After nearly three years of political tension, diplomatic maneuvering, and back-channel negotiations, Israel has formally apologized to Turkey for the killing of nine Turkish citizens onboard the ship Mavi Marmara in 2010. On behalf of the Turkish people, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accepted Israel’s apology.

Mark McDowell, counselor and head of the public diplomacy department at its embassy in Beijing will soon be Canada's first ever full time ambassador to Burma, Canada's foreign affairs ministry has said. Given the fact that Burma enjoys favorable relationship with Beijing, Canada has apparently chosen its Beijing officer to lead its embassy in Burma as he is not just familiar with the Chinese politics but is also said to be familiar with the ongoing contemporary issues in Burma.

Russia on Saturday called for "maxim responsibility and restraint," after North Korea declared it was in a "state of war" with South Korea and warned Seoul and Washington against any provocation. "We expect all sides to show maximum responsibility and restraint and that no-one will cross the line after which there will be no return," Grigory Logvinov, a Russian foreign ministry pointman on North Korea, told the Interfax news agency.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has asked consular officers at the Department of Foreign Affairs to “strive harder” in providing services to the public even as he noted improvements in the agency’s passport processing and authentication systems.

Benjamin Mako Hill writes, "Last year, I participated in a discussion on Wikipedia that led to the deletion of an article about the "Institute for Cultural Diplomacy." Because I edit Wikipedia using my real name, the ICD was able to track me down."

I read with interest your open letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, in which you propose a new form of cultural diplomacy: to send arts administrators abroad to teach fundraising skills to their counterparts at cultural institutions, which in the current fiscal climate can no longer depend on government funding.

For at least the past five years, Canada has quietly waged a half-hearted war on organized crime and drug cartels. Even before Canada’s prolonged engagement in Afghanistan started winding down, politicians and strategists were refocusing on real and perceived threats south of the border in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Indonesia has for the first time revealed that it protested to China about the publication in its passports of its “nine-dash line” claim to almost the entire South China Sea. Beijing’s decision to print the new map last year prompted protests from the Philippines and Vietnam, which also claim large parts of the South China Sea.