Millions of people across the world are marking the second International Yoga Day on June 21. The brainchild of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is an enthusiastic yoga practitioner himself, the UN-sponsored day has been endorsed by an unprecedented 175 countries, including Qatar.

GBD (global commercial district) Center for Public Diplomacy and Culture Exchange (hereinafter referred to as the Center), a Chinese non-governmental public diplomacy organization in Beijing, has agreed on principle of cooperation for bilateral cultural exchange with Cuban Ministry of Culture. As a result, a program where Cuban art group pays a visit to Beijing and Chinese art group to Havana to perform, will soon be promoted.

The programs under the Japanese Studies and Intellectual Exchange pillar focuses on encouraging a greater understanding of Japan through supporting and promoting Japanese studies overseas, dialogues on critical global issues and shared concerns. 

What if the solutions to Europe’s most pressing problems lie not in politics or diplomacy, but in art and culture? With the European Union under pressure from economic stagnation, a wave of refugees, terror attacks and the possibility of Britain leaving the bloc, more than 150 cultural figures from 37 countries — including the actor Jude Law and the architect Rem Koolhaas — gathered here at a forum last week to explore that possibility.