North Korea

While speaking today at a news conference in Singapore (where, as seen above, she's attending the APEC summit), Secretary Clinton urged Burma to plan for "free, fair, and credible" elections in 2010. She also pointed out that it's in other countries' interests to have a stable Burma, saying, "Any country that does business in Burma wants to be sure that their investments and their business are safe, and the best way to ensure that is to move toward democracy and the kind of stability that democracy creates."

At a news conference today, Clinton also said yesterday's naval skirmish between North and South Korea will not not affect U.S. plans to send an envoy to North Korea to try to restart nuclear talks. Clinton said, "This does not in any way affect the decision to send Ambassador [Stephen] Bosworth. We think that this is an important step that stands on its own."

A couple of other Clinton tidbits:

•Clinton has been urging Iran to accept a U.N. proposal that lets the country ship low-enriched uranium abroad (to Russia and France) to be further enriched for a Tehran reactor that makes medical isotopes. She also stated on The Charlie Rose Show that, "It is not in Iran's interest to have a nuclear arms race in the Gulf, where they would be less secure than they are today. It is not in Iran's interest, to the Iranian people's interest, to be subjected to very onerous sanctions."

•Clinton was a star guest at Starbucks today, though she didn't order anything to drink. She sat for about 30 minutes at a table outside the Starbucks in Singapore's Suntec convention center. She was joined by U.S. Congressman Sander Levin (D-Mich.) while four diplomatic security agents monitored from a distance. Three of the four ordered lattes and cappuccinos. The manager said, "They came by very quietly. … Suddenly, this branch has become historic, an icon. I feel lucky."

Photo: ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images

Secretary Clinton's husband Bill has been in the headlines the past few days, and I've been swamped with other FP tasks, but here's a quick roundup of Hillary headlines:

•"Clinton tells Kenya to implement delayed reforms," reports Reuters

•"Clinton Calls for Accountability in Kenya," reports the New York Times

•"Clinton: Don't count on North Korea breakthrough," reports the Associated Press (on the Miami Herald's Web site)

•"Nairobi great place to get hair done: Clinton," a lighthearted Agence France-Presse article on Yahoo!

In the photo above:

Clinton addresses the eighth Forum of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in Nairobi, Kenya, on Aug. 5. The AGOA is a forum of some 40 African countries that enjoy trade preferences in the giant U.S. market on the condition that they uphold free elections and markets. Clinton will seek to build ties with three African powers -- Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa -- and show support for three countries recovering from conflict -- Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Liberia -- while also stopping in small U.S. ally Cape Verde.

Photo: TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images

Secretary Clinton has been making "minor gaffes" recently by wandering off her scripted talking points and speaking off the cuff, the Washington Times reports.

You Hillary fans aren't going to like the article, but I thought I'd bring it to your attention. A flavor of it:

[Administration officials] explained that it is [Clinton's] genuine desire to give real answers to questions, rather than stick to scripted talking points -- the practice of her predecessor, Condoleezza Rice.

Thomas R. Pickering, former undersecretary of state for political affairs in the [Bill] Clinton administration and a retired career diplomat, said that the desire described by Mrs. Clinton's aides sometimes clashes with her limited diplomatic experience in previous jobs.

"Her talking points might have assumed she knew more than she did, and she added on to buttress her credentials," Mr. Pickering said.

Secretary Clinton will be in the spotlight, literally, this Sunday morning. Back from Asia, she'll be on NBC's Meet the Press for the entire hour!

•Speaking of the spotlight, a New York Times headline today declares: "Asia Trip Propels Clinton Back into Limelight." (And yes, I know that many of you say she never ever was out of the limelight -- the "shadows" thing was all concocted.)

•Clinton has just "taken Asia by storm" with a tour that is "undeniably a success in public-relations and policy terms," a college professor writes in a Scripps Howard News Service op-ed.

•Clinton is viewed as the most intelligent first lady in a Harris Poll that asked about 11 first ladies from Eleanor Roosevelt through Michelle Obama (minus Elizabeth Truman and Mamie Eisenhower for some reason). Regarding the 11 first ladies, 29 percent of respondents said Clinton was most intelligent; Roosevelt was second with 13 percent, and Obama was third with 11 percent.

•Regarding this week's verbal jousting between Clinton and North Korea, a Washington Post Style article compares Clinton to the archetypal schoolyard "overachiever" and North Korea to the schoolyard's "socially inept loner."

•Hillary fans aren't going to like this one: A Boston Globe editorial accuses Clinton of "rookie mistakes" during her Asia trip.

Photo: INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images

I'm "speed-blogging" once again with a quick roundup of Hillary news:

•Two days after Secretary Clinton compared North Korea's leaders to "unruly teenagers," the country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement: "Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping." (Really? North Korean schoolgirls wear pantsuits?)

•Israel's intelligence agencies minister has criticized Clinton for saying that the United States is considering extending a "defense umbrella" over the Persian Gulf region to deter Iran.

•ASEAN has rejected Clinton's suggestion that it should kick Burma out of the regional organization if it doesn't free Aung San Suu Kyi.

•When asked about her presidential ambitions in a TV interview, Clinton said, "I doubt very much that anything like that will ever be part of my life."

Photo: ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images

Secretary Clinton has arrived in Thailand for the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Above, she speaks during a news conference with Thai Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu in Bangkok.

Due to time constraints, today I've just got a quick summary of recent Clinton news:

•Clinton to sign ASEAN treaty: She'll be signing ASEAN's Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, a move possibly aimed at countering China.

•Clinton is worried about military ties between Burma and North Korea.

•Clinton and India's external affairs minister signed a deal that will allow India to buy sophisticated U.S. weapons.

•Clinton said the U.S. government is doing all it can to rescue captured U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl.

•A federal judge has dismissed a 13-year-old lawsuit -- "Filegate" -- against Clinton.

Photo: NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images

Secretary Clinton and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, above, discussed North Korea's "bad behavior" during their bilateral in Washington yesterday.

A statement issued be Lee's office said that Clinton advocated for cooperation among the United States, South Korea, and Japan in implementing U.N. sanctions to "get North Korea to realize that its bad behavior will bring due consequences."

The statement said that Lee told Clinton that "as long as the United States and its allies maintain a firm stance, North Korea's belief that it will be rewarded for its bad behavior if it waits long enough will dissipate."

Today, Clinton will attend an expanded bilateral with Lee and President Obama, and enjoy a working lunch with the South Korean president.

Below, Clinton and Lee engaged in "hug diplomacy" when she greeted him at the Blair House, the presidential guesthouse.

Photos: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images

While Secretary Clinton has been busy receiving honorary degrees and extending benefits to same-sex partners, she hasn't been neglecting her diplomatic duties. She doesn't have any public appointments on her schedule today, but she's most likely busy working the phones in the wake of North Korea's nuclear test and missile firings.

The Associated Press reports that Clinton has spoken on the phone with foreign ministers in a number of countries, and the Washington Post reports that she is asking them for a "strong, unified" response. As Clinton proved last April, she knows how to handle those 3 a.m. phone calls.

Photo: PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images