Young Hondurans love soccer and wanted to play on a field in Chamelecon. But the field and its surrounding areas had become a dumping ground for dead bodies by gang members in a country with one of the world’s highest homicide rates.

Tags: central america, gender, honduras, international women's day, security, sports diplomacy, united states

In remarks he gave in Washington, DC, on March 4, US President Barack Obama said something quite revealing about the role of international law in the Crimea crisis: "There is a strong belief that Russia's action is violating international law. I know President Putin seems to have a different set of lawyers making a different set of interpretations, but I don't think that's fooling anybody."

Tags: crimea, independence, international law, nationalism, non-state pd, public opinion, russia, ukraine, un security council, united nations

The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) had not fully recovered from last November's disagreement between Saudi Arabia and Oman when it was hit by a deeper rift involving Qatar. 

Tags: al jazeera, bahrain, gulf cooperation council, middle east, muslim brotherhood, oman, qatar, saudi arabia, united arab emirates

Monzer Darwish is a 23-year-old graphic designer and metal fan from Al Salamiyah, Syria, a district near Homs. For the last five months he’s been travelling around the country and visiting refugees in Lebanon for a documentary he’s making about underground metal bands in war-torn Syria. Needless to say, it's a tough gig.

Tags: conflict, Cultural Diplomacy, film diplomacy, metal music, monzer darwish, music diplomacy, syria, syrian civil war, syrian metal is war

First ladies have long been an important part of a nation’s public diplomacy. Now their role is ever more pronounced. In this regard, China’s first lady invites special attention as the country actively courts international public opinion.

Tags: china, first lady, peng liyuan, public diplomacy, public opinion, soft power, xi jinping

The only help Obama has offered the Ukrainian military are military rations, but those haven’t even been sent yet, as Russian forces begin to attack Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea. As the crisis in Crimea reaches its “military stage,” and Russian troops have begun firing on Ukrainian soldiers, American promises of limited help to the Ukrainian military have not yet been fulfilled.

Tags: aid diplomacy, barack obama, conflict, crimea, food diplomacy, foreign aid, meals ready to eat, russia, ukraine, united states

Bogota’s public television station called on the Organization of American States (OAS) on Tuesday to intercede on its behalf amid threats to its executives, weeks after public appeals to Colombian national authorities. 

Tags: canal capital, colombia, human rights, inter-american commission on human rights, journalism, media, organization of american states

The roughly 2.5 billion people in the world who live on less than $2 a day are not destined to remain in a state of chronic poverty. Every few years, somewhere between ten and 30 percent of the world’s poorest households manage to escape poverty, typically by finding steady employment or through entrepreneurial activities such as growing a business or improving agricultural harvests. 

Tags: africa, aid diplomacy, development, digital diplomacy, financing, grameen bank, mobile, mobile phones, technology