In Washington, D.C., home to most national museums in the country, should there be a museum expressly dedicated to Asian Pacific American history and culture? For Franklin Odo, the founding director of the Smithsonian's APA program from 1997-2010, that has since been upgraded to a "center," the time has come for an even further upgrade to a full-fledged museum.

This month, the Brazilian embassy in Jordan will promote the Brazilian Gastronomy Week in the capital Amman. The dinners will take place at the hotel Grand Hyatt Amman from April 19 to 27. Around 120 guests are expected each night. [...] The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce is supporting the event, providing the contact of member companies interested in having their products in the dinners. 

SBS’s deal with the European Broadcasting Union to develop a Eurovision Song Contest equivalent in Asia is a welcome chance for Australia to develop stronger ties with the Asia-Pacific region. The development of an Asian Eurovision - an “Asiavision”, we might call it - is an exciting project for regional unity.

The Korean Foundation, affiliated with the South Korean Foreign Ministry, and Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU) signed a pact on Monday to establish the first endowed professorship in Korean studies, the foundation said. The pact [...] calls for the establishment of the post of professor in Korean studies and a course on contemporary Korean society starting in next year's fall semester at the earliest.

Forty-five years ago, Cold War tensions between the United States and communist China were lessened thanks to an unlikely diplomatic tool: ping-pong. On April 10, 1971, the U.S. table tennis team arrived in China for a 10-day visit, becoming the first group of Americans in over 20 years to get a peek behind the “Bamboo Curtain.” 

Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz Friday said in international relations, Pakistan needs to use the persuasive approach of ‘soft power’ to promote its image in the world community. [...] Aziz said instead of ‘hard power’ based on coercion, the soft power associated with culture and economy was more effective to attain the preferred results.

The day after President Obama ended his historic trip to Havana, Cubans turned on their TV sets and watched his surprise guest appearance in a skit on the popular weekly show Vivir del Cuento (Live by Your Wits). [...]  It was actually Obama’s second appearance on Vivir del Cuento; he’d taped a mock phone call with Pánfilo from the Oval Office for an episode that aired just before his arrival in Havana. 

The two lead actors of popular Korean drama Descendants of the Sun were in Hong Kong on Tuesday for the series’ first overseas promotional activity. The drama will premiere in the city the next day on local channel Viu TV. The show is already available on Viu’s free K-drama streaming site Viu.com, where it is the most-watched show.