The sad truth is that a significant number of global philanthropic foundations have investments in the fossil fuel industry, including those where donations to environmental causes and climate change is a significant part of their portfolio… As we move from the UN's Sustainable Development Goals...to the Climate Change Summit in Paris...the deep contradictions in global philanthropy must be acknowledged.

The movie was The Martian, and it had everything we should be promoting: It showed Americans as smart, resourceful, and innovative. It showed us as independent thinkers, but also as selfless team members who worked together when needed... And it showed America as a culturally diverse nation where people with talent could succeed, regardless of their race or religion.

The militaries of many nations harness mass media and pop culture for promotional purposes… Japan is no different. But what makes their military unusual is that the image being projected isn’t one of might or machismo but of cuteness…this kawaii (cute) imagery is...a testament to the deep ambivalence the Japanese retain about both the history and the changing role of their armed forces.

There are obviously concerns about the impact on Africa through a decrease in commodity exports (and income) to China. Yet such shifts also signal opportunity and perhaps changes in China's approach towards the continent, to include 'softer' issues - like closer public interaction…The 6th iteration of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held this week in Johannesburg, South Africa.

A group of orphans and street children have been trained in photography and asked to capture the world around them […] It became known as the Murmushi Photo Project. As well as giving them a practical means by which they might one day make a living, it provides them with a visual voice through which they can document their worlds.

And the winner for most charitable nation in the world is ... Myanmar. Coming in second: the United States. […] The ranking confounds the common perception "that generosity and wealth are connected to one another," says Adam Pickering, the international policy manager of the London-based Charities Aid Foundation (CAF)...Only five of the G20 countries appear in the top 20, he points out. 

[…] Films are targeted at an international audience, which is already saddled with its own preconceptions of Africa [...] Why tie the film so explicitly to a cause that “needs immediate attention,” if not to profit on the outdated idea of that there is a foreign land that needs saving? Art can certainly dramatize real-life events, but it can’t be the earnest volunteer on the street with a Greenpeace clipboard.

Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa says the much-anticipated film Mandela's Gun will be released in the first quarter of 2016. Mthethwa is busy drumming up support for Africa Day next year, where he signed agreements with counterparts in the fields of film cooperation, oral history and cultural exchange programs. He says they will be using cultural diplomacy to forge people-to-people relations.