When Rafidah Abd Rahim traveled to Japan from Singapore last year, the recent college graduate was relieved to find a goodly number of lifestyle offerings for Muslim travelers, such as halal food—that is, fare that complies with Islamic dietary guidelines—and easily available prayer rooms.

An Afghan delegation has travelled to Islamabad in the latest bid to start peace talks with the Taliban, officials said on Tuesday, though there was no confirmation the militants would take part.

These are part of the proposed changes in the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules suggested by the Home Ministry seeking to tighten the noose around erring NGOs. The Ministry has also suggested that banks will have to inform it within 48 hours of receipt of foreign funds by any NGO. Earlier, NGOs were mandated to put in public domain details if receipt of foreign donations by them were in excess of Rs one crore and the same was also done only at the end of the financial year.

Israeli students going abroad are to undergo public diplomacy training in order to defend Israeli policies on foreign soil.

The public diplomacy training, known as Hasbara, will be made mandatory for the students to counter Israel's perceived negative image abroad.

The first set of students who are to travel to Germany, China and France to pursue their higher education have already begun training as part of the course, according to the Israeli daily Ynet news.

On June 17, 2015, Meridian International Center collaborated with the U.S. Department of State to present "Getting the People Part Right II: The Human Resources Dimension of U.S. Public Diplomacy in 2015". The report examines how the U.S. Department of State can improve public diplomacy’s effectiveness by rethinking how we are recruiting and selecting public diplomats, improving their training and advancement, and strengthening their influence on policymaking.

lIn a world fraught with local, national and international fissures, animosities, and violent conflict, the Republic of Ireland stands far above the fray as a stellar example of how a country's verve for the written and spoken word can undergird the conduct of its foreign policy. Simply said, Dublin's adroit use of public diplomacy is a lesson for those who are wedded to an overweening dependency on military, political, and economic prowess as the sole instruments to promote and protect national interests.