President Pratibha Patil today arrived here to a red carpet welcome as the first Indian Headof the State to visit China in a decade for visit during which she will meet the top Chinese leadership and sign a number of agreements.

Organised by the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), the event provided a forum for arts, culture and tourism journalists of several persuasions in the print and electronic media to rub minds on how to use their endeavour to projecct the socio-cultural cohesion and international diplomatic profile of Nigeria.

Famed Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodriguez will appear in Florida during his first U.S. tour since 1979 -- although not in Miami...Renowned throughout Latin America for his songcraft and artistry, Rodriguez is controversial among many Cuban exiles, who identify him with the policies and ideals of the Cuban revolution.

Speaking at a forum on ‘Historical Links between Bangladesh and the Maldives’...Vice President Dr Waheed said the Maldives have many Bangladeshi workers and until now we have been focusing on their input to the economy. But, he said, both the countries should use them to appreciate the cultural and human dimensions of Bangladesh’s rich culture.

President Obama took some time Monday out of his busy schedule to shoot some hoops with 22 Russian kids who are in town to fulfill the cultural part of his "reset" in U.S.-Russia relations. The Russian youth spending 11 days in Washington as part of the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission's Education, Culture, Sports, and Media Working Group, one of the many such working groups set up by the two sides last year.

More than 200 editors, journalists and publishers of Russian media around the world, as well as Russian government officials,visit Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, as part of the 12th Annual World Conference of the Russian language press.

Somehow, the United States has ended up with the worst of two worlds, in public diplomacy terms. China is billing the Shanghai World Expo as the biggest World Expo ever – a public diplomacy extravaganza on par with the Beijing 2008 Olympics in its symbolic messaging. While the U.S. media has just about ignored this international event...

The film Don't Burn (Dung Dot) has been selected to be screened at the opening of Viet Nam Film Week in Havana, Cuba, from June 1-5. The week is part of this year's cultural activities to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Viet Nam-Cuba diplomatic ties on December 2.