I had an opportunity to visit Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe in November 2011. As I traveled from north to south on the African continent, I was able to take a close look at African culture. The trip convinced me that Africa is not a "cultural desert" as some have claimed, but an oasis steeped in culture.

The action film Ranh Gioi Trang Den (Boundary of Black and White), which marks the first co-operation between the Vietnamese and Indonesian film industries, will hit screens on July 6.

In Africa, the relationship between the Dutch business community and Dutch embassies seems to be out of synch. In fact, some Dutch businesspeople are dissatisfied. This became clear at Thursday's seminar organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Netherlands-African Business Council (NABC) in The Hague.

When a recent survey indicated that 80 percent of Indonesians believe their nation can become a superpower, it was more a reflection of growing nationalist sentiment in a country that is striving to maintain its independence from the current global contest between the United States and China.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's accusation that Russia "dramatically" escalated the crisis in Syria lost steam Thursday when the State Department acknowledged that the helicopters she accused Moscow of sending were actually refurbished ones already owned by the Assad regime.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, in partnership with USA Track and Field and the Oregon Track Club, announced that 12 girls and four female coaches from The Bahamas, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad & Tobago will participate in a track and field exchange program in Washington, D.C. and Eugene, Oregon, June 18-28, 2012.

Ritz has developed a remarkable rapport with the diplomatic community and with key personnel in government offices, as a result of which his presence was especially requested for the Putin visit.

Today in Rio de Janeiro, France will receive the WWF Leaders for a Living Planet award. This award recognizes France’s commitment to promoting the 1997 UN Convention on Transboundary Watercourses.