The Miss USA judges may have done more to further American cultural diplomacy than all of the efforts of USAID, the State Department, and Karen Hughes combined — this, after all, is the highest honor American popular culture can bestow...

Anglo and Hispanic cultures have profoundly influenced each other far beyond their 2,000-mile-long border. On both sides, a great cultural fusion has been taking place. From conjunto music to business deals, tourism to sports enthusiasms, the fusion is mostly happy and productive. Sometimes it is not.

Pakistan blocked YouTube and many other Internet sites Thursday in a widening crackdown on online content deemed offensive to Islam, reflecting the secular government's sensitivities to an issue that has ignited protests in the Muslim country.

Although not in Africa, many in the diaspora contribute by sending money back to their families. Also many eventually return to Africa, bringing new skills and important contact with the First World.

The five countries represent the four corners of south, east, west and central Africa with their distinctive cultures, dance, music, lifestyles and cross-cultural assimilation. The festival is in consonance with India's policy of strengthening its multilateral ties with Africa.

Political dialogue, cultural diplomacy and economic cooperation will be three crucial components of President Pratibha Patil's maiden visit to China from May 26 during which she will also inaugurate the first Indian-style Buddhist temple 'white horse' in Luoyang.

One of the best mine actors from Japan Iimuro Naoki will give solo performances in Hue Festival 2010 and in Hanoi for the first time...According to the organiser, which is the Japan Foundation Centre for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam, the show is hoped to entertain not only adults but also children with its universal body language, which is sublimed in the art of silence.

In a joint statement issued in Seoul yesterday following a summit held at president's office at Cheong Wa Dae, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Korean President Lee Myung-bak agreed to boost economic ties and cultural exchanges between the two countries.