Now, 50 years on, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin is set to be honoured with a statue on London's Mall. The monument - which will be the first of a Soviet-era Russian in the capital - is due to be unveiled in July, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Gagarin's historic visit to Britain three months after his space mission.

Building on the Obama administration's efforts to improve relations between the United States and Russia, a group of prominent media leaders from the two nations have come up with their own ideas to confront stereotypes and increase mutual understanding.

Officials in Moscow are now saying they hope for a rapprochement with Tokyo as Russia is focusing on sending humanitarian aid to its eastern neighbor, which was struck by a massive earthquake and tsunami last Friday and is now facing a growing nuclear disaster.

Since the whole deal with the public vote for the 2014 Winter Olympics to be held in Sochi began back in September [RUS], the issue seems to have been all but “non-political”: from the selection of 11 emblems-finalists at the end of the solicitation period to the actual call-in and SMS vote on February 26 2011, televised [RUS] on the state channel ORT.

A NATO representative called on Tuesday for women to be allowed greater representation in international negotiations and conflict resolution. "Women still remain underrepresented at all political levels," Assistant Deputy Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Dr. Stephanie Babst said at a video news conference.

In testimony to Congress last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged the existence of an ongoing “information war” that the United States is losing. In addition to saying that “Al Jazeera is winning,” Clinton pointed to the major investments in international broadcasting being made by China and Russia.

On March 3, Judith McHale, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, and Ambassador Mikhail Shvydkoy, Special Representative of the Russian President for International Cultural Cooperation, will launch a dialogue between Russian and American media professionals as part of the U.S.-Russia Presidential Commission.

Recent events in the Arab world have sparked renewed optimism with online social networks. Many in the West are now convinced that Internet technology can create something previously impossible under authoritarian states — a strong opposition that can seize power through either elections or street demonstrations.