Steven Partyka, drummer for Capital Region jazz group the Arch Stanton Quartet, wasn’t in the best of moods when the group went to perform for high school students in Egypt. But the experience turned out to be the highlight of the band’s weeklong tour in the country from March 20-26, not just for Partyka but indeed for the whole band — guitarist Roger Noyes, bassist Chris Macchia and trumpeter Terry Gordon.

As you heard, I am Tara Sonenshine and I’m Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. And I am delighted to join you at this special time – the 40th anniversary of the Fulbright program in Russia. The program is very important to all of us – Russians and Americans. As I’ll explain in a few moments, it’s also important to the work of public diplomacy. So what better way to pay tribute to 40 years of Fulbright than to acknowledge the contributions of the people who have made it – and continue to make it – so vibrant and effective?

Iran's former nuclear negotiator, now a candidate in Iran's presidential election, pledged Thursday to improve rocky relations with the West if he is elected. Hasan Rohani is considered a leading candidate in the June election because of his centrist views and close ties to Iran's ruling clerics. A top supporter said he favors negotiations to resolve the dispute over Iran's suspect nuclear program, while preserving Iran's rights.

North Korea is a tiny dictatorship with a bankrupt economy, but its leaders are remarkably adept at manipulating global public opinion. In recent weeks, we have been exposed to yet another brilliant example of their skill.

It's apt that Simon Fraser, permanent under-secretary to the Foreign Office, head of the diplomatic service and chair of the FCO board, should have a copy of Henry Kissinger's seminal work, Diplomacy, in his Whitehall office.

The University of Pittsburgh is one of the few American colleges to have this Indonesian orchestra composed of percussive instruments of brass and iron. Gamelans are usually given a name, and in the case of the 40 instruments that Pitt received in 1994, "Kyai Tirta Rukmi" -- Venerable Rivers of Gold -- also had black and gold colors and carvings of the Pitt Panthers logo.

The trade between Portugal and Saudi Arabia is still low, but last year’s results showed a 43 percent growth of Portuguese exports to the Kingdom, Portugal’s Minister of Health Paulo Moita de Maceda has said. “Portugal remains committed to free-trade agreement between the European Union and the GCC,” the minister told Arab News.

Here's a coffee shop in an out-of-the-way part of Baku where the walls are covered with illustrations from an early 20th century satirical magazine called Molla Nasreddin. The magazine represents a bygone era, when Azerbaijan was a font of new cultural trends in the Muslim world, pioneering such issues as female emancipation, anti-clericalism, anti-colonialism and labor rights. Although Azerbaijan was the birthplace of the magazine, arguably the country affected most by its essays and illustrations was Iran.