Lobbying for foreign interests is a half billion dollar industry in the U.S. and nearly every country in the world devotes considerable resources to lobbying officials in Washington... In fact, just one lobbying firm, Patton Boggs, lobbies for nearly half of the world's population. And, one in every ten dollars spent on lobbying in the U.S. comes from foreign governments."

The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi has deactivated its account on a popular Vietnamese website that's full of suspected pirated music and Hollywood movies, the State Department said Wednesday. The embassy had used its social media account with ZingMe to promote American values, including respect for intellectual property rights. But its presence had raised questions about digital piracy on the site and led to a review.

“Creating an LGBT-welcoming workplace is not just the right thing to do, it’s also the smart thing,” Clinton said. “And part of that is because the nature of diplomacy has changed and we should and need to keep up. Today, we expect our diplomats to build relationships not just with their counterparts in foreign governments...”

What makes better headlines? Is it numbing figures such as the 8,000 Palestinian rockets fired at Israel since it unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005, and the 42.5 percent of Israeli children living near the Gaza border who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder? Or is it high-resolution images of bombed-out buildings in Gaza and emotional stories of bereaved Palestinians?

When Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema opens this Thursday at Lincoln Center, its organizers will be peering over the balustrade, more anxious than ever before to see a full house.

The arts program for the Centenary of Canberra is huge, especially in terms of Australian art and artists. As it embraces a whole year in the capital, it represents more artistic activity than any single festival in Australia , and it has actively sought the participation of every state and territory in the country.

The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi has deactivated its account on a popular Vietnamese website that’s full of suspected pirated music and Hollywood movies, the State Department said Wednesday. The embassy had used its social media account with ZingMe to promote American values, including respect for intellectual property rights. But its presence had raised questions about digital piracy on the site and led to a review.

Last week, The Jewish Agency for Israel and Masa Israel opened an International New Media Center in Jerusalem which is staffed by volunteers from around the world who are participating in Masa Israel programs. The center will allow the volunteers to participate in Israel’s public diplomacy activities by sharing their personal experiences of living in Israel under rocket fire with people around the world through social media, utilizing multiple languages.