Names and faces

Ivanka Trump (left) and Princess Lalla Meryem of Morocco prepare to greet dinner guests Thursday at the Royal Guest House in Rabat, Morocco.
Ivanka Trump (left) and Princess Lalla Meryem of Morocco prepare to greet dinner guests Thursday at the Royal Guest House in Rabat, Morocco.

• Visiting Morocco for the first time, Ivanka Trump received a warm welcome Thursday from housewives, widows and other women who are benefiting from new laws that allow them to own land. Trump is a senior White House adviser who works on women's issues and has sought through an initiative to encourage developing countries to help women build wealth and financial independence by owning land or other property. Working in partnership with Millennium Challenge Corp., a U.S. aid agency, Morocco has updated its land titling laws and earned the three-day visit from the U.S. president's daughter. At an olive grove in a region north of the capital, Rabat, she met four women who had inherited or bought land -- something they previously could not do. Trump later strolled into a ceremony as participants banged drums and blew horns. "When you invest in women, they invest back into their families and communities and countries flourish," said Trump, who is visiting Morocco to promote the Women's Global Development and Prosperity initiative, a U.S. government program she spearheads that has a goal of helping 50 million women in developing countries advance economically by 2025. The initiative focuses on helping women develop job skills and succeed as entrepreneurs, along with changing cultures and laws. She held back-to-back meetings with Prime Minister Saad-Eddine El Othmani and Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita and also spoke by telephone with King Mohammed VI to thank him for "meaningful recent legal reforms to advance gender equality in Morocco," she said on Twitter. Dressed in a glittering champagne-colored caftan on loan from the king, Trump capped the night at an intimate dinner party on the palace grounds, hosted by Princess Lalla Meryem.

• Election Day has passed, but Michelle Obama is still trying to get out the vote. The former first lady announced that Selena Gomez, Liza Koshy, Shonda Rhimes, Megan Rapinoe, Tracee Ellis Ross and Kerry Washington have signed on as co-chairmen of the national organization When We All Vote. Obama is already a co-chairman, along with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Faith Hill, Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson, and basketball star Chris Paul. When We All Vote, a nonprofit, describes itself as a nonpartisan group dedicated to increasing voter participation. The announcement Thursday marks a year until the 2020 elections, which includes the presidential race. Hanks said "registering new voters is an act of hope and taking part in the American idea." He added that voting guarantees the blessings of "liberty for the grandkids."

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AP file photo

Former first lady Michelle Obama speaks at the American Library Association annual conference in New Orleans, Friday, June 22, 2018.

A Section on 11/08/2019

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