Panda diplomacy has become a pillar of China's soft power strategy, but the death of a week-old baby panda in Japan -- the first born to Tokyo's Ueno zoo in 24 years -- stands to disappoint those who hoped that its birth would motivate "people-to-people sentiment" and help overcome the strained China-Japan relationship.

Kevin Wang, another student said: "I can't imagine that I can fly 26 hours through half earth to The Gambia, and interact with students. The whole Africa is a secret and strange place to us. I'm looking forward to experience local culture and different lifestyle. I hope we can show them Taiwanese culture during the two weeks, and be friends even after this activity is over."

Hoi An City will host the annual Hoi An-Japan Cultural Exchange on August 24-26, the local culture and sport centre said yesterday. The event will mark the 39th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Viet Nam and Japan (1973-2012) and lead up to their Year of Friendship in 2013.

The large number of Colombian eyeballs glued to a new prime-time telenovela about the life and times of Pablo Escobar, highlighted by actor Andrés Parra's bravura performance, shows that the late drug narco still fascinates more than 18 years after he died on a Medellin rooftop in a shoot-out with police.

Lim You-nam, a third year student majoring in communications at Yonsei University, visits the U.S. Yongsan Army Garrison once every week to teach a diplomat's wife Korean.

Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf Thursday underscored importance of projecting the country’s soft image through public diplomacy by encouraging people-to-people contacts, cultural exchanges and promotion of trade the world over.

New Delhi, Jun 26 (IANS): The cultural cooperation between India and Africa is moving beyond traditional exchanges to focus on education and capacity building initiatives which can become "a part of the national idiom", says Suresh Goel, director general of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).

Azerbaijani, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu are among the languages that can take MTSU students to fascinating, far-flung parts of the world through the Critical Language Scholarship program.