australia
Australians and New Zealanders tend to get annoyed when their accents get mistaken for one another, but there's one thing they do share. Both countries can lay claim to hosting the world's friendliest city, with Melbourne and Auckland jointly taking top honors in a new survey. Another southern hemisphere destination -- South Africa's Johannesburg -- didn't fare quite as well, being named as the most unfriendly.
In his new report "Language as 'Soft Power' in Bilateral Relations: The Case of Indonesian Language in Australia," David T. Hill examines enrollment trends in Indonesian language studies in Australian universities, in the context of Indonesia's public diplomacy and Australian government educational policy, updating enrollment data and trend analysis from the 2012 National Report on "Indonesian in Australian Universities: Strategies for a Stronger Future."
Australia gives three koalas to Japan in hope of continued economic relations.
The US, UK and other states have pledged aid and humanitarian assistance to help rescue refugees fleeing Isis in northern Iraq. The US has launched two airstrikes against the Islamic State. The defence secretary, Chuck Hagel, announced on Tuesday that 130 troops were being sent to Iraq as "assessors", joining 450 troops already there.
The Australians are planning to use cricket diplomacy to strengthen ties with the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. While the PMs of the two countries, Mr Tony Abbott and Mr Narendra Modi, will be making history in virtual back-to-back bilateral meetings in September and November in India and Australia respectively, the Australians are keen to bring the Bradman Gallery from the Bradman Museum and International Cricket Hall of Fame on a road show to India in 2014 in which the exhibition will be held for a month in each of the cities it tours.
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed on Tuesday between India's Public Service Broadcaster Prasar Bharati and Germany's Public Service Broadcaster Deutsche Welle facilitating the availability of Doordarshan programmes on a 'Free to Air' package, on a DTH (Direct To Home) platform. The agreement would allow coverage of DD throughout Europe, Asia, North Africa and even Australia. The international channel, which is named 'India Channel', targets at showcasing India's soft power to the world.
The European Union (EU) has invested €4.6million to establish six EU Centres across Australia and New Zealand for the 2014-2016 period. The EU Centres, co-funded by their host universities, include a wide variety of partners from all sectors of the community. "This is the largest public outreach program for the EU in Australia and New Zealand and expands the existing network from four to six centres", said EU Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, Mr Sem Fabrizi.
It’s been a couple of weeks since Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, delivered an historic address to the Australian Parliament, during a visit that attracted widespread media commentary here. But how was the visit covered by Japanese media?