More than 300 students from 13 theatre schools of the Asia-Pacific region began brainstorming at the second Asia-Pacific Bureau Drama Schools Meet, an UNESCO-aided theatre promotion and world peace forum, at the National School of Drama (NSD) here Monday.

Craftswomen from countries like Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are scheduled to display their wares, demonstrate their skills and exchange designs and techniques under the guidance of designers, provided by Dastkari Haat Samiti.

Year long celebrations on the occasion of 60 years of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and China commenced here last night with a function held at Pak-China Friendship Centre at a colourful ceremony attended by a large number of Pakistanis and Chines nationals.

Since Korea’s success began as an entertainment exporter in the late 1990s, its music, television dramas, movies and video games have become popular among young people across Asia, a phenomenon often known as “Hallyu” or the Korean Wave.

Iran held a one-day seminar on the impact of the Persian language on the regional languages of the Balkans at the International University of Novi Pazar in Serbia last week. Several Iranian and Serbian scholars and officials attended the seminar which was held by Iran’s cultural attaché’s office in Belgrade.

A Chinese government official has praised the culture of Saudi Arabia and said more needs to be done to strengthen ties between the two countries... The visit comes on the sidelines of the Chinese Culture Week that kicked off Saturday in Riyadh, to mark the 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Saudi Arabia.

The northern West Bank village of Masaha received a special book donation to its library from the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem on Tuesday. The donation included 40 books from Scholastic Books' My Arabic Library, in addition to a selection of 100 books produced by the United States Government's Regional Book Office in Cairo and Amman.