Through a cultural diplomacy program sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, she helped some of Northern Africa’s most talented vocalists take a brave and historic step: singing in public. In some parts of the region, women are not only discouraged from singing...

DanceMotion USASM builds on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “smart power” diplomacy. It embraces the full use of diplomatic tools, in this case dance, to engage people and create opportunities for greater understanding.

As the Year of Chinese Culture in Turkey is being held in 2012 and the Year of Turkish Culture in China will be held next year, Hu suggested that both sides take this opportunity to boost bilateral people-to-people exchanges and enhance bilateral traditional friendship through cultural activities.

China’s government has identified animation as a key area for development to boost the country’s global influence, or soft power. The success of DreamWorks Animation’s “Kung Fu Panda” franchise has sparked wide debate within China about why the country can’t leverage its culture as effectively as Hollywood.

On education, Patrick said, “Brazil has an initiative to fund the overseas science and technology instruction of 100,000 Brazilian students and we’d like to get as many here in Massachusetts as possible.”...During his last visit, Patrick was involved in launching an academic exchange program with Brazilian faculty and students involving several Massachusetts universities.

The Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council (OCAO) will cooperate with foreign education authorities to position Chinese-language education as a mainstream education choice abroad, said Li Haifeng, the OCAO director, at a meeting attended by overseas Chinese social organizations from across the world.