Fresh from the visit of US President Barack Obama, Thailand is set to host Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao this week. Although president Obama's visit took much of the attention of the press, the Chinese leader's visit is no less significant. The visit is very important in the relationship between the two countries, which will become increasingly sophisticated along as China continues to rise economically and politically.

About 500 foreign journalists arrived in Israel over the weekend to cover Operation Pillar of Defense, the Government Press Office reported on Monday. The GPO said the new arrivals are joining some 1,400 members of the media in the region to cover Israel and the Middle East.

After investing tens of billions of dollars in Southeast Asia, China has now decided that its vaunted economic power, which has bought it significant influence with regional governments, is not enough. Beijing now wants to be loved, too. In this brave new world of Chinese diplomacy, language and culture -- and, yes, pop songs -- are playing a major role in Beijing's quest to be understood...

The primary short-term goal set for Operation Pillar of Defense is to hit Gaza-based terrorism hard. In order to get the most out of this military operation, Israel needs to try to make sure the damage it causes will weaken the Hamas military wing for the long term.

The Muslim American Citizens Coalition and Public Affairs Council (MACCPAC) in collaboration with the International Center for Religion & Diplomacy (ICRD) hosted a post election dialogue between both local and national Muslim leadership and various U.S government agencies on Wednesday, November 14th, in Washington, D.C.

Both sides have taken the fight to the virtual streets during Operation Pillar of Defense, battling for public sympathy through Facebook posts and fiery tweets. Meanwhile, Israelis flock to web-based news, and government sites become targets for cyber warfare.

Participating in the video conference were personnel from the Prime Minister's Office National Information Directorate, the Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Ministry, the Foreign Ministry (from Dublin), the IDF Spokesperson's Office New Media Division, and students and public diplomacy activists.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko sent greetings to the participants of the 7th meeting of the twin-towns of Belarus and Russia, BelTA learnt from the presidential press service.