Canada is seeking to restore diplomatic relations with Iran — but not the old-fashioned way. Instead of ambassadors and attaches, the Foreign Affairs Department is aiming to connect with Iranians directly, via social media. They're working with the University of Toronto's Munk School to host two days of discussions that will be live-streamed online in the hopes of reaching and inspiring Iranians ahead of June's presidential elections.

Plans were announced Monday morning in Ottawa for a two-and-a-half-week tour the National Arts Centre Orchestra will make to China next fall. From Oct. 4 to 20, the 70– member orchestra will perform in seven cities (including Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai), give eight major concerts, interact with hundreds of Chinese musical students in 80 educational events, and generally spread the excellence of Canadian music-making to one of the fastest-growing audiences for classical music in the world.

A delegation of university students, comprised of members of the Jewish, Arab and Druse communities, has just returned to Israel after a week-long outreach tour of Canadian universities, timed to conclude just before the start of Israel Apartheid Week on North American campuses. The trip, organized by WordSwap, a nonpartisan public diplomacy project, brought the students specifically to Canada.

Mark McDowell, counselor and head of the public diplomacy department at its embassy in Beijing will soon be Canada's first ever full time ambassador to Burma, Canada's foreign affairs ministry has said. Given the fact that Burma enjoys favorable relationship with Beijing, Canada has apparently chosen its Beijing officer to lead its embassy in Burma as he is not just familiar with the Chinese politics but is also said to be familiar with the ongoing contemporary issues in Burma.

For at least the past five years, Canada has quietly waged a half-hearted war on organized crime and drug cartels. Even before Canada’s prolonged engagement in Afghanistan started winding down, politicians and strategists were refocusing on real and perceived threats south of the border in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Foreign Affairs department has confirmed Canada's choice for its first-ever resident ambassador to the burgeoning democracy of Burma. Mark McDowell, who currently works in the Canadian embassy in China, has officially been named to the post. His selection as the first Canadian ambassador to live in the country had previously been reported by media in Burma, a country also known as Myanmar.

After 25 years of almost no contact between Canada and Myanmar, Ottawa will launch an era of new and hopefully warmer ties this spring by opening an embassy in Rangoon and appointing a veteran Asia hand as the first ambassador there. Though Ottawa has yet to confirm the appointment of 50-year-old Mark McDowell, it was announced Saturday in the official New Light of Myanmar newspaper and independently confirmed by The Globe and Mail.

"...you know, the United States and Canada has arguments once in a while, but they’re not the nature of arguments that can’t be solved diplomatically.” The President's strange comparison caused a new hashtag on Twitter: #TheCanucksAreComing, and right-wing pundits tore a strip off Obama for failing to understand either relationship properly.