...the kinds of things that the Algerians have been working on more recently in order to get ahead of the Arab Spring or to make themselves less vulnerable to the Arab Spring, they saw that as an opportunity or a time that they really should work on some of the political reforms that we had been advocating for a long time.

Images of the charred U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, flashed around the world as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton entered the Treaty Room in Washington and spoke about the deaths of four Americans there. “Today, many Americans are asking, indeed I asked myself, how could this happen?” Clinton said.

Hillary Clinton says she still intends to step down as U.S. secretary of state sometime around January's presidential inauguration, dispelling speculation over reports she might opt to stay in the post amid numerous diplomatic crises if President Barack Obama wins re-election. "It's really still my same time-frame," Clinton told the Washington Post in an interview published on Friday, repeating her plan to step down after one term even if voters on Nov. 6 give Obama another four years in office.

Thein Sein, a former general-turned-civilian, was sworn in as Burma's president just 18 months ago, and said he is guiding his country away from its authoritarian past towards democracy.

MINUTES after last week’s violent attacks on America’s missions in the Middle East, the country’s embassy in Cairo was already on Twitter. It tweeted an emergency number for American citizens. It criticised Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood for supporting the protests on their Arabic feed. And it thanked fellow tweeters for their condolences on the murder of the American ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has added a culinary dimension to the exercise of "smart power" by enlisting 80 top chefs including an Indian-American in the aid of diplomacy. Mumbai native Vikram Sunderam, executive chef at Rasika, a top end Indian restaurant in Washington, is part of the State Department's new Diplomatic Culinary Partnership initiative.

Armed with sharp knives and chopping boards, a new army of US diplomats is to begin navigating rough global waters. But they will more likely have mouths watering, than leave a sour taste behind. In her latest example of what she calls "smart power," the top US diplomat Hillary Clinton has recruited some of America's top chefs to help in her quest to spread US diplomacy and values around the world.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has added a culinary dimension to the exercise of "smart power" by enlisting 80 top chefs including an Indian-American in the aid of diplomacy....Mumbai native Vikram Sunderam, executive chef at Rasika, a top end Indian restaurant in Washington, is part of the State Department's new Diplomatic Culinary Partnership initiative.