The modest English-language newspaper in this Asian capital carries news far beyond its small size. The copy I'm reading (24 pages) has stories from 29 foreign nations in addition to two dozen items of local news. The business section alone carries reports from 13 nations. The sports section has news from 9 nations.
Being in a large nation, we often forget -- or never realize in the first place -- how interested the small nations are in what we're doing, and the efforts their leaders make to keep in touch with the rest of the world. One item notes in passing that Kevin Rudd, the prime minister of Australia, is a fluent speaker of Mandarin.