  An overview of recent developments in \pythia~8 is given. First the new hard
diffraction model, which is implemented as a part of the multiparton
interactions (MPI) framework, is discussed. Then the new colour reconnection
model, which includes beyond leading colour effects that can become important
when MPI are present, is briefly reviewed. As a last topic an introduction is
given to our implementation of photon-photon collisions. In particular photon
PDFs, required modifications for the initial state radiation algorithm and beam
remnant handling with photon beams is discussed.
