Highlighting a divide with the United States over whether to arm the Syrian rebels, Saudi Arabia’s chief diplomat said Monday there is a moral responsibility to speed an end to the civil war, including by helping Syrians fight the regime’s “vicious killing machine.”

For more celebrity CPPCC members, CCTV News correspondent Fei Ye sat down with former basketball player Yao Ming, a first time CPPCC member discussing Chinese politics and public diplomacy.

Speaking about Armenia’s diplomatic priorities, Minister Nalbandian said the efforts are first of all targeted at the reinforcement of the security component, the increase of the number of our friends in the world, active involvement of our country in different international processes, the development, deepening and reinforcement of our relations with our partner Russia,

The minister of foreign affairs has made the diplomatic economy a top priority of his action. This is why the new Directorate for Businesses and Global Economy has been created, as of March 1, 2013. This directorate will be the first point of contact at the ministry for businesses – for large groups as well as SMEs. It will also ensure that their interests are properly taken into account in negotiations that are likely to impact their activities, in particular with respect to issues relating to global economic regulation.

There is no doubting Korea’s rich culture and fascinating history. But are they the factors that will captivate the international community and boost growth? With other global powerhouses like China and Japan in the neighborhood, it will be a challenge for Korea to set out its unique selling points.

Argo won for Best Picture, of course, but in my view it merited an additional Oscar. And so did the far more controversial Zero Dark Thirty. Consider that Hollywood hands out awards for everything from “Sound Mixing” to “Best Picture”. But over the decades no Oscar category existed to honor movies for intellectual or political integrity. Perhaps that reflects, to be cynical, the recognition that in any given year there’d be too few nominees to fill out the category. But this year that was not the case. It was a banner year for Hollywood integrity.

The advance of gay rights across the United States is spreading into Puerto Rico, making the island a relatively gay-friendly outpost in a Caribbean region where sodomy laws and harassment of gays are still common.

Dennis Rodman’s bizarre North Korean jaunt has dominated headlines in both countries for days, but the U.S. State Department has no comment on the matter — as deputy spokesman Patrick Ventrell made very clear in his daily press briefing on Thursday.