While the agenda for discussion was as academic: 'Actively shaping democracy – taking responsibility at home and abroad', the speakers, Merkel and Obama, were received as if they were rockstars. Obama may not be US president, but he can still pull in the crowds. This was Obama's first public appearance since he left office in January 2017, but the warm reception was quite reminiscent of the kind he would command as president. Germany loves Obama. It was hard to spot a single placard critical of him.

The two-day OBOR summit, one of the most eagerly anticipated events in China this year, ended on May 15. Party mouthpieces referred to the meeting as a high-level international conference with far-reaching implications for the whole world. [...] If anything, the summit was marked by three things— big fat cheques, thunderous applause and hype surrounding president Xi Jinping’s “achievements”.[...] XI vowed pledged to provide an extra 60 billion yuan in foreign aid for countries along the economic corridor plus 2 billion yuan in emergency food aid.

On April the 3rd 2017, a historic trilateral meeting took place at the Bundeskanzleramt, the German Federal Chancellor’s workplace in Berlin. Chancellor Angela Merkel met with her Czech and Slovak counterparts – the Prime Ministers Bohuslav Sobotka and Robert Fico – to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the German-Czechoslovak Neighbourhood Treaty, which was signed on February the 27th in 1992.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel uncovered on Monday her intension to employ diplomatic channels in search for a peaceful solution to the ongoing war in Yemen, adding that she already received the support of Riyadh in this regard. [...] Merkel held talks with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed on the conflicts in Yemen, Libya and Syria, as well as strengthening economic ties.

The South Africa based Sylt Foundation and Myanmar online journal, Be Untexed, collaborated to lead the event which included an art exhibition, workshop and poetry reading. Han Lynn, the curator of the art festival and member of Be Untexed online journal said, “‘Violent Memories’ is the long-term project of the ‘Transformation and Identity, Trauma and Reconciliation’ which includes eight different countries.”

The “soft power” argument plays a role too: overseas graduates are also seen as generating goodwill for Germany globally. “The idea of Germany being part of an international community is valued very highly,” said Ms Wahlers. “Of course, we invest a certain amount of money [in their education], but what we get back is worth so much more. The international students, when they graduate, will be partners for Germany in the world, this kind of international network building is of immense importance to us.”

AFRICOM’s Multinational Cooperation Center and Strategic Outreach Division convened this event to educate elements of the command on irregular migration concerns across the African continent, from origin to transit and destination countries. “The purpose of the forum was to let the command have a better idea of how migration works both at the policy level but also at the practical, on the ground level,”