A curated selection of public diplomacy-relevant news from a global cross-section of English-language media outlets, including independent, corporate-owned, and state-sponsored sources. The stories featured don't necessarily represent CPD's views nor have they been verified by CPD.
After 3 Year Ban, Japanese Film Tops China's Box Office
China-Japan tensions may still be high, thanks to unresolved wartime issues and a territorial dispute, but that didn’t stop Chinese fans from flocking to see the Japanese cartoon character Doraemon on the big screen this week. Stand By Me Doraemon, a 3-D animated film about the blue robotic cat, earned $33.47 million in its opening weekend and reached a four-day total of $38 million by Tuesday.
Chinese Soft Power Meets the American Publishing Industry
For years, Chinese communist ideologues have complained that the People’s Republic of China does not have enough “discourse power” (from the Chinese term, “huayu quan”)—meaning, the ability to speak and have others listen, and determine the bounds of debate—in international affairs. [...] China was the guest of honour at BookExpo America, held at the Javits Center from May 27 to May 29. There were over 500 hundred Chinese exhibitors occupying 25,000 square feet of floor space.
'At Least 7pc GDP Growth Required to Provide Proper Health, Education, Employment’
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms, Prof. Ahsan Iqbal Wednesday said at least 7% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate was required to provide proper health, education and employment opportunities to youth. He was giving his opening remarks at meeting of US-Pakistan Education, Science and Technology Sixth Working Group here at "P" Block Auditorium here.
Fulton County Couple Shares Farming Knowledge in Tanzania
Mike Tabor and Esther Siegel have had a tough time settling back into their lives in Fulton County after visiting rural villages in Tanzania.
"It was like visiting another planet," Tabor said. "I just feel bad for the people."
Tabor and Siegel aren't missionaries. The married couple operates an organic farm near Needmore and their customers live in the Washington, D.C., area.
They volunteered for a two-week visit to farm villages at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro as part of the Farmer to Farmer program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.
‘Human Rights’ and Soft Power in Russia
The news that Lyudmila Alekseyeva, head of the Russian Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) the Moscow-Helsinki Group, will be returning to the Presidential Council for Human Rights, has been heralded by many in the liberal establishment in Russia as a victory for their cause.
Sporting Diplomacy as Cuba Face Cosmos
Havana (AFP) - A new era in sporting ties between the United States and Cuba gets under way here Tuesday when the New York Cosmos become the first professional American sports team to play in the Communist-ruled nation for 16 years.
In pure sporting terms, the match between the Cosmos, who play in American soccer's fledgling second tier, and the inexperienced Cuban squad, ranked 109th in the world by FIFA, carries next to no value.
Ultimate Frisbee's Hippie-Go-Lucky Culture Hooks Chinese Youth
These are not the Chinese athletes you’ve seen on TV, those scarily synchronized divers or the gymnasts plucked from preschools for their bone structure. The Ultimate Frisbee players running and diving all over these fields are too scrappy, too goofy and having way too much fun. Ultimate Frisbee (often called just Ultimate as “Frisbee” is a trademarked brand) is growing in China, and 17 teams gathered here in Beijing for the national championship in late May.
John Bitter, The Jax Symphony Director and Denazifier
The forgotten story of how one of Jacksonville's young and talented Symphony Directors reconstructed the cultural milieu of Germany, including its denazification, immediately after World War Two. Join us after the jump for the story of how John Bitter, who was only 25 years old when he became the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra director during the 1930s went to Berlin to draw the poison out of its high culture.
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