An online competition is now open for what's being called the first-ever international showcase of short films about Islam and women. The films focus on women of all faiths and backgrounds who are living in Muslim-majority countries, as well as Muslim women living as minorities around the world.

The former archbishop of Cape Town and Nobel Prize laureate began his retirement in early October saying he would watch cricket and sip tea with his wife. But he has sparked new controversy by stepping up his boycott campaign against Israel.

Foreign leaders and publics may take the outcome of the election as a signal about what to expect from Obama in the next two years and craft their strategies accordingly. A GOP victory might embolden Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue stonewalling Obama and to stoke partisan opposition to his policies, for instance.

Washington is also unable to understand the nature of this geographic region, and how the foreign element is one of the most important factors fueling the conflict in this region. The problem that Washington and its elite are having [in understanding this] is that they are looking at the world from the perspective of the American experience, which is very simple...

However, leaders cannot put global engagement on hold until these complex problems are solved. In spite of these challenges, governments and civil society on all sides must take an interactive holistic approach to move the relationship forward.

The peace process has been major news in almost all Arab media before, during and after direct negotiations started between the Palestinians and the Israelis. In broadsheet newspapers it is front page news; in broadcast media it usually comes first or second.

Lebanon today witnessed one of the largest public diplomacy “events” staged by Iran, in the form of a formal state visit by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. While a state visit as such is not normally framed as a public diplomacy event, Ahmadinejad’s visit to Lebanon was marked by a degree of idiosyncrasy. This is not just because of Ahmadinejad himself (who excelled at the role of modest and earnest leader), but also because of the role played by Hizbullah in this public diplomacy event.

The two week assembly of the synod of bishops for the Middle East opened Monday morning with an unscripted address from Pope Benedict XVI. “The Church's faith is the foundation that does not waver”, he told participants, “despite the threat of destruction”, and focusing on Mary's divine motherhood he warned against “false gods such as terrorism, drugs and capitalism which enslave mankind”.