Raleigh and Asheville, NC win $100,000 grant through Sister Cities International's Sino-African Initiative....cultural understanding and business go hand in hand through Sister Cities International’s Sino-African Initiative (SAI).

At each stop he will engage with journalists, students, civil society leaders, and government spokespeople on public diplomacy and communication efforts, support for democratic institutions and freedom of press, and economic statecraft, among other topics. He will also underscore the U.S. Government’s commitment to the region.

In a brief visit lasting several hours, Sheikh Hamad was inaugurating a $250 million Qatari investment project to help Gaza rebuild from the damage caused by an Israeli offensive against Hamas in December 2008 to January 2009. The project includes a new housing development that will be named in his honor in the southern city of Khan Younis.

During her China tour, Begum Khaleda Zia sought Beijing's assistance in a number of economic projects in Bangladesh, including the second Padma Bridge, although the implementation of the first Padma Bridge is still hanging between certainty and uncertainty due to wrong policies of the ruling Bangladesh Awami League.

Tonight’s presidential debate will focus mostly on the Middle Eastern conflicts. But the candidates should take the time to discuss where the world is cooperating. One such place is the developing world where nation-states are joining to deliver electricity to those 1.3 billion people who are now going without any power.

AS JULIA GILLARD has proved again, when it comes to the relationship between Australia and the subcontinent, there's no diplomatic tool more powerful than cricket. The Prime Minister was in India last week to talk trade and cultural ties but what hogged the headlines was her announcement that the Indian cricket great, Sachin Tendulkar, would be awarded membership of the Order of Australia.

Malala Yousufzai took a bullet to teach us an invaluable lesson: The biggest threat to organisations such as Al Qaeda and the Taliban is not drone warfare or military crackdowns. The biggest threat to the Taliban, as they well know, is the democratic empowerment of average and young people in the Middle East. Malala Yousufzai's pen is mightier than the drone. For too long, the average citizenry, and particularly youngsters, have been marginalised and neglected in political processes across the Middle East.

The 4th International Environmental Forum of Arab-African Youth in Luxor governorate which was held with the participation of 35 African and Arab countries ended on 21/10/2012. The forum tackled issues of the Nile Basin countries, water and public diplomacy to negotiate files of water in Nile Basin countries.