Suddenly Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is speaking about renewing negotiations with the Palestinians. Yair Lapid said that he will not join a coalition that does not renew negotiations, Tzipi Livni and Shaul Mofaz as well gave the push and Netanyahu has succumbed to the “will of the people.” Outgoing Intelligence Agencies Minister Dan Meridor of Likud says 80 percent of the people want the government to advance peace with the Palestinians.

WASHINGTON -- Alhurra television celebrates its ninth anniversary on Feb. 14, with a larger audience and claims of editorial progress.

On February 12, 2013, Afghanistan’s Minister for Counter Narcotics Zarar Moqbel Osmani and U.S. Embassy’s Coordinating Director for Rule of Law and Law Enforcement Ambassador Stephen G. McFarland announced $18.2 million in Good Performers Initiative (GPI) awards. President Karzai launched the Good Performers Initiative in 2007 to deliver timely, high-impact development assistance to provinces leading the fight against poppy cultivation in Afghanistan.

The U.S. government's international TV broadcaster in the Middle East, Alhurra, celebrates its ninth anniversary on the air on Thursday with new initiatives to reach mobile devices. First up, will be a new Alhurra app for Android-powered cell phones, according to Brian T. Conniff, President of Middle East Broadcasting, Alhurra's parent company.

In the center of Cairo, young men hold up a burning flag for the cameras to show their fury at a nation they believe is meddling in their country and the wider Middle East. It's a familiar image. But it's not the U.S. flag they are waving, it is that of Qatar, the Gulf state that has used its billions to spread its influence in the wake of the Arab Spring.

A delegation of senior representatives of Korea's tourism industry visited Israel this week in a bid to increase public awareness of the country as an enticing tourist destination. Their trip coincided with the annual International Mediterranean Tourism Market represented by 30 different countries at the Israel Trade Fairs and Convention Center in Tel Aviv.

Turkish Airlines has become the world's fastest growing airline company. Its CEO, Temel Kotil, explained toEuropolitics why Istanbul is Europe's natural hub for passengers heading to Asia and Africa. The tender for the construction of the city's huge third airport was published on 24 January in theOfficial Gazette of the Republic of Turkey .

An increasing number of policymakers and think-tank residents are championing the power of social media and big data to pressure governments, empower civil society, deter human rights abuses, and semi-accurately forecast political instability and conflict. In a column today, Thomas Friedman endorsed utilizing existing social networks “to our advantage to gain leverage in diplomacy” by speaking directly to Iranians, Israelis, and Palestinians.