Battered by a French-led military campaign in Mali, al-Qaida's North African arm is trying something new to stay relevant: Twitter. The PR campaign by the terror network seeks to tap into social grievances and champion mainstream causes such as unemployment, all in bid to reverse decline and win new followers.

Mashaba, who is an aspirant Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency, says people here view UDC as the only alternative instrument of change and believes he will win the elections because people, especially the youth, are ready for change. "Never in the history of this town have I seen its citizens so enthusiastic about their role in nation building and politics," he says. "They are driven by a desire to work as a collective."

BBG Watch has learned that the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs will soon be leaving her post at the State Department and her representational role at the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the federal agency in charge of U.S. international broadcasting.

Harsh international sanctions against Iran are pointless and even counterproductive, members of the Iran Project argued this week in a new report. The group, consisting of a number of leading experts and former diplomats, argued that sanctions “may be sowing the seeds of long-term alienation between the Iranian people and the United States..."

So what can $300 million buy you in China? Perhaps, the Chinese version of the Rhodes Scholarship. That's what the Chinese and American private equity mogul Stephen Schwarzman are hoping. The Blackstone Group founder is doling out $100 million of his own money and raising another $200 million to set up an international scholarship program at elite Tsinghua University in Beijing. Alumni include business leaders as well asa China's president, Xi Jinping.

In the first three months of this year, ticket sales for American-made films in the world's second-largest cinema market took an unexpected nosedive. Hollywood's revenues fell by about two thirds in China, compared with the same period a year earlier, to about $A195 million, as big-budget titles such as The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey failed to impress.

Classic Journeys, the award-winning cultural travel company which offers boutique guided tours in over 70 regions, 34 countries, and 5 continents, announced today the addition of people-to-people cultural exchange programs to Cuba.

Harsh international sanctions against Iran are pointless and even counterproductive, members of the Iran Project argued this week in a new report.