People.com.cn, the online arm of China's People's Daily newspaper, will soon launch its initial public offering (IPO) in the domestic A-share market as the nation accelerates its marketization of State news portals.

Turkish soap operas have conquered the Balkans reversing Turkey's negative image with the Balkan nations from the time of the Ottoman yoke, according to Austrian paper Der Standard. Turkey's film industry is not only making money from the showing of its soaps in Balkan countries... but it is also helping out the Turkish diplomacy, the newspaper says in an article entitled "Ottoman Television Runs Like Clockwork."

Leading Indian wire agency Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) has launched its free iPhone and Android applications to help readers across the globe track the latest news, updates, features and analyses on a real-time basis.

Turkey's minister of foreign affairs said on Tuesday that media organs were important actors for public diplomacy. Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoglu attended the "Turkish-Speaking Countries Media Forum", jointly organized by Turkey's Directorate General of Press & Information and Turkish Foreign Ministry's Center for Strategic Research, in the Turkish capital of Ankara.

A new television cop show has hit the airwaves in Afghanistan. Called Eagle Four, it tracks the fictional adventures of an elite police unit that chases terrorists, kidnappers and smugglers in the midst of a war zone. Loosely inspired by American TV thrillers such as 24, the show has plenty of cartoonish action, but the people behind it, including financial support from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, are hoping it also conveys a message.