India's soft power remains its biggest strength in being a global leader but strict visa rules has dented the country's image abroad, writes former Union minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor in his new book. "Today's India truly enjoys soft power, and that may well be the most valuable way in which it can offer leadership to the twenty-first-century world."

China and the United States are dialing down their rhetorical broadsides over greater U.S. military and economic influence in Asia ahead of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Beijing Tuesday...Cui said China is ready to work with other countries, but “it will not mean that China will have to change its foreign aid policy.”

A consequence of China’s rise as a global economic superpower has been the nation’s quest for resources, influence and riches in Africa, extracting minerals and food, building highways and schools, and selling cheap cellphones and pharmaceuticals. In July, President Hu Jintao pledged that China would lend $20 billion to African governments for agriculture and infrastructure.

The Strategic Summit will explore how new communications strategies are advancing commercial, cultural and nation branding for China. With engaging keynote speakers, case studies and interactive discussions, the Strategic Summit will build on a format used at the popular and highly-rated National Summit on Strategic Communications organized annually in Washington DC.

The 29th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering will host butteri, cowboys from Italy, who have their own unique poetry, music, gear and traditional techniques, but still have much in common with their counterparts in the American West and cattle cultures across the globe.

Some Chinese experts believe their gardening practices, steeped in Eastern culture and philosophy, will not work in the West, but Jon Burley, associate professor in the School of Planning, Design, and Construction at Michigan State University, cannot see why not, because the quintessential Chinese garden is actually very versatile, he says.

Rendered razor sharp against a blurred background, the small flowers of late summer burst with reality. These are discrete examples of meadow flowers that our eyes usually gather in flattened focus massively and whole.