Hundreds of French mosques are participating in a major open-house event this weekend, offering visitors the opportunity to come in for tea and a chat about Islam in a country shaken by jihadist attacks. 

With the swing of a gavel on Saturday, the world’s nations adopted the first international agreement to limit the causes of anthropogenic climate change. For the first time in history, more than 150 countries have promised to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide they emit into the atmosphere and to increase these reductions over time.  

The latest spate of terrorist attacks in the Middle East and Bangladesh and the unfortunate, indiscriminate killings in Paris have highlighted how misinterpretation of culture, rituals and religious beliefs are affecting peace and stability all over the world. It has also drawn attention to the politicisation of faith and its consequent repercussions. [...] This process [of cultural diplomacy] is reducing the impact of differences in cultures becoming catalyst for conflict.

The former British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan once commented that the most difficult thing about politics was "events, dear boy, events." Events can be helpful or unhelpful coincidences for statesmen. [...] The West needs to engage seriously with Turkey. 

For the first time in the 19-year history of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), civil society observers of the talks were walking out. So what? Because the so-called observers have become an integral part of the open U.N. negotiations, and the thousands of activists who attend the yearly climate conference serve as the unofficial conscience of the entire process.

The Russian police force has offered to send France a puppy to replace the dog killed during an anti-terrorist operation in Paris. It's a symbolic gesture perhaps indicating a shift in how Russia wants to interact with Europe.