Being the president has its perks and pirouettes, as Halpern found out when she danced with Prince Henrik. You can picture the Danish American Society president, Lisa Resling Halpern, standing in the schoolyard, self-consciously trying to explain to the other nine-year-olds that she is both Danish and American, Lutheran and Jewish.

Recently reelected US President Barack Obama has started a three-day Southeast Asia tour in a bid to change US diplomacy balance in the region. While there, the President will also try to secure the opening of new markets for American business. In his first trip abroad after his reelection on November 6, Obama has arrived Sunday in the capital of Thailand, Bangkok.

Qatar Museums Authority yesterday launched Qatar UK 2013 to celebrate the long-lasting friendship between the two countries. The celebration is in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the British Council, the British embassy in Doha and the Qatari embassy in London.

President kibaki, PM raila and mediator kofi Annan: No one disputes the fact that the power sharing arrangement did not turn out as expected as Kibaki and his side of the coalition grabbed more power than envisioned in the coalition and basically reduced Raila to a minority partner.

India and Sri Lanka have always enjoyed a special relationship not only due to their close geographical proximity but because of their cultural, religious and ethnic affinities and shared history. Sri Lanka President Rajapaksa has aptly described India-Sri Lanka relations as “family”. Of course even such a sibling relationship has had its ups and downs.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed it paid $85,000 towards the All Whites' trip to China for a friendly football match. The decision to put taxpayers' money towards a sporting trip was slammed by former foreign affairs minister Winston Peters, who said he was "astonished" MFAT was dabbling in sport.

The eruptions in the Middle East have posed perhaps the severest, most direct test yet of the limits of President Obama’s signature foreign policy innovation during his first term, what the White House hails as the “light footprint” strategy.

But the truth is that there is no real work/private life separation for CIA spooks, Foreign Service diplomats and anyone else with a top-secret security clearance that gives them access to classified information. As the director of the CIA, Petraeus is a huge fish, but even much lower level government employees have seen their careers go up in smoke based upon allegations of infidelity.