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.
Is it possible for geeks to fix the United Nations?
Probably not - or not directly. But some of the same people that have 2 million people tracking their MPs' voting records via the site theyworkforyou.com and who, through farmsubsidy.org, got the EU to publish full subsidy data, have set up UNdemocracy.com, an attempt to shed light on the inner workings of the UN.
Zimbabwe: Indian Group to Hold Shows
India's head of Charge de Affairs, Vijay Mehta, who also graced the occasion said the visit by the group would enhance cultural exchange between India and Southern African countries. Mehta said the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, which sponsored the group, has assisted several other groups that have visited Zimbabwe and performed at the Harare International Festival of the Arts.
China sees conspiracy behind Olympics criticisms
China's controls on religion and news reporting, its problems with food safety and role in Sudan's Darfur region "have been vastly exaggerated by the foreign media", Zhao wrote in the front-page commentary. Chinese officials had been too passive in the face of criticism, leaving the country's critics to dominate news coverage, he said, urging a public diplomacy offensive.
Serenading North Korea
A historic event it certainly was, the South Korean pop star's concert in Pyongyang in August 2005. And, so, a historic cross-cultural event it shall be, the night that the New York Philharmonic played - or was played - in Pyongyang. The only question that will long remain is just for whom it was historic: the paying performers, the receiving regime, or the suffering North Korean people?
Seminar on role of media in dialogue to be held in Kuwait
What is the impact of new media on inter-cultural relations? To what extent does the media influence the way we think and feel about another culture? These are some of the questions that will be addressed during the eleventh seminar on the “Role of the Media in Dialogue between Arabs and the West,” scheduled for March 30 to 31 in Kuwait City.
Iran to investigate MP over Voice of America interview
"This has definitely been treason and an appaling act," Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie told state-run news agency IRNA. "The law bans people in such positions from interviews with foreign radios and television," he said.
Israel raises the ante against Iran
Coinciding with the ominous news that US CENTCOM chief Admiral William Fallon has resigned - or been sacked - for his opposition to a war with Iran, [Israeli Foreign Minister] Livni hopes to harvest a blowing wind of war against another Middle Eastern country that dares to challenge Israel's regional hegemony. It is a familiar story with a recent precedent in Iraq and a script for action, requiring high-pitched public diplomacy with the help of a vast network of sympathetic media pundits, that Israel has fully mastered.
Virtual demos over net censorship
Thousands of people are taking part in "virtual protests" against countries accused of censoring the internet.
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