When I first arrived in Taiwan I clearly remember predicting after six months of intense language practice, I would be triumphantly returning home to the U.S., flexing my fluent Chinese tongue to the wonder of all.

Today China is the news. The country's rise as an economic power has been one of the hottest topics in the world. Catching the trend The Economist published a special section on China in its Jan. 28 issue, the first time in six decades that it has devoted a separate section to a single country.

For six decades, Germany heeded Nobel laureate Thomas Mann's advice to seek “not a German Europe, but a European Germany.”

Yesterday was the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of England's most popular writers, Charles Dickens. He turned out 15 novels, several of which were made into plays and films in the 20th century.

When it comes to China, Facebook should consider itself forewarned. Cracking the world's biggest Internet population might seem an obvious ambition for the social networking giant as it trumpets its global growth before a US$5 billion initial public offering, but the chances it will succeed look slim.

Israel is pursuing a studied ambiguity on whether it will attack Iran, keeping its options open on how to rein in Tehran's alleged nuclear weapons ambitions, Israeli experts say.

Russia's veto of a Security Council resolution on Syria goes far beyond mere protection for a close ally and arms buyer — it showed Moscow's determination to crush what it sees as a Western crusade to use the United Nations to topple unfriendly regimes.

China's hard-line political stance, as shown by its veto of a U.N. resolution on Syria at the weekend, is increasingly clashing with the Asian powerhouse's efforts to improve its image abroad, analysts say.

More than 45 years ago, Chairman Mao Zedong launched the tumultuous Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, which led to the destruction of millions of Chinese lives.

“Germany Dominates Europe Once Again,” is the eye-catching headline of an editorial by William Pfaff on truthdig.com, a popular blog and commentary site for people on the political left.