Yep, the Azeris have oil... huge amounts of the stuff, so much so that the country is the ugly guy made good who’s suddenly never lonely. And Azerbaijan likes it, to the extent it wants to re-brand itself as a cultural, social and economic hot-spot rather than some backwater parked next to the Caspian Sea. And sport is a perfect branding opportunity.

New warnings from U.S. officials and lawmakers over tactics used by Islamic State online are putting renewed focus on the terror network’s activities. FBI Director James Comey warned Thursday that ISIS is increasing their reliance on social media to spread their “poison” message.

Diplomats are replaced every three or four years. However, this relatively fast departure and arrival of old and new faces, respectively, have little impact on their countries' cultural links with Korea because a group of dedicated people, such as the Seoul Garden Club, who help smoothen the transition.

Saturday’s Victory Day parade in Moscow was a compelling demonstration of Russian military might. More than 100 planes, 16,000 troops and 200,000 civilians carrying portraits of relatives who fought in the Second World War were involved. New weaponry on display included the Armata tank and a new intercontinental ballistic missile launcher that was developed in response to Nato anti-missile systems. 

Aimed at enhancing China’s cultural exchanges with foreign countries, an international dance fest will kick off in July in the autonomous region of Xinjiang. According to the region's government, the fourth edition of the festival will showcase talents from Xinjiang, other Chinese provinces and other participating countries.

Russia marked 70 years since the victory over Nazi Germany on Saturday with a spectacular parade in Moscow featuring some 16,000 soldiers, 200 armored vehicles and 150 planes and helicopters. This is expected to be the last major anniversary of the conflict when significant numbers of World War II veterans are still alive to take part.

The Public Diplomacy Delegation's visit is to support and expand the excellent and longstanding government-to-government relations and build and strengthening people-to-people links between two countries. The Delegation includes religious leaders, officials, academics, business people, artists, well known personalities, and farmers.

The US State Department is asking for more than $6 million to convert its Interests Section in Havana to an embassy and $528,000 for a new program called “Cuba Outreach Initiative,” budget documents show.