A curated selection of public diplomacy-relevant news from a global cross-section of English-language media outlets, including independent, corporate-owned, and state-sponsored sources. The stories featured don't necessarily represent CPD's views nor have they been verified by CPD.
HPU Awarded $749,862 Renewal Grant from U.S. Department of State
Hawai'i Pacific University has been awarded a renewal grant of $749,862 from the U.S. Department of State. The award represents a 59 percent increase from year-one of the grant when HPU was awarded $472,000. The award will be used to develop English language teaching (ELT) materials for use overseas and to host a Summer Institute in June 2010 for 26 English as a Second/Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) teachers selected from various regions of the world.
Misguided Intentions: Resisting AFRICOM
Afria's profile rose sharply during the George W. Bush administration. President Bush expressed the strategic change in unequivocal terms: “Africa is increasingly vital to our strategic interests." However, Africans themselves met AFRICOM with skepticism and suspicion.
China’s no longer new to news
Beijing has become more sophisticated about how the media can help to convey Chinese influence around the world. It has announced plans to set up companies that will compete with the world's media giants. And the effort to project soft power is going on even in remote corners of the world. Only last month, state-owned CCTV began Russian-language broadcasts in Kyrgyzstan.
U.S. Seeks to Ease Pakistanis” Concerns Before Obama Signs Aid Bill
The joint House-Senate statement, negotiated over the past several days, will emphasize mutual respect between the two countries, officials said, and "clarify" provisions in the bill requiring administration reports to Congress on Pakistan's expenditures, its progress in combating Islamist insurgents and the extent of civilian control over the Pakistani military.
Cuba won’t let blogger travel to New York to accept award
A Cuban blogger who has criticized her government has been denied permission to travel to New York to pick up a prestigious journalism award Wednesday. Yoani Sanchez writes a blog that gets more than 1 million hits from around the globe every month, and Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world last year. So when Columbia University said it would award her the Maria Moors Cabot Prize special citation, Sanchez asked the Cuban government for permission to travel to New York this week. The government said no.
Clinton Calls for Closer Relationship With Russia
I will be the first to tell you, we have people in our government, and you have people in your government, who are still living in the past. They do not believe us and Russia can cooperate to this extent. They do not trust each other," Clinton said at a town hall event at Moscow State University. "And we have to prove them wrong.
First UN human rights office in European Union opens in Brussels
The first United Nations human rights office in the European Union opened today in Brussels, marking what the world body’s top rights official hopes will be a new era of cooperation with countries in the region. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is headquartered in Geneva but has never before opened a national or regional office in Western Europe.
The Peace Prize’s Price Tag - For Europe
In Europe, the public approval and interest was immediate, and overwhelming. The Nobel for Obama was the top story in all the news outlets for days, and rare was the public figure who did not feel compelled to congratulate or comment. All of Europe, it seemed, was in a flutter.
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