Rarely covered in the English-speaking press because of its past as a Portuguese colony, the behavior of the government in Angola is becoming increasingly troubling. Crony capitalism isn't rare on the African continent—or indeed anywhere else in the world—but Angola's iteration is particularly extreme. Following a civil war that ran on and off from the nation's independence from Portugal in 1975 all the way to 2002, Angola’s elite—overseen by 71-year old President José Eduardo dos Santos—has fed greedily at a trough of oil and gas.

People around the world see China as "confident", "belligerent" and "arrogant", state-run media says, in an unusually direct survey of attitudes towards the country. Only 13 per cent of respondents in the poll by the Global Times newspaper described China as "peaceful", a sign that Beijing's territorial spats with its Asian neighbours have taken a toll on its image.

Russian President Vladimir Putin dissolved one of the country's official news agencies and an international radio broadcaster on Monday, setting up a new organization to be run by a news anchor known for his ultraconservative views. RIA Novosti, the news agency, and Voice of Russia, the broadcaster, will be absorbed by a new entity, Russia Today.

IranWire, a website run by the Canadian-Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari, reports the unsurprising news that some officials in Tehran are not looking forward to seeing Jon Stewart’s new film, “Rosewater,” which was adapted from Mr. Bahari’s memoir about living through Iran’s disputed 2009 presidential election.

“We’ve spent decades making their toys, their shoes, and even their flags,” a deep voice intones in Mandarin as US military tanks trundle across a desert. ”All the while, enduring their condescension and biding our time…finally the moment has come; now they will know our greatness.” A group of American soldiers looks up at the sky that suddenly fills with screaming jets, missiles, explosions, fire and fumes.

The meeting between U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday was an occasion to affirm the strength of the six-decade-old alliance between the two nations at a time of rising geopolitical tensions in East Asia. The message of bilateral friendship, however, was temporarily lost among some of the reporters who were there to cover the event.

The main streets of Shin-Okubo — Tokyo’s Koreatown — are lined with smoky barbecue restaurants and overlit cosmetics emporiums. Staircases lead down to basement music venues and up to hidden drinking holes. Japanese once thronged the neighborhood, which is home to many ethnic Koreans and known for its fiery food and late nights. But in recent months, the crowds have thinned, replaced by anti-Korean protesters who have turned Shin-Okubo into a rough barometer of deteriorating Japan-Korea relations.

Al Arabiya News will today launch a state-of-the-art subtitling service that allows English-speaking audiences to follow Arabic news bulletins and programs broadcast by its parent TV channel. The new service, part of this website’s View More video section, will broadcast regular news bulletins and programs first aired in Arabic by the Al Arabiya News Channel, the region’s leading news station.