Earlier this week, more than 20 Zimbabwean police officers raided the office of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ), claiming they were looking for undisclosed “data.” This was the latest in a series of police crackdowns on the LGBT organization, which have included unwarranted arrests and beatings.

A parliamentary inquiry has criticised the waste of more than $1 million in taxpayers' money by the Gillard government in its botched tender for Australia's television service into Asia. The Australia Network saga last year saw public broadcaster the ABC pitted against rival station Sky News, part-owned by News Corporation chief Rupert Murdoch, in a contest over a $223 million contract to run the service.

The spat between Japan and South Korea over two islets, known as Dokdo in Korean, Takeshima in Japanese, and Liancourt Rocks in some international registers, has been propelled into global headlines by an unusual convergence of events.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili is going to restore relations with Russia through public diplomacy. He said this at a meeting with the Gordi villagers in Khoni district. According to him, many Russian tourists began to come to Georgia, who was surprised to observe that process of construction, which is conducted in the country.

The deteriorating political and security situation in Syria, viewed in the light of the failure by the Security Council to facilitate an inclusive political dialogue between President Bashar Al Assad and the rather fragmented opposition rebel forces, reinforces the impression that this most pre-eminent organ of the UN may have lost its most important ‘soft power’ resource: its moral authority.

The attraction of significant players in the Egyptian private economic sector such as the Arab Contractors and Engineering Consultants Group, both of which have now opened offices in Liberia. Others include the visit of the Egyptian Culture Troupe whose performances entertained Liberians and further solidified the cultural ties between the two countries.

Recognizing Taiwan's potential to share the global cultural spotlight, Lung entered public service as Taipei City Government's first minister of culture in 1999. She quickly earned a reputation for implementing practical projects that successfully transformed rundown buildings into artist villages, literature houses and museums.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is ready to sit down at the drums next month when she will be honored for her "jazz diplomacy" at the Kennedy Center...Tom Carter, the Monk Institute's president, felt it was appropriate to "highlight the role of jazz as a diplomatic tool" in the same year that the institute worked with UNESCO to establish the first International Jazz Day.