Albertans have been reading and watching with disbelief the incredible devastation brought by wildfires in Fort McMurray. But while all of us are viewing the destruction and mass evacuations with sympathy, most have no real understanding of their plight. [...] Syrian refugees well understand what those in Fort McMurray are going through. Remarkably, these same people who landed in our province mere months ago are stepping up to aid the wildfire victims

An Israeli “yes” could have done more for its image abroad than 100 public diplomacy videos, helped negate its current international image as a militaristic peace refusenik and shown that Israel can be a willing partner for peace. Or at least, it wouldn’t have provided further evidence to bolster that image. Now, all anyone’s going to remember about this latest episode is that France wanted to organize a peace conference, the Palestinians agreed to participate – and Israel refused.

Finland’s official promotion body is taking a new approach with its YouTube channel by handing it over to ten young experts in the medium. They will produce their own videos with just two stipulations: they have to be in English and in Finland. ThisisFinland, which operates under the Foreign Ministry, thinks this could be the first time a country promotion body has allowed guests to run its YouTube channel.

The UAE's connectivity, world-class infrastructure and diverse locations have set it apart as a leading movie production destination, and the country is playing an increasingly important role as a key part of the production value chain. It offers a competitive advantage to production companies with unique and diverse locations.

At the very private lunch that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had for the visiting Duke and Duchess of Cambridge earlier this month, the cuisine had an “Anglo Indian touch”. This deviation from the tried and tested official menus that generally feature cream of almond soup and insipid north Indian curries and kebabs was certainly welcome. But more interesting was the attempt to reach out to the guests via food.

A day before he signed the Paris Agreement on climate change at the United Nations headquarters last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stopped by a Brooklyn gym, where he gave boxing lessons to a group of disadvantaged youth. While Trudeau put the youngsters through their paces, for the past six months it’s the prime minister’s passport that has been getting a workout.

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has pledged to uphold press freedom, saying it is the government’s “constitutional responsibility” and an indispensable element that makes Hong Kong an international city. Leung was delivering a speech on Monday at the presentation ceremony of the Newspaper Society of Hong Kong’s annual news awards.

As far as awards ceremonies go, the Sugoi Japan Awards were a fairly flashy affair. Held on March 22, the prizes recognized recent titles in anime, manga and fiction that an online poll of Japanese fans wanted to do well overseas. Winners included “One Punch Man” and “Your Lie in April,” and the guest list to the event included pop culture critics, studio executives and, of course, the artists themselves.