The Department for International Development’s (DfID) extensive use of US organisations to strengthen parliaments in developing countries risks using British taxpayers’ money to promote “less accountable” American-style political systems at the expense of those based on the Westminster model, MPs have warned.

Newspapers all over the world were unanimous in praising the legacy of reforms and peace-making efforts by the late King Abdullah. All noted his efforts at giving Saudi women a greater role in society by having better educational and professional opportunities, and highlighted the fact that he extended the right to vote to women.

Israel’s hasbara efforts just received an enormous boost thanks to a new collaborative effort launched jointly by the Prime Minister’s Office and StandWithUs. The initiative, in which StandWithUs will coordinate closely with the PMO’s National Information Directorate, is designed to “educate young people about how to use social media for education and public diplomacy.”

The BBC World Service is being financially outgunned by Russian and Chinese state-owned news channels, its former director Peter Horrocks has warned, amid high-level concerns that Britain and the US are losing a global “information war” with the Kremlin.

The British Embassy in Cairo re-opened on Tuesday after suspending public services nine days ago for security reasons, the embassy said in a statement.

A sold-out tour of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” ended in Beijing last week. Meanwhile, a Chinese publishing house has nearly finished translating Shakespeare’s works into Mandarin – both signs of the English playwright's surging popularity in China.