US President Barack Obama has made a rare visit to Puerto Rico, marking the first official trip to the island by a sitting US president since 1961. The visit is being seen by some as an indirect bid for Puerto Rican votes in the swing state of Florida in 2012.

The problem facing the Administration is that international impatience with the stalled U.S. peace process has reached a point where more photo-op diplomacy won't suffice. The world wants to see progress on a two-state solution, and believes Israel has to be pressed on the matter.

It should come as no surprise — last month's royal wedding led to a surge in passengers at major UK airports. Airport operator BAA handled 9.34 million people at its six UK airports in May 2011. This is a 9.2% increase on the May 2010 figure, which was affected by the first Icelandic ash-cloud crisis and industrial action.

India is planning a big cultural centre in Toronto along the lines of the famous Nehru Centre in London – the first of its kind in North America. The new cultural centre will be ready by next year to cater to the North America Indian diaspora. It is part of India’s thrust to use culture as a tool of its foreign policy.

Nations are brands because people perceive them as brands. Few Ghanaians have time to learn what most countries are really like, so we navigate through the complexity of the modern world armed with a few simple clichés about places. The writer wants to know: What about Ghana? What are we going to use as a brand to attract people from outside Ghana?

Just as the American culture industries, especially Hollywood, were instrumental in constructing and disseminating the narrative about the attraction of the United States that helped make it the most influential player on the world stage in the 20th century, the rise in the popularity of Bollywood films could help to do the same for India in the 21st.

Vice-President Xi Jinping's recently concluded three-nation tour of Latin America is likely to further enhance China's relations with the region, experts said. Beyond its economic ties with Latin America, China is also interested in promoting its image internationally...China's infrastructure projects in the Caribbean are examples of non-economically motivated relationships in the region.