The Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation, the highest level of bilateral cooperation between China and Singapore starts today, February 27. Singapore Deputy PM Teo Chee Hean arrived in Beijing on Sunday for a three day visit at the invitation of China's Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli. Both leaders are co-chairs of the platform, which is for promoting dialogue between China and Singapore.

This stand is the fourth commercial venture that Zwawe has opened in São Paulo in as many years, but the first, he says, that will show “what authentic Syrian cuisine really is.” He’d opened his previous stand inside a bakery in the industrial district of Brás, just east of downtown. “I used to do the recipes that people here are more familiar with, like falafel, kebab, sfihas, and kibbehs,” he says.

I was only 16 the year I lived abroad in France—young enough that I didn’t yet have a solid grasp on what life was all about. [...] Little of that knowledge carried over to France; the rhythm of life and cultural norms were different. My mistakes regularly led to embarrassment, anxiety, discomfort. There’s a reason they call it culture shock. But I was also elated by every success. I learned flexibility, openness, curiosity, and confidence. I also learned to accept myself and other people, despite our differences.

State-to-state relationships are not grounded in emotions, but based on shared interests. No one is a friend or a foe forever; the convergence or divergence of mutual interests decides the nature of the relationship between two countries. Though relations between Russia and Pakistan remained turbulent over the years, they have been warming up over the last decade, with top political and diplomatic meetings. 

"The general goal for CITU is to increase mutual understanding among people in China and in United States. More specifically, through its dozens of events and activities each year, CITU provides support and service in Chinese language instruction and culture programming and facilitates academic exchanges and collaborations between the two institutions...and the two countries," Mingquan Wang, director of CITU said. 

The New York Philharmonic plays a leading cultural role in New York City, the United States, and the world. This season's projects will connect the Philharmonic with up to 50 million music lovers through live concerts in New York City and on its worldwide tours and residencies; digital recording series; international broadcasts on television, radio, and online; and as a resource through its wide range of education programs...

As for cultural exchange, Chan said that the Hong Kong Ballet toured four Canadian cities with the classic Sleeping Beauty last year in March, while the Young Academy Cantonese Opera Troupe of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts staged a Cantonese opera performance of Monkey King in Toronto in September.

American and Arab lead youth counter-terrorism organization, Defeating Islamic Radicalization and Extremism (DIRE) today announces ‘PeacePals: BFFs Beyond Borders’ (PPBBB), its newest solution based, ‘soft power’ long-term strategic youth program aimed at sowing seeds to create cross-cultural unity and ultimately combat ideological based extremism.