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.
Mugabe Threatens US and UK With Retaliation Over “Harassment”
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has threatened to retaliate against companies from Britain and the United States if the two Western powers persist with sanctions that he described as "harassment." Mugabe's comments on Sunday follow scrutiny from outside observers of his re-election in a July vote that rival Morgan Tsvangirai denounced as a "coup by ballot" which involved alleged widespread vote-rigging.
Muslim Soldiers to Visit Schools to Try to Counter Islamophobia
Ministers are to send serving Muslim soldiers into schools around the country to counter Islamaphobia in the wake of the killing of Lee Rigby, The Independent has learnt. Muslim servicemen and women will be asked to address school assemblies alongside their Christian colleagues in parts of the country that have seen a significant rise in religious hate crimes. They are likely to include past and present Muslim soldiers who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as some who were injured.
Government Unveiled Tagline Four Months Before Israel, Says PMO
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has refuted allegations that the Endless Possibilities tagline adopted by Malaysia was copied from Israel. According to PMO, the Government unveiled its latest branding concept four months before Israel announced the same theme as part of its tourism promotion. “Malaysia’s Endless Possibilities nation branding concept was unveiled in January 2013 at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
US Fears Competition with EU for Sub-Saharan Africa Trade
The United States fear that the potential European trade deals with Sub-Saharan African nations (the Economic Partnership Agreements or EPAs currently under negotiations) might affect the benefits to its own companies, as reviews its own preferential trade initiative with the continent, Voice of America informs.
Al Jazeera’s Fluctuating Fortunes
Saudi Arabia and Qatar fell out because they supported conflicting interests primarily in Egypt. Elsewhere too - Turkey, Jordan, Syria, Gaza (Hamas). But their coming together in any case was for limited tactical reasons: to stall the Arab Spring. The big asset the Qataris brought to the union, hurriedly put together, was the incomparable credibility of their TV channel, Al Jazeera. Qatar launched Al Jazeera, initially only in Arabic. Later, superior retirees from the BBC like Sir David Frost were enlisted to launch its English service.
Who Is Ali Khamenei?
In June, Hassan Rouhani was elected president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Rouhani ran as a reform candidate, and many have interpreted his victory as a harbinger of a possible liberalization or rationalization of Iranian domestic and foreign policy. But the dominant figure in Iranian politics is not the president but rather the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Spanish Group Plans to Open 1st Hotel Specializing in Cuban Music
The first hotel specializing in the music of Cuba, the Blue Salsa Club, will open its doors in November with a new idea in cultural tourism in the resort community of Varadero, the most famous on the island, local media reported Sunday. The project hatched by Spain’s Blue Bay group and Cuba’s Paradiso cultural tourism agency will promote musical genres like salsa, guaracha, bolero and the Caribbean island’s traditional dances.
The Reckoning
On the morning of August 17th most of India’s economic policymakers gathered in the prime minister’s house in Delhi. They were there to launch an official economic history of 1981-97, a period which included the balance-of-payments crisis of 1991. The mood was tense. India, said Manmohan Singh, the prime minister, faced “very difficult circumstances”. “Does history repeat itself?” asked Duvvuri Subbarao, the outgoing head of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). “As if we learn nothing from one crisis to another?”
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