In December 2005, I wrote a column titled “Pentagon gets best press money can buy,” detailing how the U.S. Defense Department was violating First Amendment principles by paying Iraqi journalists for favorable press coverage. Well, guess what? The Pentagon is at it again. According to Politico.com, “The Defense Department wants nearly $1 billion for its greatly expanded information operations programs ... but lawmakers are growing leery of what they see as a hangover from the Donald Rumsfeld years, an ever-expanding propaganda machine ill-suited to the military.”

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Shanghai and Beijing are becoming new lands of opportunity for recent American college graduates who face unemployment nearing double digits at home. Even those with limited or no knowledge of Chinese are heeding the call. They are lured by China’s surging economy, the lower cost of living and a chance to bypass some of the dues-paying that is common to first jobs in the United States.

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In a series of foreign-policy speeches, most notably one delivered in Cairo and addressed to the Muslim world, polls show that Obama has been able to restore some of America’s soft power. So far, so good, but effective leadership is also communicated by actions and policies. Perhaps the most impressive current example of leadership based on the ability to communicate is Barack Obama, who has given three times as many interviews as George W Bush and held four times as many prime press conferences as Bill Clinton at this stage in their presidencies.

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The corn-rich heartland US state of Iowa will look a bit like a United Nations summit come mid-August, as diplomats from some 70 countries make an bi-annual pilgrimage meant to boost overseas trade. If past visits are any guide, Iowans might get to see a buttoned-up veteran of international relations get a rare opportunity to handle a live baby pig.

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After running into a dead end in its efforts to jump-start Middle East peace talks, the Obama administration has signaled that it has evaluated the situation and understands that not all is well. But instead of a course correction, senior administration officials have decided that what they need to do is to deploy their most effective weapon - the rhetorical brilliance of President Barack Obama - on a recalcitrant state of Israel.

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An American non-profit organization dedicated to political reform in the Middle East concludes in a new report that proposed changes in U.S. foreign aid to the region could be a mixed blessing for those working to promote democracy in that troubled part of the world.

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Ten years have passed since filmmaker Masaaki Tanabe, 71, a hibakusha living in Hiroshima, began to recreate areas around Ground Zero in Hiroshima before the atomic bombing in 1945 using state-of-the-art 3D computer graphic technology. The core of the project is the recreation of the busy commercial and entertainment district that stood where the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is now located. The aim of the film, to be shown at the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) to be held at the U.N.

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It has not even started yet, but the news of the Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF), which will take place here later this year, has already attracted the attention of international filmmakers. ...The festival will include around 35 films, as well as special events. Up to date information can be found at, www.tribecafilm.com/tffdoha. The official website will be launched on August 18.The DTFF will bring the distinct spirit of the Tribeca festival, which was founded in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, to Qatar.

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