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.
China Memorial To Korean Assassin Sparks Japan Row
A new Asian diplomatic row broke out on Monday after China unveiled a memorial to a Korean national hero who assassinated a Japanese official a century ago - with Tokyo condemning him as a “terrorist”. In 1909, Ahn Jung-geun shot and killed Hirobumi Ito, Japan’s first prime minister and its top official in Japanese-occupied Korea, at the railway station in the northeast Chinese city of Harbin.
Syria Jihadists Say Music And Singing Is Bad For God
A double suicide car bombing at the Bab al-Hawa border post between Syria and Turkey on Monday killed at least 16 people, including six rebels, a monitoring group said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, updating an earlier toll, said 20 people were wounded as one car detonated at a checkpoint just outside the crossing and another inside the post.
US Getting ‘Messages’ From Inside Syrian Regime To End War
The United States has received messages from members of the Syrian regime who "want a way out" of the current brutal fighting, a senior US official said Monday. "There are elements inside the regime itself, among its supporters, that are anxious to find a peaceful solution, and we've gotten plenty of messages from people inside, they want a way out," the State Department official told reporters on a conference call.
Toronto Shelves Olympic Bid, Still Looking At World Expo
The city’s economic development committee has decided not to consider putting together a bid to host the Olympics in 2024, but left the door open for the 2025 World Expo. According to a staff report, the cost of a competitive Expo bid will be at least $10 million and it will cost at least $1 million to get through some of the initial pre-bid preparation work.
More Penalties For Prostitution Won’t Help Victims Of Human Trafficking
Under the guise of improving laws against trafficking, states around the country are pushing policies that raise penalties for patronizing prostitution. This January, Human Trafficking Awareness Month, it’s time we faced the facts that these efforts will ultimately fail to protect trafficking victims. First, let’s consider the complex definition of human trafficking. Human trafficking is a scheme where a perpetrator compels another to work against her will through force, fraud or coercion.
UN-Invited: Iran No Longer Welcome At Syria Talks
The United Nations has uninvited the Iranian government from participating in Geneva peace talks aimed at ending the Syrian crisis. Iran had initially been one of ten nations invited to take part in the peace talks, which are scheduled to start on Wednesday, but that invitation was later rescinded after the United States and other Western countries expressed anger at the decision.
Argentina’s Truth Commission At 30
Thirty years ago, after the fall of Argentina’s military dictatorship following defeat in the Malvinas/Falklands war with Britain, a newly elected President Raúl Alfonsín created the Human Rights Commission known as Conadep (Comisión Nacional sobre la Desaparición de Personas, or National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons). The first of its kind, Conadep’s main purpose was to investigate the crimes committed by the preceding military dictatorship and bring its perpetrators to justice.
Beyond Every Great Woman Is A Great Man
Gender is once again on the World Economic Forum’s agenda. At this year’s Annual Meeting, a series of sessions will focus on the desirability of advancing the rights and economic power of women and girls around the world, and of continuing to close the gender gap in Western C-suites, boardrooms, parliaments and presidencies. These discussions will build on the Global Gender Gap Report 2013, published last November.
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