The fun and joy that Xinhua is searching for reflects a quandary facing China’s leadership: As Xi navigates a difficult phase of his administration, his messaging machine — for decades one of the Communist Party’s most crucial levers of power — has been struggling to make itself heard.

The BBC has confirmed its intention to create a radio service for North Korea, although, despite a recent report, a start date for this service has not been set. North Korea’s recent test of what it described as a hydrogen bomb, and its launch of a long-range missile, have instilled urgency to the BBC’s plans.

The U.S. government desperately needs new and better tools to fight the information war against the Islamic State (ISIS) and other terrorist networks. Once such new tool, The United States International Communications Reform Act (H.R. 2323), which was passed last May by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, remains in waiting mode and is pending a full House vote and Senate action.

U.S. social media companies are taking steps to curb support for terrorist causes on their websites. [...] In response, the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) released a new propaganda video which threatens Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey. 

In 2014, Vilvoorde launched a project to counter the radicalization of young men and boys. Since then, the number of departures to Syria has dropped to zero. Boudaati said people involved in the project were trying to help young people find work and meaning at home in Belgium, as well as to understand the true word of the Quran, rather than Salafist interpretations.

Xi Jinping is the gift that keeps on giving.[...] This past week, the government released two policies (or re-released depending on your perspective): first, no foreign entity can independently publish anything online in China, and second, all the work of the Party’s media must protect and act on behalf of the Party.

Xi [Jinping] became the top leader in late 2012, the new policy removes any doubt that in the view of the president and party chief, the media should be first and foremost a party mouthpiece. Mr. Xi wants to push the party’s message domestically — and internationally — across all media platforms, including advertising and entertainment […] Mr. Xi also wants to curb the presence of foreign media companies.

Brussels hosted the third edition of NATO Public Diplomacy Forum [...] The event was organized by NATO Public Diplomacy Division in partnership with Center on Public Diplomacy of University of Southern California (United States of America).