Thousands of Singaporeans braved torrential rains on Sunday for a final farewell to the country’s founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, whose funeral drew a long list of leaders and dignitaries from across the globe.

A marquee has been erected on the driveway of the United Nations to deprive potential snipers of a line of site, as world leaders lever themselves out of their limousines. Even inside the headquarters building, blue partitions have been put up, presumably to sequester the leaders from the journalists who work here day in day out. With some 140 heads of state and government scheduled to attend, a record-breaking number, leaders' week at the United Nations is like no other.

Despite several statements by world leaders condemning rocket fire on Israel and calling for restraint, the international community currently doesn’t really care about Israel’s conflict with Gaza, a senior diplomatic official said Wednesday. “The international community is totally disinterested. Yes, there were a few press releases from [UK Foreign Secretary] William Hague and a few others, but generally the world doesn’t show any particular interest in this,” the official told The Times of Israel. 

The rise of social media in politics is no secret, and more and more world leaders are now turning to Twitter. According to Twiplomacy, a study by Burson-Marsteller, more than two-thirds (67.88%) of all heads of state and heads of government have personal accounts on the social network. For many diplomats, Twitter has becomes a powerful channel for digital diplomacy and 21st century statecraft. As of June 23, 2014, more than 80% of the UN member countries have a presence on Twitter. 

We've all seen selfies taken in questionable places. During a school lockdown. In front of a man attempting suicide. At Auschwitz. Now, some people are adding President Obama to the list of people with poor selfie judgment after the leader of the free world posed with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service Tuesday in South Africa.

Fifty-three heads of state and government have so far confirmed attendance at upcoming memorial events for peace icon Nelson Mandela, South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said Sunday. The dignitaries will include U.S. President Barack Obama, along with three former American presidents, Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff, French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron.