoing hostilities. The people of Yemen have suffered far too long. The parties owe it to their fellow Yemenis to seize this opportunity. We strongly support UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths, who has undertaken tremendous effort to bring these consultations to fruition, and thank the Government of Sweden for hosting. We have no illusions that this process will be easy, but we welcome this necessary and vital first step. Now is the time for Yemenis to replace conflict with reconciliation and work together to realize a brighter future for Yemen. Peace, prosperity, and security can be on the horizon and those participating in the consultations have the chance to be part of a new chapter in Yemen’s history.

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The below is attributable to Spokesperson Heather Nauert:

Secretary Michael R. Pompeo met with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj today in Brussels. The Secretary thanked the Prime Minister for the Government of National Accord’s strong partnership with the United States. The Secretary reiterated the United States’ committed support for UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General Ghassan Salamé and his plan, as briefed to the UN Security Council, for a Libyan-led National Conference to be held in the first weeks of 2019 and the subsequent electoral process to begin in the spring of 2019. The Secretary and the Prime Minister agreed on the importance of the Government of National Accord swiftly implementing comprehensive economic reforms, enhancing fiscal transparency, ensuring greater security for all Libyans, and stabilizing oil production. The Secretary and the Prime Minister reaffirmed their shared commitment to the U.S.-Libya counterterrorism partnership.

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