The picturesque Maldives, with its stunning scenery and turquoise waters, has long had a hold on the imagination of Chinese people, and the growing links between the countries will take on a more substantial form with a range of key infrastructure initiatives. A housing and a road project involving China was unveiled on Monday, part of a number of infrastructure projects that include building a landmark bridge and upgrading the main airport in the island country. 

Where in the world is Armenia? It’s a question that the country’s President, Serzh Sargsyan, is hoping to get more people around the globe to answer correctly. He wants to mobilize the 10 million Armenians living abroad for a global internet publicity campaign to boost tourism and influence foreign investors. Referring to the “One Armenian, One Article” campaign, the BBC reminds that the idea is to get expatriates to write positive stories about the country.

Trade, facilitated by Beijing's deep public pockets, reciprocal visits by dignitaries, including Xi Jinping, and the estimated one million Chinese citizens who have made Africa home since 2001, soared to $200 billion last year, making China the continent's biggest trading partner. All of which has set off alarm bells in some Western quarters, with dark warnings about a new Scramble for Africa. Critics fret the United States - focused on the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific, the European Union and Russia - has made a strategic mistake.

Nepal's increasing willingness to take such steps shows China's growing influence in the country, an influence that some see as posing a threat to India, which has traditionally held sway over its small northern neighbour. And while scholars disagree on whether Delhi or Beijing currently has the upper hand, there is certainly growing pressure on India's new prime minister, Narendra Modi, to redress the balance.

China and the United States are not alone in the game of summit diplomacy: The European Union has been hosting summit meetings with African leaders for nearly 10 years, while France and Japan have been at it for even longer; India joined the fray about five years ago. While it would be naïve to conclude that the burgeoning of Chinese engagements across Africa have not influenced the US response...

It seems an impossible mission to achieve economic, social and cultural growth in a country bled dry by drug trafficking guerrillas such as FARC operating in the most productive regions and retaining violent influence in the main cities. But Colombia has been making it happen.

Russian President Vladimir Putin began a six-day Latin American tour aimed at boosting trade and ties in the region with a stop Friday in Cuba, a key Soviet ally during the Cold War that has backed Moscow in its dispute with the West over Ukraine. The two countries signed about a dozen accords in areas such as energy, industry, health and disaster prevention. Russian companies will participate in petroleum projects around Boca de Jaruco on the island's north coast, and that cooperation will extend to offshore oil deposits, Cuban government website Cubadebate said.