The South Korean ambassador is offering residents of Ottawa a rare opportunity to visit a portion of his homeland without needing a passport. To mark the 50th anniversary of South Korea-Canada diplomatic relations, the ambassador's home at 540 Acacia Ave. in Rockcliffe Park will participate in the popular Homes for the Holidays tour in support of the Hospice at May Court.

The Italian Foreign Minister, Guilio Terzi di Sant Agata, has emphasised the importance of using dialogue to bridge any cultural gap between the two countries. Speaking at the official reopening of the refurbished Italian Embassy in Tripoli, Terzi said that he supports strong cooperation between the two countries in a range of areas, most particularly the exchange of academics.

Communist Party general secretary Hu Jintao highlighted the need for China to become a global cultural power - matching its rising economic clout - in his report to the party's 18th national congress yesterday. "Cultural strength and competitiveness symbolise a country's economic strength and its national revitalisation," he said.

USAID launched three grand challenges for development – to save lives at birth, get all children reading, and power agriculture through clean energy. We’ve also created new funding mechanisms that will help bring new ideas to scale like our Development Innovation Ventures program, which is supporting new solutions to prevent electoral fraud and to expand access to credit for underserved populations.

The United States Embassy Kuala Lumpur and the Sultan Ismail Library is holding a special photo exhibition called An Enduring Bond to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps.

BBC Television tonight will cover U.S. election returns in a live evening-long broadcast – in Britain as well as in the U.S. “Europeans are far more interested in the U.S. than the U.S. is interested in any other country,” explained Dick Meyer, the BBC executive producer guiding the coverage, speaking at a USC forum here yesterday.

Investing in North Korea is becoming a hot topic among Chinese businessmen. Over the last few weeks, a series of business events and investment conferences about North Korea have been held. Chen Jiangfeng, a real-estate developer from Beijing was one of the 150 plus entrepreneurs who attended the investment projects fair held at the GBD Public Diplomacy & Culture Exchange Center at the end of September.