North Korea stepped out of its isolation as a last-minute participant, and there are signs that Turkey may use the occasion to reach out to the Vatican weeks after it recalled its ambassador to the Holy See over the pope describing the slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide.

Expo Milano 2015 should encourage sustainable food production practices, as well as fight food waste and malnutrition, members of the European Parliament (EP) said on Thursday. In a resolution, MEPs sent a message to the organizers of the expo that "Global food security, fighting food waste and improving the sustainability of agricultural production are matters that require an urgent and international solution."

Earlier this year, StandWithUs (SWU), a pro-Israeli American advocacy group that coordinates its activities closely with the Israeli government, finally unveiled an SWU-China division for its organization in an event that marked a joint celebration of the Chinese New Year and Jewish Tu B’Shvat in Jerusalem.

Fraser is the director of the Pushkin Prizes, a unique creative writing competition which unites the most promising young Scottish and Russian writers. It was founded in 1988 by Lady Butter, the great-great-great granddaughter of the celebrated author Alexander Pushkin, with the aim of fostering a community of writers from both countries.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has opened one of the world's biggest collections of Pacific artwork at an event in Sydney. More than 60,000 artefacts from 16 Pacific nations and territories are on display at the Australian Museum's Pacific Spirit exhibition, which opened today.Ms Bishop told Pacific Beat she "jumped at the chance" to support the gallery, as part of a wider campaign of cultural outreach within Australia and across the Pacific.