Relations between Germany and China have progressed well beyond the phase of 'panda diplomacy.'...The most visible expression of this close relationship is the Sino-German government consultations. Germany only maintains such close exchanges with six other countries – all of them European Union members.

Scientific and technical knowledge is important in water negotiations, but not in the ways it has often been used. It is counterproductive to use scientific information to justify arbitrary (political) decisions...There is a difference between knowledge of water as an innate object and knowledge of water as a multifaceted resource.

“New media enriches the style of diplomatic language, enhances innovation in discourse and displays a close-to-the-people diplomatic manner. It is a manifestation of people-oriented diplomacy”, the micro blog’s operations director, Gong Yufeng, said at the Media Salon conference organized by Renmin.com last month.

Australia and the US have previously expressed concern at China resorting to chequebook diplomacy but Carr appeared to soften Canberra's stance in an interview with the Australian Financial Review. He urged the region to learn to live with Beijing "developing all the accoutrements of a major power".

And now that she’s plugging a new program co-sponsored by our nation’s travel and tourism industry and the U.S. government, I’ll just go ahead and say it right out: “I love the way Rosanne Carter sings “Land of Dreams,” both for the pure joy she conveys in her music and the power of the message contained in the song.

Government has said that Chinese contractors are doing a lot in helping government to put quality infrastructure in all parts of the country. Education Minister John Phiri said that the Chinese have been sacrificing in helping the country to develop since independence.

The U.S. presidential nomination conventions largely will focus on domestic issues, but a number of high-profile foreign policy issues -- including immigration, U.S.-Russia relations, and the role the United States plays as a major world power --could also be highlighted in convention speeches and the parties' platforms. Three experts from international policy institutions weigh in on possible foreign policy themes in the 2012 conventions.

Cooler heads are finally prevailing in the heated diplomatic row between China and Japan over ownership of a few rocky islets in the East China Sea. But the activists who fanned patriotic zeal in both countries by forcing their way onto the contested islands will almost certainly strike again.