It was inevitable as governments and the militants fighting governments became more adept at social media that they’d end up using Twitter and YouTube against each other. The problem is that in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, the very real war can come across as farcical on Twitter, as the two sides go at each other.

In February this year, under pressure from the Hollywood studios and the World Trade Organisation, China increased the number of foreign films shown by 14 films, to about 34, including 3D and Imax movies. The initiative came from Xi Jinping, who is expected to be named leader at the congress. “The dominance of domestic films in the Chinese film market has been shaken. This has brought handsome profits to the American film industry,” said Mr Tian.

Developing and reforming the cultural industry, is a key focus of delegates at the Party Congress and the public. Representatives from various cultural agencies have held a joint press conference on the issue. They laid out specific targets and actions for cultural reforms and the strengthening of soft power.

Communist Party general secretary Hu Jintao highlighted the need for China to become a global cultural power - matching its rising economic clout - in his report to the party's 18th national congress yesterday. "Cultural strength and competitiveness symbolise a country's economic strength and its national revitalisation," he said.

USAID launched three grand challenges for development – to save lives at birth, get all children reading, and power agriculture through clean energy. We’ve also created new funding mechanisms that will help bring new ideas to scale like our Development Innovation Ventures program, which is supporting new solutions to prevent electoral fraud and to expand access to credit for underserved populations.

The Public Diplomacy Division of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), India and YouTube announced the launch of a short film contest ‘India Is…A Visual Journey’. The contest aims at inspiring film makers, students and video enthusiasts. It will be open to participants across the globe.

WASHINGTON – BBC Television tonight will cover U.S. election returns in a live evening-long broadcast – in Britain as well as in the U.S.

“Europeans are far more interested in the U.S. than the U.S. is interested in any other country,” explained Dick Meyer, the BBC executive producer guiding the coverage, speaking at a USC forum here yesterday.