APDS Blogger: Danni Li

Prime Minister Ashraf, in his farewell statement, said, “I am blessed and privileged to have had an opportunity to serve the great people of Pakistan. I have been touched by the warmth, affection and support extended to me during my stay in office”

This week it emerged that the Department of International Relations and Co-operation has budgeted more than R1.5 billion to repair and build properties for foreign diplomatic missions over the next five years.

Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan visited a Moscow boarding school for orphans and children estranged from their parents on Saturday in a move analysts say delivers a "big push" to Beijing's soft power. "I represent thousands of mothers in China to be here visiting you," Peng said, after watching dance and acrobatics performances by students. Peng, a renowned folk singer and actress, passed on her wishes for the children to lead healthy, happy lives and contribute meaningfully to society.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech in Jerusalem this week was without question the strongest ever made by a senior American politician on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It was plainly designed to speak directly to the Israeli and Palestinian peoples over the heads of their political leaderships. It was an exercise in public diplomacy par excellence, intended to change the tone and atmosphere, and public perceptions of Obama himself

For all the drama of President Obama's stirring speech Thursday in Jerusalem, the most encouraging thing about it may have been the applause from the audience. "Remarks of President Obama to the People of Israel," the White House called the speech -- and, like President Reagan, Obama went soaring over the heads of officials, elites, and pundits, directly to Israel's citizenry. In that may lie the nub of a second-term approach to Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking that could prove more fruitful than the frustrations of the first.

Water is also fundamental to our diplomatic and development goals - including health, economic growth, food security, gender equality, and conflict mitigation. We know that when managed well, water allows economies to thrive and children to grow up healthy. Water can also build peaceful cooperation between neighbors.

Officials say before he left Israel, he helped facilitate a phone call between prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish leader Rayjep Erdogan. Turkey and Israel cut ties after Israeli forces launched a deadly raid on a Turkish ship trying to reach Gaza in 2010.