The ABC has partnered with a Chinese media company to open a web portal for Australian content in that country, becoming the first mainstream media organisation to launch a registered web portal in China. The managing director of the ABC, Mark Scott, and its chairman, Jim Spigelman, opened the portal in China on Wednesday and were congratulated by Tony Abbottfor strengthening Australia’s ties with China.

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced a $1 million donation to assist in the development of a high-tech interactive exhibit at the United States Diplomacy Center (USDC). The Department of State will provide the space, staff, and security for the museum, which is intended to honor the history and significance of diplomacy in America.

When it comes to a few important journalistic new media skills, such as speed of posting information online and use of social media, U.S. State Department's public diplomacy is leagues ahead of U.S. taxpayer-funded Voice of America (VOA).

In ways big and small, life without access to financial services is more difficult, expensive and dangerous. It constrains a woman’s ability to plan for her family’s future. At the community level, it traps households in cycles of poverty. More broadly, it limits the economic growth potential of developing countries.

While American negotiators maintained tight secrecy at the nuclear talks here, President Hassan Rouhani of Iran took to Twitter late Thursday to describe a letter he sent to President Obama and other world leaders justifying Iran’s positions.

Its Office of Management and Budget just launched the "HTTPS-Only Standard" initiative, requiring the use of the HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) protocol on all publicly accessible Federal websites and web services. In today's web browsers, the https:// protocol (as opposed to the traditional, outdated http://) offers the strongest guarantee of reliable information and secure transmission.

The current occupant of that office, Richard Stengel, acknowledges that "the ultimate battle is not on the military battlefield, it's in the information space."  (...)The problem is that ISIS is very, very good at turning out highly professional video work. They are adept at using the right music to evoke the right mood and their grizzly executions take on an almost ethereal feeling.