The sudden visit to China of Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae, the personal envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, appears to be an attempt by North Korea to break through the diplomatic isolation that has resulted from Pyongyang's defiance of the international community by continuing to pursue a nuclear weapons program.

From a computer keyboard in London, an Iranian emigre plays the role of counselor, social media guru and all-around adviser for Internet users back home seeking ways around the cyber-blocks set up by authorities in Tehran. These have been busy days.

The U.S., Turkey and Qatar persuaded the U.N.'s top human rights body to hold another urgent debate on the civil war in Syria, the first such session in more than a year, as diplomats pushed Monday for more international pressure to hold accountable those responsible for killing thousands of civilians.

As a foreign national who has spent over seven years living in Taiwan, I consider this country to be my second home. Having first come here when I was 23 years old, I have, in many ways, grown up here.

A website created for Africa's proposed continental defence force proclaims a lofty mission “to support and keep peace for Africa's prosperity and a better life for all in the world.”

Last Thursday while Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at his residence and urging Japan to invest in the mega-project in Dawei, there were news headlines in Myanmar that Abe would be visiting Yangon the next day — offering loads of financial assistance and long-term economic development plans worth nearly US$1 billion.

Depending on your point of view, U.S. General Keith Alexander is either an Army four-star trying to stave off a cyber Pearl Harbor attack, or an overreaching spy chief who wants to eavesdrop on the private emails of every American.

Professor Nicolas Koss, dean of the College of Foreign Languages and Literature of Fu Jen Catholic University, asked me a question shortly after a New York Times correspondent described the Criminal Investigation Bureau's final report on the mystery-shrouded March 19 shooting at President Chen Shui-bian in 2004 as “the sort of story once found in dime store novels” in 2005,

U.S. President Barack Obama may have renewed his vow to close the Guantanamo prison this week, but many are skeptical he will really be able to end this controversial chapter of U.S. history.

Traveling around the Southeast Asian region two weeks ago, the mood was all about currency fluctuation and impact on markets.