When two young State Department officials took a delegation of Silicon Valley executives to Syria recently, they billed it as a chance to use the promise of technology to reach out to a country with which the United States has long had icy relations.

The Viet Nam-US relationship is at its strongest point since diplomatic ties were resumed in 1995 and ties continue to grow each day. US Ambassador to Viet Nam Michael Michalak made the statement at a press conference held in Ha Noi yesterday, which celebrated the 15th anniversary of the normalisation of Viet Nam-US relations.

Throughout the world, few things are more precious than a safe and abundant water supply. A country that can help another nation improve the availability and quality of water is likely to win friends, regardless of how the respective governments get along.

In a nation with abysmal healthcare, delivering high-quality emergency treatment is a powerful weapon — even though crews can treat only a fraction of those in need.

SINGAPORE – Uneasy about relying on water imported from Malaysia and determined to sustain its booming growth, Singapore devotes much effort to innovative water planning. The Singapore River has become a giant reservoir, rainstorm runoff is carefully collected, used water is treated and recycled, and the island nation’s five million residents are expected to be stingy in their water consumption.

The arrest of the ten deep cover agents of Russia at the end of the G-8 and G-20 summits carries with it a significance far beyond the immediate fact of the counterintelligence action. The Obama administration had just wound up a lengthy and complicated courting of President Medvedev of Russia in conjunction with an aggressive effort along the same line as Germany.

Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni has held trade and investment talks with the visiting United States Under-Secretary for Public Affairs and Diplomacy in the American State Department Ms. Judith McHale.