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.
Plot Foiled? In Bolivia, Truth Is Elusive
Wielding assault rifles, the members of Delta Group, an elite Bolivian police unit, quietly crept up the stairs to the fourth floor of the Hotel Las Américas...Within minutes, they shot dead three men: Michael Dwyer, 24, of Ireland; Arpad Magyarosi, 39, a Romanian of Hungarian descent; and Eduardo Rozsa Flores, 49, a Bolivian with Hungarian and Croatian passports and a nebulous past as a leader of foreigners fighting for Croatia during the breakup of Yugoslavia.
Radio Netherlands Partners with Incablenet
Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) has taken on a partnership with Incablenet (IndusInd Media & Communications), which allows 2 million listeners of Indian households to listen to the English programmes of RNW. The international broadcaster is already collaborating with various FM radio stations, and Incablenet allows the Indian public to access RNW programmes via cable for the first time.
Latest in Indian Footwear: Protest
In India, flying footwear is the new hunger strike, overtaking even the trendy Facebook protest as an expression of civil disobedience. In the latest in a string of four shoe-hurling incidents during the month-long elections underway across India, a 21-year-old computer science student took aim at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a sparsely attended rally Sunday in the western city of Ahmedabad.
SCO culture ministers discuss multilateral cooperation
Culture ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) gathered in the central Russian city of Kazan Monday to discuss multilateral cultural cooperation within the framework of the regional bloc.
Obama’s First Hundred Days in the Greater Middle East
Obama has engaged in a number of acts of public diplomacy toward the Muslim world that were intended to change the image of the United States in the region and to marshal for his purposes American soft power, which is among its largest assets in the region.
Google aims for bigger Arab audience
Google, the internet company, hopes to provide the tools that will help users to increase the amount of Arabic content online. However, while the absence of a free media across the Middle East has helped boost the appeal of blogs and networking sites, internet censorship leaves the company in an uncertain position.
European Diplomats turn to Twitter
Enough reading between the lines -- European diplomats are saying it all in 140 characters. France is the latest country to turn to social networking site Twitter to tell the world what its diplomats are up to. Top British, Dutch and Portuguese officials are among those doing it, too. With a 140-character limit, the tweets are pithy, with none of the nuance or lengthy constructions common in diplomatic texts.
A Really Big Show
My own view is that there is a pressing need for Alhurra to exist and to thrive. There is also a need to complement Alhurra by funding TV production that can be placed on other Arabic-lanaguage networks. We did a bit of that at State when I was there, but it’s time to roll out significant programming.
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