Canada has sold the John A. Macdonald building, the mansion in London that is home to some of the country's diplomatic activities in the U.K. Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Gordon Campbell confirmed the sale Thursday of One Grosvenor Square, which went to an Indian developer, Lodha Group, for $530 million. About 250 diplomatic staff based in the Macdonald building will be consolidated in Canada House, which is about half a kilometre away, in a move to save money.

Tags: united kingdom, canada, london, canada house, john a. macdonald building, embassy

The New England Patriots' cheerleaders spent two weeks in Beijing recently, leading pep rallies and cheer clinics. Former San Francisco 49ers superstar quarterback Joe Montana toured the Great Wall of China in between visits to local flag football games. They're both examples of an outreach effort by NFL China, the NFL organization tasked with recruiting NFL fans and introducing the game of American football to China's young atheletes.

Tags: china, sports diplomacy, corporate diplomacy, football, nfl, nfl china

In late September Andrei, a middle-aged Moldovan, was set upon by two men in a park in the center of this city. They had found his number on a gay dating site, arranged a meetup and, after calling him a faggot, beat him and kicked him in the face. Then, for good measure, they stole his bag and wallet. “It was vicious, and when the police arrived they started asking me all these degrading questions,” says Andrei, who asked that his name be changed.

Tags: public opinion, europe, european union, human rights, gay rights, moldova

Al Arabiya News will today launch a state-of-the-art subtitling service that allows English-speaking audiences to follow Arabic news bulletins and programs broadcast by its parent TV channel. The new service, part of this website’s View More video section, will broadcast regular news bulletins and programs first aired in Arabic by the Al Arabiya News Channel, the region’s leading news station.

Tags: media, saudi arabia, english, al arabiya, arabic

There were constant reminders of Egypt’s volatile political situation throughout the sixth Cairo International Women’s Film Festival. The entrance to Falaki Theatre, which hosted many of the festival’s screenings and its closing ceremony, is unmarked, well secured and directly in front of a high concrete wall abruptly blocking the road—one of many erected by security forces in downtown Cairo to restrict access by protesters to various government buildings and foreign embassies.

Tags: Cultural Diplomacy, egypt, film diplomacy, women, cairo, women's film festival

While public diplomacy is most often used when tackling international affairs and politics, your Thanksgiving dinner table, Hannukah celebration, or Christmas tree lighting, might feel like an international crisis…

Tags: public diplomacy, christmas, naomi leight, hannukah, holidays, pd toolbox

The Israeli Army shared its first comic book titled Hamas in Comics: Terror and Tyranny in Gaza, commemorating the so-called Operation "Pillar of Defense", an eight-day military offensive in the Gaza Strip. According to a post on the army's blog, the comic aims to "show you the terrorist organisation like you've never seen it before".

Tags: media, israel, palestine, terrorism, gaza strip, israel defense forces, hamas in comics, comic books

Rallies against Kyiv's decision to shelve a landmark pact with the European Union are gaining momentum in Ukraine, with students emerging as the backbone of the protests. Students have been skipping classes to protest President Viktor Yanukovych's abrupt policy U-turn away from Europe in favor of closer ties with Russia. The decision came just days before he was expected to sign the pact at a summit in Vilnius on November 29.

Tags: russia, european union, youth, ukraine, students, protests, vilnius summit, generational gap