The New York-based Clinton Curtis Band will tour Central and South America, and the Caribbean as part of the U.S. Department of State’s American Music Abroad Program, organized by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Ministerial consideration of launching a negative advertising campaign to deter Bulgarians and Romanians from coming to work in Britain next year is "bordering on the farcical", Keith Vaz, the chairman of the Commons home affairs select committee, has said.

The award recognises and encourages its bearer to improve social, economic and cultural relations with Cameroon. The Honorary Consul of the Federation of Russia in Douala, Dr. Jean Marie Tchuissang, received the Russian "Pouchkine" medal of distinction issued by Russian officials for the award.

Israel is planning to demand an apology for a controversial cartoon that appeared in the British Sunday Times, Israel’s ambassador to London said Monday, while one minister mulled steps against the paper.

U.S. Department of Commerce General Counsel Cameron F. Kerry and U.S. Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer will lead the discussion topic for the meeting: “Recent Developments Regarding Implementation of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.”

When the Prime Minister bumped into Boris Johnson in Davos last week, the Mayor, resplendent in woolly hat, assured him that he had been acting as his unofficial envoy at the World Economic Forum. Yes, Boris had a few mischievous things to say about the “rhetoric of austerity” while he was in town. But – he reassured the PM – every time he met a senior European politician, he was praising his speech: “Bien joué, David Cameron, n’est-ce pas?”

The Mahinda Rajapaksa government has been outstanding in fighting terrorism at home but has fared disastrously in diplomacy. This is in marked contrast to the Chandrika Kumaratunge government whose record in fighting terrorism at home was an absolute disaster but was outstanding in its efforts diplomatically getting the LTTE proscribed as a terrorist organisation by most of the important Western nations.

While referring to the recent border row between India and Pakistan, a panel at the Jaipur Literature Festival blamed the media for feeding people with "petty prejudices" instead of playing a positive role. The panelists, while holding discussion in the session 'Neighbours: Walls and Bridges', appealed to work on the "commonalities" present in the two countries.