When Barack Obama lands in Brazil this weekend, he will find a country transformed. In little more than a decade, some 30 million people have been lifted out of poverty and the country has risen to seventh place in the world economy.

Obama is set to depart Friday night on a five-day trip to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador — his first journey in the Americas south of Mexico. But with the crises brewing elsewhere, few outside the region may notice.

Country singer Kareem Salama shares his cultural exchange tour experience in the Middle East and talks about his unique upcoming album, City of Lights. Last year the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs sponsored a cultural exchange tour for Kareem Salama and his crew in the Middle East.

While on the ground I have been meeting with various private and public sector officials to analyze the extent to which corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a priority for companies operating in Vietnam. Based upon the information gathered thus far, the answer appears to be yes, but with many shades of gray.

The Al-Jazeera terror TV channel “forum” in Doha, Qatar, not only hosted a top leader of the Hamas terrorist group, but several American commentators and professors of journalism and political science.

The photos and videos of the aftermath of Japan's earthquake and tsunami are devastating: freezing and emotionally numbed survivors huddling in makeshift shelters; crowds waiting for fresh food at stores; nuclear technicians struggling to avert a Chernobyl-style meltdown in the Fukushima reactors.

APDS Blogger: Mark Preston

The US military is developing software that will let it secretly manipulate social media sites by using fake online personas to influence internet conversations and spread pro-American propaganda.