“Kampala carnival is intended to build stronger relations, through cultural tourism and public diplomacy, between Uganda and Trinidad and Tobago; Uganda and the East African region and eventually Uganda and the rest of the world,” reads a statement from the organisers.

In a small classroom at New York University Abu Dhabi, Paulo Lemos Horta was pushing his students to explore the difficulties of translation. In some ways, it might have been a class on any American campus — except that virtually everyone was fluent in a second language.

A group of high school students in New Jersey is working to make the redemption of captives a Pesach priority. They have created an organization, StudentsUnite4Israel.org, as a vehicle for Israel advocacy and have launched the Gilad Shalit-Fifth Son Project as their first major initiative.

Conductor and University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music professor Rodney Winther has been honored by the state of Táchira in Venezuela for his contributions to music there.

Led Zeppelin’s 1970s classic rock song “Kashmir,” with soaring violins and the ethereal voice of Robert Plant, evokes an exotic land. But for Kashmiris, the song never resonated: The lyrics are more about the deserts of Morocco, and rock music was never big here, anyway.

The Nancy Yu Huang Foundation co-sponsored yesterday the celebration of the one-year anniversary of National Immigrations Agency's “Taiwan What's up?” e-newsletter. The foundation often cooperates with international agencies in organizing events to promote cultural exchange and understanding.

Diplomacy took a backseat to head-to-head competition Tuesday night as chefs from 12 countries vied for the title of top embassy chef. The third Embassy Chef Challenge, sponsored by by Cultural Tourism DC at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, highlighted world cuisine ranging from Baba ghanoush from Iraq to Peruvian ceviche.

The Georgetown University men's basketball team will travel to Shanghai and Beijing this summer as part of a "people-to-people" exchange program between the U.S. and China geared toward strengthening ties between the countries.