President Barack Obama will host a summit with leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in California on Feb. 15 and 16, the White House said on Wednesday. [...] “This unprecedented gathering – the first hosted by the United States with the ASEAN leaders – builds on the deeper partnership that the United States has forged with ASEAN since 2009 and will further advance the Administration’s rebalance to Asia and the Pacific,” 

Following the miraculous success of this year’s Giant Lantern Festival in the City of San Fernando, more good news arrived as the City Government received letters of thanks and positive publicity from the various consulates and embassies of the Philippines abroad where the San Fernando lantern has been making rounds as an iconic symbol of Filipino Christmas.

Ai Wei Wei, the renowned Chinese artist who is currently visiting refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos […] has been sharing pictures and videos on his personal Instagram account, drawing attention to the plight of the thousands of refugees risking stormy waters to escape war and hardship.

More than 124,000 Chinese undergraduates are studying in the United States, according to the Institute of International Education. Many are affluent […] but a growing number are […] children from lower middle-class families who are looking for an alternative to an overcrowded and unforgiving Chinese educational system.

Besides expanding its influence in Africa, China is establishing deeper economic ties with European countries as a part of its One Belt, One Road initiative. The initiative is intended to "place China firmly" into the large EU markets, linking the East and the West of the Eurasian continent through a vast network of high-speed railways and maritime routes.

Stacy and Kevin Schworm’s Christmas dinner this year could include pig ears. [...] The Schworms are among dozens of area exchange students and hosts who will exchange more than gifts this holiday season. They’ll also exchange Christmas food traditions, incorporating a bit of each in their celebrations.

In the past year, China and Latin America have given strategic priority to bilateral cooperation through establishing a comprehensive cooperation mechanism, upgrading production capacity cooperation, furthering cooperation in trade, investment and finance as well as increasing cultural exchanges.

Russia and China in particular have been making efforts to develop their global media reach in recent years, frequently with investments in English-language media, but this is a new step; the BRICS as a group now see the promotion of their perspectives as a crucial element of their public diplomacy and development of soft power — and they see it as a joint venture.