Whether or not whoever is chosen as the new president is a soccer fan, Dorsey said, he will not be able to ignore the sport. “It is too big an Iranian passion,” he said, “too much of an opportunity to miss to wield soft power and enhance personal and national prestige.”

In 2010, C.C.A. Lagos introduced its International Art Program, which brought more than a dozen artists and curators from across Africa to Lagos for four weeks of lectures, seminars, workshops and projects. This year, the third edition of the program was held from May to June in Accra, Ghana, beginning what Ms. Silva called a “roaming campus” that she hopes could next stop in Senegal and Mozambique.

May Chau Chung-man is set to become the first Chinese pianist to perform in Italy's renowned Mantua opera house tomorrow, but what's foremost on her mind is how to share her exposure on the European stage with her fellow musicians in Hong Kong. And among her big plans for the city's talents include bringing a group of Hong Kong children and aspiring artists to Italy for a cultural exchange next summer.

As a non-profit public institution, the Confucius Institute links up with worldwide universities, colleges and secondary schools providing teachers and materials for their Chinese education at different levels. The conference, held in the first higher-learning institute established in the Western world in 1088, gathered the heads of 72 Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms from all over Europe. The Old Continent can be considered "mature" for the institution's development, Xu said.

The third Nepal-Africa Film Festival is being organised at the Russian Cultural Centre of the Capital from 18 to 20 June. A total of 14 films (both Nepali and African) would be featured during the festival. Director of Nepal-Africa Film Festival, Dr Manju Mishra, said at a press meet that the festival would highlight Nepal and Africa's art, culture and positive developments.

In Beijing, the country’s leadership was recognizing the importance of soft power. Meanwhile in Hollywood, DreamWorks was given the green light to a movie called Kung Fu Panda. I would love to tell you that we did this as part of a very shrewd strategy to gain entrée into China. It wasn’t. We just liked the idea of a film about a panda who wants to do kung fu.

Taipei, June 10 (CNA) One of the driving forces behind the increased number of exhibitions and cultural activities organized by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) over the past three years in Taiwan will soon be leaving the country for a new assignment. Sheila Paskman, who took up the post as the AIT's public diplomacy section chief in July 2010, is coming to the end of her three-year term in Taiwan and recently looked back at her efforts to promote cultural links between the United States and Taiwan.