With Xi Jinping's election as the new president, China has equalled the United States in a crucial area of soft power. For the first time, China will deploy its first lady, who happens to be a famous folk singer, to charm the world and build bridges.

There is no doubting Korea’s rich culture and fascinating history. But are they the factors that will captivate the international community and boost growth? With other global powerhouses like China and Japan in the neighborhood, it will be a challenge for Korea to set out its unique selling points.

Tensions between Iran and the US were intensifying in 2008 when American basketball player Kevin Sheppard went to play for the Iranian league. A German filmmaker has brought his unusual story to the cinema.

“Culture is an axis of diplomacy that was practiced by any number of autocratic regimes, Hitler as well as Stalin,” said Lorraine de Meaux...
Russian officials have even suggested that Mr. Depardieu’s flight toward Russia’s flat income tax rate of 13 percent may start a trend. “The distinctiveness of our tax system is poorly known about in the West,” a deputy prime minister, Dmitri O. Rogozin, wrote...

The White House was quick to describe the humanitarian mission — led by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to North Korea Jan. 7 — as “unhelpful.” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland called it “ill advised.” The administration’s reaction shows its main focus is on seeking U.N. Security Council support for sanctions against North Korea because of that country’s long-range missile launches, presumed to be part of a nuclear program.

Executive chairman Eric Schmidt and former Gov. Bill Richardson said they urged North Korea's government to drop barriers to Internet access to boost its impoverished economy. Officials in the isolated country, they added, appeared open to technological exchanges.

as a proud South Korean who was educated in the United States and lived there for a very significant part of my life, I understand the sacrifices American servicemen and women have made to protect freedom and democracy in my country and around the world.