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.
How the Indian Media Covered Anna
Over the last seven days, a national drama unfolded on television, beginning with the arrest of anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare...as Hazare enters the eighth day of his anti-corruption hunger strike, media experts too are wondering if the Indian press has lost its sense of perspective. The non-stop coverage has led to a near blackout of other news events of importance.
Despite security concerns, Israel approves Google Street View
The Law, Information and Technology Authority at Israel’s Justice Ministry finally sanctioned Google’s request to operate its “Street View” here. In Israel it took longer than everywhere else to grant this permission, in part because of a longstanding national aversion to anything that might reveal security installations to a prurient and not necessarily well-meaning world.
Google maps the Amazon
In its quest to map the entire planet, Google has started in on the world’s largest tropical rainforest. The tech giant plans to work with Amazonas Sustainable Foundation, a non-profit that works to conserve the forest and improve the livelihood of communities who live there. The hope is that it will help outsiders better understand the scope and the importance of the world’s largest tropical rainforest.
African Union Set to Raise Funds for Food Relief
An spokesman for the African Union says final preparations are being made for the scheduled August 25 “pledge conference” in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. Organized by the continental body, the meeting aims to raise funds to help relief efforts in hunger-stricken East Africa, which has created hundreds of thousands refugees and internally displaced.
Huge in Asia
Now, scores of brands with sagging fortunes in the United States are reinventing themselves as must-have luxury items in the Far East, a strategy they've adopted with particular fervor in the wake of the global economic downturn.
Waves of Disinformation and Confusion Swamp the Truth in Libya
Information, or rather truthful information, is often difficult to come by in any war zone. Disinformation is a powerful tool that can be used to mislead the enemy, hide tactics, instigate fear or win public support. There is also the fog of war, the confusion in communications and the chaos of the battlefield that can obscure any objective understanding.
West Africa Rising: Nigeria sends two new satellites into space
Earth's least likely space-going nation reached further into the stars last week, when Nigeria shot its third and fourth satellites into orbit, including the first satellite built by Africans. From their exospheric perch, the two will map one of humanity's final frontiers: Lagos. The vast megalopolis, home to between nine and 17 million people, is a constantly-shifting phenomenon in urban non-planning.
Angelina Jolie visits Halo Trust headquarters
Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has used her time in Scotland to visit the global headquarters of a charity which specialises in landmine removal. The Jolie-Pitt Foundation has provided "hundreds of thousands of pounds" worth of financial support to Halo, funding humanitarian mine clearance teams in Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Kosovo and Afghanistan.
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