Chinese President Hu Jintao had a busy schedule from Tuesday to Thursday, meeting with U.S. leaders on major bilateral and world issues in Washington. His diplomacy in the United States, however, turned somewhat light-hearted as he walked into a Chicago high school on Friday morning.

A group of hungry college students crowded around the newest food stall in an upscale market here: the American Hotdog Factory. Its sign proudly announced, "real American hotdogs for the first time in India."

How do you sell a movie called “Captain America” to an overseas market? In South Korea, Russia and the Ukraine, apparently, the answer is you don’t even try... Those involved in the decision are being careful to frame the move as a matter of brand management and consumer awareness and not as a decision tilted by cultural or political winds.

Addressing a symposium to mark the 10th anniversary of the Law on Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language, Liu said popularizing the standard Chinese language is vital for "carrying out the Chinese culture, enhancing the country's soft power, national unification and unity among all ethnic groups."

From the mid-1950s through the 1970s, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman and other jazz greats served as cultural diplomats, touring the globe on behalf of the U.S. State Department... a collection of photographs and documents chronicling these tours will be on display at the Fowler Museum at UCLA from March 20 through Aug. 14.

Last Sunday, on the charter plane returning from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s six-city tour of Florida, music director Peter Oundjian took some time to reflect on the meaning of the orchestra’s visit to the Sunshine State. "...it was hugely important. The morale in this orchestra is good, but it is enhanced in countless ways by touring...by taking pride in representing Toronto and Canada to the outside world."

Sylwia Surdykowska from the University of Warsaw believes learning the Persian language will help achieve a better understanding of Iran’s culture... The Polish are familiar with Persian literature and know of the Persian poets Hafez, Rumi, Khayyam and Sadi, she told the Persian service of IRNA.

Glitz, glamour and the biggest stars from India's movie industry will converge on Canada's largest city this summer in what is being pegged as Bollywood's most highly anticipated event of the year. "Toronto will be Bollywod central," proclaimed film star Anil Kapoor at the official launch Wednesday for the 12th International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA).