Foreign Minister H.H. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan said that the foreign policy of the UAE has enormously changed thanks to the prudent guidance by its leaders. United Arab Emirates today applies the latest methods in diplomacy and continues to make several global initiatives.

The main struggle in the region is partly ideological, between moderate, pro-Western groups and Islamist and jihadi groups, and partly it is a contest for power in the region by Iran, in its effort to diminish American influence. The administration’s view is playing into Iran’s hands.

After reaching a sweeping trade agreement, Taiwan and China face the challenge of persuading the island's 23 million people that Beijing has no ulterior political motives, analysts said.

An international forum has heard that Australia needs to broaden its cultural engagement with Asia - and not be so ready to judge events in neighbouring countries. Michael L'Estrange, the former head of Australia's Foreign Affairs department, called for a more honest approach to relations with Asia.

President Bashar al-Assad and Mrs. Asma al-Assad met on Monday members of the Syrian community in Venezuela in the presence of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez...The President said that Venezuela has always treated Arab immigrants as if they were its sons, giving them all rights, and it has never treated them on the basis of race or religion.

India could become more powerful if it boosted its reliance on the "soft power" of cultural diplomacy, according to a paper issued by an Australian think tank.

When two young State Department officials took a delegation of Silicon Valley executives to Syria recently, they billed it as a chance to use the promise of technology to reach out to a country with which the United States has long had icy relations.

The Viet Nam-US relationship is at its strongest point since diplomatic ties were resumed in 1995 and ties continue to grow each day. US Ambassador to Viet Nam Michael Michalak made the statement at a press conference held in Ha Noi yesterday, which celebrated the 15th anniversary of the normalisation of Viet Nam-US relations.