In the US, where rules on the disclosure are stricter, technology groups report far higher spending on lobbying. Google, for example, spent $8.85m in the first half of 2014 alone in the US – nearly four times what it said it spent lobbying the EU for the whole of 2013. Google declined to comment on this article. But its efforts in Europe are part of its “soft power” approach towards influencing policy makers.

Hollywood has been beguiled by this romantic quest for liberation, offering a tantalizing glimpse at the leading role the film industry could play in an independent Scotland if voters choose freedom in Thursday’s referendum.

There are almost half a million English people in Scotland - and most of them want to remain in the union. But polls suggest one in four will vote for Scottish independence. And some are actively campaigning for an end to the 307-year union. It's easy to understand why most people who were born in the rest of the UK but live in Scotland might be inclined to vote "No" in the Scottish referendum. 

The sudden blackout of popular U.S. shows is seen as an example of Chinese leaders keeping a tight grip on foreign media to counter the U.S.'s soft power and shore up China's own television industry. Last year, Chinese censors withheld box office receipts while negotiating a rise in tariffs on Western importers. Now, Chinese leaders want to become not only international exporters of finished goods but also dramas and soap operas...

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said on Wednesday it would spend $40m – on top of $10m already committed – to support the emergency response to west Africa's Ebola outbreak – the group's largest donation yet to a humanitarian effort. "It became clear to us over the last 7 to 10 days that the pace and scope of the epidemic was increasing significantly," Chris Elias, president of global development for the world's largest charitable foundation, told Associated Press.

On the morning of September 8, Harvard University celebrated what school President Drew Gilpin Faust called an historic moment after it received a $350 million gift from a wealthy Hong Kong family. The gift, to the Harvard School of Public Health, is the largest ever in the university's 378 years of history. It may sound like a victory for Chinese soft power, but many Chinese netizens are angry that the money isn't being directed toward domestic concerns.

The event itself is still nearly two years away, but already the "pre-summits" are in full swing. Concept notes have been written, regional consultations have started, and online forums are open for comments - all leading up to the World Humanitarian Summit itself, scheduled to take place in Turkey, probably during May 2016. The meeting was proposed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and is timed so that it will take place just as his second term of office will be drawing to a close. 

For the first time, seasoned entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley and Iran will convene to explore and elucidate the opportunities and challenges of high tech entrepreneurship in Iran and its impact on the country’s ongoing economic development. The conference is predicated on the notion that the promotion of entrepreneurship and innovation is the indispensable key to sustainable growth.