India and Sri Lanka have always enjoyed a special relationship not only due to their close geographical proximity but because of their cultural, religious and ethnic affinities and shared history. Sri Lanka President Rajapaksa has aptly described India-Sri Lanka relations as “family”. Of course even such a sibling relationship has had its ups and downs.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed it paid $85,000 towards the All Whites' trip to China for a friendly football match. The decision to put taxpayers' money towards a sporting trip was slammed by former foreign affairs minister Winston Peters, who said he was "astonished" MFAT was dabbling in sport.

Students improved their knowledge of the UN values, as well as their negotiation and communication skills at the Model UN Conference simulating a debate at the UN Security Council on issue of Palestine membership to the UN. The conference was held today at the Yerevan State University (YSU).

The members of the band Della Mae come from all over the United States: Vermont, South Carolina, Colorado, Wyoming and Washington State. And they are steeped in the Appalachian bluegrass tradition. You can’t get much more American than that. Perhaps that’s why the US State Department selected Della Mae to be America’s cultural ambassadors to Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The band calls it their “‘Stan Tour.”

When students from different cultures come together in an academic setting, it fuels an intellectual exchange that sparks innovation, said Allan E. Goodman, president and chief executive officer of the Institute of International Education (IIE), in a press release. Goodman's statement coincided with the release of the IIE's 2012 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange.

Taking advantage of activity surrounding the Chinese American Film Festival (Oct. 25-Nov. 30) and American Film Market (Oct. 31-Nov. 7), Asia Society Southern California staged its third U.S.-China Film Summit at UCLA Covel Commons, with three panels of U.S. and Chinese film entrepreneurs in co-production, globalization of talent and investments.

Times are changing and so are the Chinatowns across the world. Starting off as ordinary trading outposts that attempted to satisfy to the culinary needs of overseas Chinese communities, these towns have evolved to become major soft power assets and representative symbols of the modern and resurgent China.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko sent greetings to the participants of the 7th meeting of the twin-towns of Belarus and Russia, BelTA learnt from the presidential press service.