President Obama announced his intent to nominate Matthew C. Armstrong to serve as a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the bipartisan federal board in charge of U.S. international broadcasting. The board is now down to five members, instead of nine, and has as its Interim Presiding Governor, Michael Lynton, who has not been showing up for meetings in recent months.

As you heard, I am Tara Sonenshine and I’m Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. And I am delighted to join you at this special time – the 40th anniversary of the Fulbright program in Russia. The program is very important to all of us – Russians and Americans. As I’ll explain in a few moments, it’s also important to the work of public diplomacy. So what better way to pay tribute to 40 years of Fulbright than to acknowledge the contributions of the people who have made it – and continue to make it – so vibrant and effective?

The majority of these two million documents are from 1973 to 1976 and are referred to as the “Kissinger Cables.” However, only about 200,000 of the cables actually refer to Henry Kissinger, U.S. Secretary of State under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. The moniker merely refers to the time period these documents concern.

Sydney University's student representative council has called for the academic institution to cut ties with at least one Israeli university, in a move likely to reignite fierce debate over proposed academic boycotts of the Jewish state.

Days before the latest round of fighting between Israel and Hamas erupted in November, international diplomats gathered at the French Consulate General in Jerusalem to discuss an ambitious diplomatic initiative that would convene Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, the Gulf states, and the European Union to jointly support the construction of a Gaza desalination plant that would ultimately help secure clean water access for the coastal enclave.

South Africa's ambassadors should ensure they present the country in a positive light, President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday. "In this era of globalisation, since information flows like fire and can easily be misinterpreted, our diplomacy cannot afford to neglect public opinion," Zuma said at the heads of mission conference in Pretoria on Thursday, according to a copy of his speech. He referred to the killing of 13 South African soldiers in the Central African Republic during fighting with rebels near Bangui on March 23.

It's apt that Simon Fraser, permanent under-secretary to the Foreign Office, head of the diplomatic service and chair of the FCO board, should have a copy of Henry Kissinger's seminal work, Diplomacy, in his Whitehall office.

The trade between Portugal and Saudi Arabia is still low, but last year’s results showed a 43 percent growth of Portuguese exports to the Kingdom, Portugal’s Minister of Health Paulo Moita de Maceda has said. “Portugal remains committed to free-trade agreement between the European Union and the GCC,” the minister told Arab News.