Washington, DC - The United States Navy Memorial hosted the 25th annual Blessing of the Fleet ceremony at the Navy Memorial in Washington Saturday.

Matamoros, Mexico - In an important symbol of enduring friendship with Mexico, U.S. Charge d’Affaires to Mexico William Duncan, U.S. Consul General in Matamoros Angela Kerwin, and local officials broke ground today on the new U.S. Consulate General in Matamoros.

Dallas, Texas - American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown issued the following comments today on the bold steps by Mars Food to reduce sodium in their products by 20% by 2021:

Rochester, Minnesota - An international group of vaccine researchers is proposing a comprehensive research plan to tackle the risks of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, now confirmed to cause birth defects. Dr. Gregory Poland, head of Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group and Editor in Chief of the journal Vaccine, has published an editorial with Ricardo Palacios and Jorge Kalil, both of the Butantan Institute, the largest biologics research center in Brazil.

Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "Teresa and I join the people of the United States in expressing our deepest condolences for the tragic loss of life resulting from the earthquake today in Ecuador.

Rochester, Minnesota - According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1.2 million people in the U.S. States are living with HIV infection, and 1 in 8 don't know they have it. Mayo Clinic infectious diseases specialist Dr. Stacey Rizza says, "Despite years of education and increased understanding, the number of HIV infections is not decreasing significantly, as 500,000 news cases are diagnosed in the U. S. each year." Globally, 50 million people are estimated to be infected.