Applying the principles of accountability and country ownership to our aid programs will help poor countries to take responsibility for their own development, and will help citizens of our own country to feel confident that their taxpayer dollars are being well spent.

Eight weeks ago, a dozen victims or potential victims of sex trafficking each were given a digital camera.  On Monday the work from eight weeks of training in photography and writing will be on display in an exhibition at Columbia College for the world to see.  The project was thought up by Columbia College student Bronte Price, who is also a photographer for Getty Images, as a way to give victims a voice.

President Barack Obama has said the US and Malaysia are at the start of a "new era of partnership", on the second day of his official visit. Obama was speaking at a state banquet with Malaysian King Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah. He is due to meet Prime Minister Najib Razak later. It is the first such visit by a serving US president for nearly 50 years.

In November 2011, Barack Obama told the Australian parliament that the United States was embarking on a major shift in its foreign policy—with a pivot to Asia. “After a decade in which we fought two wars that cost us dearly, in blood and treasure,” he said, “the United States is turning our attention to the vast potential of the Asia Pacific region.”

Former Vice President Al Gore told a crowd at the University of Hawaii on April 15 that using fake science to mislead the public on climate change is "immoral, unethical, and despicable." Currently on a weeklong trip to Asia, President Barack Obama can probably sympathize, as he faces a cadre of skeptics committed to the idea that one of his leading foreign policy priorities -- the pivot to Asia -- is somehow an illusion.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas promised U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that the new government that will be formed following the Palestinian reconciliation will recognize Israel, State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Friday. Psaki said that Abbas told Kerry that the future unity government with Hamas will be his government and represent his policies – it will recognize Israel, abide by past agreements and will renounce violence. "It's a positive thing," she said.

A tweet by State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki Thursday night sparked snarky Twitter responses about the diplomacy of a hashtag – but the tweet really is more evidence of a brewing social media Cold War between the U.S. and Russia.

With Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi now in Latin America for a nine-day visit to four countries, the White House has just recently announced that Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Brazil for the World Cup this summer.