A long outstanding proposal to recognize the right to water as a basic universal human right is threatening to split the world's rich and poor nations. Opposition to the proposal is coming mostly from Western nations, says Maude Barlow, a global water advocate and a founder of the Canada-based Blue Planet Project.

Young Vietnamese artist Hoang Duong Cam will join his Japanese colleague Takayuki Yamamoto in an exhibition of their joint works in Hanoi from July 23 to August 5. The exhibition entitled “On each kilometre” is part of the arts cooperation assistance project of the Japan Culture Exchange Centre in Vietnam.

Hassan Al Thawadi is chief executive for the Qatar 2022 bid...Qatar is one of the most prosperous countries in the world, with gas and oil reserves and has futuristic plans for the 2022 finals.

Tomorrows Youth Organization is living proof of the effectiveness of smart power. American initiatives around the Middle East, and especially in Palestine’s poorest areas offer American youth the chance to teach disadvantaged children drama, arts, athletics, music, computers and earn the love and trust of the Middle East one country at a time.

The Turkish and Armenian Youth Orchestra is gathering for peace in Turkey. A total of 70 people will come together for three concerts. This is not diplomacy or football, it’s young people meeting in an international environment based in music, says the orchestra’s conductor, Nvart Andreasyan.

As President Obama made clear...the world must unleash its collective imagination through social innovators, entrepreneurs and citizen diplomats to contribute to global development, respond to natural disasters, and initiate interfaith action to tackle preventable diseases like malaria. The moment is now.

For years, Bollywood’s producers and directors have favored the pristine backdrop of Switzerland for their films... In the process, they have created an enormous curiosity about things Swiss in generations of middle-class Indians, who are now earning enough to travel here in search of their dreams.

It has been a superbly marshalled exercise in spin: as the Financial Times said on Tuesday, the World Cup, "it is generally agreed, has been a triumph". This is the first measure of its success: as an act of rebranding or public diplomacy -- to use the new posh term of national marketing.