An avalanche of criticism of FC Bayern Muenchen, a leading soccer brand and Germany's most successful club, for playing a commercially driven friendly against Saudi Arabia's FC Al Hilal amid a crackdown on dissent in the kingdom ... highlights the increasing risk autocratic Gulf states run in employing the sport to polish tarnished images and project soft power.

The Atlanta Sister Cities Commission, a volunteer organization that helps coordinate Atlanta’s relationships with 18 world cities, partnered with the city’s Office of International Affairs to host the evening event, which attracted diplomats from Germany, Nigeria, France and many other countries. 

Putin’s propaganda machine is fighting a desperate PR battle—at home and abroad—for control of the narrative of its war against Ukraine.  Setbacks make the battle for German public opinion even more crucial, a battle that is now being conducted on the front pages of the German press. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s covert aggression in Ukraine continues – and so do Western sanctions against his country. But the economy is not all that is under threat; Russia’s soft power is dwindling, with potentially devastating results.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea has found supporters in an unlikely country: Last Sunday, an opinion poll in Germany found that nearly 40 percent of the country's population accept the move.

Just a decade or so ago, most public‑school-educated parents felt obliged to give their children the same start in life they themselves were given (...). These days the price is just too high, says Andrew Halls, head of King’s College School in Wimbledon, and he’s been honest enough to name the cause: the hordes of prospective parents from other countries, oligarchs and oil men, all jostling for places for their progeny. They push the price of an elite ‘British’ education up beyond the reach of any ordinary Brit.