APDS Blogger: Candace Burnham

Whether to attend the British royal wedding or the beatification of Pope John Paul II at the Vatican? That's one decision the EU's top brass won’t have to make this weekend since the British royal family has simply snubbed all EU politicians when it comes to invitations to the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

But as the turbulence in Syria and international outrage over the hundreds killed gain momentum, many Iranian diplomats, pundits and academics can evade the question no longer. In an interview on Iran's Arabic-language Alam TV on Saturday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast... vaguely and tactfully stated that Iran respected the sovereignty of other countries.

From the monolithic American view, Egypt and Syria would not appear to be especially different countries, although the outcomes of efforts to embrace democracy have been very much so. Meanwhile, pro-democracy movements have encountered varying degrees of success in Tunisia and Yemen and abject failure in Bahrain, where Saudi security forces were part of the crackdown, as well as in Algeria.

Glenn Greenwald adds that the poll shows only 20% of Egyptians have a favorable opinion of the United States, with 79% unfavorable. As Glenn notes, this undermines one of the central premises of an Obama Administration – that he would improve US standing in the Arab world.

Favelas, sprawling shanty towns which are home to tens of thousands of people, are a defining feature of Rio. But the Globo newspaper said their labelling on the map and the absence of wealthier districts and tourist sites gave a bad impression of the city.

Three months after the January 25 Revolution in Egypt, President Obama's approach to the Middle East is hopelessly adrift. He is hesitant to truly embrace the Arab freedom movements, failing to lead Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations and lacking effective diplomacy to counter Iran's nuclear ambitions.

When Lord Patten went before the Commons culture, media and sport select committee last month to lay out his credentials as the new chairman of the BBC Trust, he deliberately alighted on a key issue for programme makers and viewers: whether the BBC has become too risk-averse in its commissioning.