- One of the most surprising announcements from last week's political upheaval in Canberra, the appointment of a Minister for International Development in Kevin Rudd's Cabinet, Melissa Parke. It will be interesting to see how Ms Parke's experience as a UN human rights lawyer will influence her. See her first media interview here.
- Are the Pacific Islands ripe for mobile money? Sadly, it's not looking positive.
- As Canada follows New Zealand in rolling its aid program into the foreign affairs and trade portfolio, it's timely to consider lessons coming out of other donor experiences.
- The UN announces 'Malala Day' on 12 July, celebrating Malala Yousafzai's 16th birthday and launching a universal access to education campaign. Malala will give her first public speech since being shot by the Taliban while boarding a school bus in October 2012. The speech might put Malala one step closer to securing the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.
- Al Gore, obviously reinvigorated by President Obama's climate change address last week, is back offering climate change leadership training. Apply here.
- Like other donors, USAID is trying to harness the energy of young people in international development via its Frontiers in Development Forum in Washington. It is helped by its youthful Administrator Raj Shah.
- Swedish academic Han Rosling uses Lego bricks to show us the world through the dynamics of population growth, child mortality and carbon dioxide emissions. If you like Hans' style, a must-watch is his 2006 TED Talk (which TED ranks in its top 11 talks), in which he debunks myths about the so called 'developing world'.
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