On the first day of our trip, the MPD student delegation to China visited Peking University (PKU). We met with Professors Wang Dong and Yu Wanli as well as students of international relations to discuss the U.S.-China Bi-National Commission Report on Mutual Trust and their perspectives on Chinese public diplomacy.

In our rapidly changing world, old institutions often survive but are regularly supplemented with newer, larger groups that keep pace with progress. That’s certainly the case with the G-8 and G-20 meetings, which have an important place in diplomacy but also have limitations. As the world develops, dynamic nations clamor to have their voices heard.

It may be that the process is so unruffled that many people won't notice, but the woman who has presided over a major shift in United States foreign policy — Hillary Clinton — has left her job. Not only has she left her position as US secretary of state, she has also left with a stunning personal approval rating of 69%.

The White House-appointed board overseeing government-funded broadcasts to 100 countries is a dysfunctional mess beset by “acute internal dissension” revolving around a longtime friend of former President George W. Bush, according to a new inspector general’s report obtained by the Daily News.

Crater Lake National Park may soon have a sister park in southeast China's Fujian Province. Park Superintendent Craig Ackerman and Carolyn Hill, executive director of the Crater Lake National Park Trust, are working with Chinese officials as well as the Oregon Legislature and others to create a sister-park agreement between Oregon's only national park and the Mount Wuyi World Heritage and Cultural Site in Fujian Province.

Pakistani-American artist Shahzia Sikander has been honoured with the US State Department's inaugural Medal of Arts for her "outstanding commitment" to the "Art in Embassies" programme. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton conferred the award on Sikander at a ceremony in Washington, the Daily Times reported. With an eye on cultural exchange and visual diplomacy, the "Art in Embassies" creates permanent and temporary art exhibitions in over 200 diplomatic venues worldwide.

That's what happened to Michelle Obama when new photographic evidence emerged that proved — no paperwork needed, no investigative journalism, no shoe-leather reporting — that she has bangs. SHE HAS BANGS! If this were an old black-and-white movie, this would be the part where you'd suddenly see people madly running to telegraph machines and reporters hurrying to the phones to call their editors, and you'd hear "beeeeep-be-deep-deep-beetle-deep-deep" as the news began to spread.

Freddy Balsera, founder of a Coral Gables public relations firm, has been nominated by President Obama to the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. “I am proud to nominate such impressive individuals to these important roles, and I am grateful they have agreed to lend their considerable talents to this Administration,’’ said Obama in announcing the nomination of Balsera and others to key administration posts.