The Israel Chamber Orchestra is set to become the country's first ensemble to perform at the annual Bayreuth Festival, a month-long event showcasing the operas of Richard Wagner. The decision, announced Tuesday, goes against a long-time tradition in Israel of not performing works by Wagner, who was a vocal anti-Semite and whose writings later influenced Adolf Hitler.

A collection of 12 Taiwanese films are ready to take the 15th Pusan International Film Festival by storm this week to show Taiwan's cinematic prowess, the Government Information Office (GIO) said yesterday, two days before the festival is set to kick off.

Even as the political relationship between New Delhi and Beijing has gone through ups and downs this year, the Indian government has quietly launched a broad campaign to win hearts and minds in China.

Since opening in May, the tremendous success of the Shanghai Expo has been vividly demonstrated by what has also been the source of the greatest number of complaints: endless queues. Visitors, primarily Chinese, arrive as early as 3am and assemble in ever-longer lines in front of national pavilions, with the biggest crowds drawn to the ones packed with technology.

Director-General of the culture and art office of Iraq's northern city of Sulaymaniyah voiced the Kurdish region's willingness to use Iran's experiences in cultural fields.

Drawing a link between the release of Nelson Mandela 20 years ago and the reunification of East and West Germany in the same year, the German Consulate in Cape Town is hosting a series of exhibitions, debates, films and music events.

Europe and China must "invest more in the great potential of our people-to-people relations" to fully benefit from their strategic partnership, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said this morning (6 October) at a press conference alongside Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

There are four official languages in Singapore: English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil. When the country gained independence in 1965, the government decided to keep English as the main language in order to maximise economic prosperity. Mandarin, however, has always been an important language too.