French President Francois Hollande is arriving in Morocco for a two-day visit aimed at strengthening cooperation against terrorism and boosting economic partnership with the former colony that counts France as its leading foreign investor.

She is only 10, but Dai Jingya has already come face to face with more heads of state than most people will in their lifetimes. She has rubbed shoulders with Chinese President Xi Jinping four times, and greeted the leaders of Singapore, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Denmark. Dai is one of a group of children culled from Beijing schools to welcome the constant stream of foreign dignitaries coming to the capital to pay their respects, alongside People's Liberation Army soldiers and a host of top Chinese officials.

In a country that awards the Nobel Peace Prize each year and delights in its reputation for tolerance, the rebranding of Vikings from violent thugs to peaceable craftsmen is part of a broader resurgence of interest in a historical period previously embraced mostly by far-right nationalists.

China’s overall economic and strategic interests now seem to go hand in hand with a willingness to engage with Europe culturally.This move beyond economics and normal diplomacy towards ‘a meeting of minds and souls’ is taking place at a time when China itself has entered a new phase of internal growth, one which has made the question of culture and soft power a core strategic priority for the country’s future growth and prosperity.

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said Thursday that Seoul has capitalized on its public diplomacy to respond to the rightward political shift and revisionist views of history in Japan that have worsened anti-Japanese sentiment here.

MANILA - Three Japanese minesweepers have arrived at the Manila South Harbor for a three-day goodwill visit which started Monday. The ships, which are part of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF)’s Minesweeper Division 51, are commanded by Capt. Toshiro Takaiwa.

In a statement, Sani said greater openness was the only way to improve Nigeria's reputation at home and abroad, which has long been tainted by corruption. "The international image of Nigeria as a corrupt country and its political elites as patently corrupt cannot be cleansed unless and until all elected and appointed public office holders come publicly clean as to their quantity and sources of wealth," he said.

The Narendra Modi government has pulled out all the stops to host the first all-Africa Summit in India. If China could get heads of state and government of an entire continent at a single venue in 2006, a faster growing India can surely do so in 2015. Well, almost.