Ever since President Obama’s historic announcement in early December 2014, calling for the restoration of diplomatic ties between Washington and Havana, eyes have turned toward Cuba, waiting to see what changes the new dynamic will bring to the island nation.

Japan and China may publicly snarl over disputed territory, naval brinkmanship and the interpretation of history, but for Asia’s biggest economies the era of vending machine diplomacy has dawned. This month, in the intimacy of a Ginza hotel, one of Japan’s most quietly influential business lobbies will meet its Chinese counterpart for unprecedented talks. Convened through mutual need and ambition, the summit will focus on the future of an industry that generates global sales of consumer products worth more than $50bn per

The leaders of seven wealthy democracies gathered in southeastern Germany on Sunday and Monday for a two-day summit that touched on a number of issues, including climate change and combating terrorism. (The Group of 7 consists of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.) But it wasn't strictly work for the leaders, as evidenced by photos snapped of a beer-swilling U.S. President Barack Obama. When in Rome, er, the Bavarian Alps ...

Last week, a non-governmental organisation, Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) hosted Taiwo Ajayi-Lycett as she clocked 74 years. A panel made up of Joke Silva, Professor Reginald Ofodilede, Ben Tomoloju and Jahman Anikulapo deliberated on the problems plaguing our arts and culture industry. [...] After the celebrant was ushered in, the panelists were on hand to deal with issues in the Arts and Cultural industry. 

The post Ebola epoch presents an challenge for the three most affected countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea to refocus their diplomacy and put their diplomats to work, as these countries especially Liberia seeks international partners as the country emerges from an idle and desperate economic situation which has been paralysed due to the scourge.

Commenting last week on Israel’s surprising ninth-place Eurovision finish, achieved thanks to votes from millions of usually anti-Israel Europeans, Avshalom Halutz of Haaretz wrote sarcastically that the dramatic improvement over previous results “seems to validate Israel’s decision...to send its carefree ‘Golden Boy’ party anthem to Eurovision, after years of trying in vain to find favor with the Europeans with apologetic and hypocritical songs about peace and tolerance, and failed gimmicks like candlelight or a duet between a Jewish and an Arab singer.” Despite being an exaggeration, ther

These are not the Chinese athletes you’ve seen on TV, those scarily synchronized divers or the gymnasts plucked from preschools for their bone structure. The Ultimate Frisbee players running and diving all over these fields are too scrappy, too goofy and having way too much fun. Ultimate Frisbee (often called just Ultimate as “Frisbee” is a trademarked brand) is growing in China, and 17 teams gathered here in Beijing for the national championship in late May.