Getting the latest news from VOA’s many language services just got easier with the launch of new mobile and tablet apps that work on iPhones, iPads, and Android devices. “Everything is available in one place now,” says VOA Director David Ensor. “This is a big step forward, and these apps open up the Internet to a new generation of mobile users.” Chinese, Russian, Swahili, Turkish, English and more – they are all there at the touch of a button on two of the world’s most popular mobile platforms.

A recent article in The Chronicle – ‘Is Europe Passé‘ – examines the US’s higher education efforts with new partners and how this affects relationships with the UK, among others. In response, the British Council’s higher education manager in the US, Janice Mulholland, suggests a different form of partnerships for institutions in a global economy.

I got into the public diplomacy game as a local hire as a Foreign Service National (FSN) working for the Israeli Foreign Ministry as a Press Officer for the Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest. As such, I have a deep appreciation for others who work as FSN for various foreign ministries and the U.S. Department of State.

Five hours reading the Internet. Four hours watching television. Fourteen minutes with a print magazine. Sound about right? That's what your day looks like, according to a new study on media trends from eMarketer. The survey found that, with the rise of mobile, the U.S. media diet has crossed two thresholds: Americans are spending more time online than with TV and, for the first time ever, they're more time gazing into their phones and tablets than blinking into desktop screens in 2013.

There are plenty of reasons to be cynical about U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's relaunch of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. The personalities and the politics involved do not immediately inspire confidence. Nevertheless, I choose not to be negative, partly because it is always easy to sit on the sidelines and take potshots. The more important consideration is, because peace is so essential to the lives and futures of the peoples of the region and to American interests in the Middle East, that any good faith effort deserves support and a chance to succeed.

Joseph Bookbinder assumed duties as Public Diplomacy Section Chief for the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) on Aug. 1, the AIT announced yesterday. Bookbinder, who has served as a Foreign Service Officer for 21 years, joined the United States Foreign Service in 1992 and has had overseas assignments in India, Taiwan and China, the AIT said in a statement.

The United States Senate has confirmed three new members to serve on the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees all U.S. government-supported civilian international media. The Senate this evening unanimously approved Jeffrey Shell, Matthew C. Armstrong and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker for membership on the bipartisan board. Shell was confirmed as chair of the board.