Cultural Diplomacy

This month, Indonesians will get a chance to learn more about their neighbors to the north through a special cultural exchange program called "Experience China"...A series of cultural events, including music performances, film screenings, kung fu exhibitions and book fairs, will be held throughout July in the cities of Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan and Semarang.

Globally, Yoani Sánchez’s blog, is available in a score of languages and gets up to 14 million visits a month. Within Cuba, though, the dictatorship of Fidel and Raúl Castro has from the start sought to silence her and prevent other Cubans from reading what she calls her “little vignettes of reality.”

Egypt has approved of setting up a cultural bureau in China's capital Beijing as part of its efforts to enhance cultural exchange with China, Egyptian state news agency MENA reported Sunday. Egypt's Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Amr Salama said the bureau aimed at stronger relations between the two countries in cultural, scientific, and educational fields.

While rap has provided the gritty sound track to popular uprisings roiling some of the Middle East's most entrenched dictatorships, in Syria it has largely supported the status quo. That picture is one the Syrian government is keen to portray: that protesters who have taken to the streets...have either been duped or are active participants in a foreign conspiracy aimed at punishing Syria for its politics.

The explosion of museum exhibitions is only a mirror image of what has happened to fashion itself this millennium. With the force of technology, instant images and global participation, fashion has developed from being a passion for a few to a fascination — and an entertainment — for everybody.

From graffiti to YouTube videos, the Shubbak festival brings the energy and unpredictability of the Arab spring to London. Shubbak is an opportunity to sample the energy and unpredictability of one of the most dramatic moments in Arab history. The artworks here capture the rush and openness of Egypt now, the sense of possibility and an unfinished story.

Manchester is the city that tried to turn itself around by turning itself into a brand. The result has been an undeniable improvement. Here is the most astonishing fact about Manchester's regeneration: where residents were once desperate to leave the city, now, for the first time in 50 years, people are flocking back.

Changing American hearts and minds about Russia has been Voice of Russia's mission since it first went on the air in 1929, broadcasting from Moscow via short-wave radio. It still does use short wave but with the Internet, Facebook and Twitter, that seems like a blast from the past. VOR is turning to...a new studio in downtown Washington.

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