The mood in Riyadh was in sharp contrast to Washington where pressure is building after fresh claims over the President Donald Trump team’s alleged links to Moscow. On his first foreign tour as the US President, Donald Trump joined in a traditional sword dance welcome ceremony ahead of a banquet at the Murabba Palace in Saudi Arabia. Video of the dance shows Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross dancing with swords perched on their shoulders as part of a line of men in traditional Saudi garb, CNN reported.

While most of the focus for the next nine days will be on President Donald Trump as he makes his first international trip as commander in chief, there will be plenty of eyes on first lady Melania Trump, also set to bow on the global stage. [...] Trump's schedule will be packed with many events alongside her husband, but she will also make excursions on her own. If her handful of public events stateside are any indication, Trump could spend time at schools, hospitals, or museums, just like she did before with Queen Rania of Jordan and China's Madam Peng. 

The United States has announced plans to increase its funding levels to Zimbabwe, particularly in the health sector — despite a diplomatic tiff between Washington and Harare. [...]    “We are very heartened that our Congress just passed the budget within the last few days and our President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) funding is remaining constant. In fact it will likely grow to almost $150m next year,” said Thomas.

So, when Trump defends NAFTA in order to save American jobs at Smithfield, he’s also protecting Chinese corporate interests. By the way, the Smithfield sale also netted fabulous bonuses for the CEOs on both sides. Increasingly, that too has been the story of free trade. In the textbooks, trade is supposed to be an opportunity for the less well off to get a bigger piece of a growing global economy. In reality, however, free trade has been a driver of economic inequality.

The international community has become accustomed to purely relying on "sticks" to force North Korea to abandon its nuclear program. The question is: Why will North Korea comply if it does not receive any "carrots" in return? From North Korea's perspective, the outside demand for its de-nuclearization is completely unacceptable and unfair. North Korea has proved resilient enough to resist sanction after sanction. It is time that the international community changed its approach now.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi will seek to strengthen Indonesia's existing strategic partnership with the United States, following heartening signs from the White House regarding its ongoing commitment in the Asia-Pacific. "Indonesia is ready to fortify its [ties] with the US through mutually beneficial cooperation," Retno said in a statement upon her arrival in Washington DC, late on Wednesday local time.

The upper levels of university administrations need and want to maintain “a welcoming environment,” said James Dorsett, director of international students and scholars at Michigan State University in Lansing. “It’s the responsibility of the whole institution as a learning institution to be a welcoming and supporting place for all students.” Dorsett pointed to the “You are welcome here” video campaign that many U.S. schools participated in to promote inclusion for international students who might have felt fearful when the executive order was announced.

For an American reader, I.I.P.’s body of work offers a fascinating look not only at what our government wants to tell the world but also at what it wants to believe about itself. The obvious conflicts of interest that accompanied Donald Trump into office are in one sense the least of I.I.P.’s problems; the larger question is what a propaganda unit is supposed to do when the pronouncements of its head of state are so often at odds with the national vision it tries to sell to the world.