Russia under President Vladimir Putin doesn't rely much on soft power to get its way abroad, in the same way it doesn't do much liberal democracy at home. It does, however, do manipulation, and Europe is only just waking up to how much and how well.

During the recent Saarc summit, the Nepal Prime Minister's niece hosted the South Asian first ladies. A few days before that, Maggie Abbot, the Australia PM's wife took the wives of G20 leaders to see a wildlife sanctuary in Australia. And as a result, Indian babus in foreign relations are now missing the feminine touch to India's diplomatic endeavours and are hoping he will have someone fill in the post of First Lady for the country.

An electoral pummeling for Taiwan’s pro-Beijing ruling party and a new spike in prodemocracy protests in Hong Kong have delivered a reality check to Chinese President Xi Jinping just when he was riding a wave of high-profile diplomacy. 

Russia under President Vladimir Putin doesn't rely much on soft power to get its way abroad, in the same way it doesn't do much liberal democracy at home. It does, however, do manipulation, and Europe is only just waking up to how much and how well.

Hollywood film studios are courting Chinese investors to gain access to the world’s most populous nation, brushing aside concerns that their new partners will seek to censor the next generation of films and TV shows.

Before the Summit, Nepal was considered a country in transition, being involved in the peace process for so long and having recently emerged from conflict. But the success of the Saarc Summit has sent a message to the world that Nepal is capable of organising such a large summit effectively, efficiently and without any problems. 

There were 76, but they were dubbed the "Russian 100" — life-savers flown in from Moscow within hours of an appeal for help from Serbia as the heaviest rainfall in more than a century inundated the Balkans in May.