Students of the Excelsior High School in Kingston yesterday engaged their peers from the Samuel W Shaw School in Calgary, Canada, in a friendly debate on ethical food... The debate took place via a live videoconferencing link connecting students of both schools. The schools are part of an exciting cultural exchange programme with students in Canada as a result of an International School Twinning Initiative (ISTI) spearheaded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Bringing students together from across the globe, the 12th edition of International Children's Festival of Performing Arts (ICFPC) was initiated at Ryan International School, Ludhiana, on Tuesday. As a part of the Russian cultural exchange programme, around 18 students from Russia came to India under the theme "One World of Children" and participated in a month-long festival.

It would seem, from this quick thumbnail sketch, that Chinese soft power has been extraordinarily successful in the Philippines as in the rest of Asia. But that’s only part of the story. China, after all, has not restricted itself solely to the exercise of soft power to increase its influence in the region.

Table tennis has helped connect China and the United States since 1971, when the US team's visit to Beijing sparked a thaw in relations. The sport is poised to play a similar role again, as Dubai announced on Monday it will sponsor the Chinese national team as part of an effort to promote exchange and growth between the two nations."This will be the first time the Chinese national table tennis team has cooperated with a foreign partner."

In a ruling that could have dramatic consequences for online news agencies and digital journalists, a judge ruled Tuesday that two news outlets should have asked permission before using a Twitter picture from a photojournalist. According to the court's ruling, Agence France-Press violated the copyright of photojournalist Daniel Morel by taking photos of a 2010 earthquake in Haiti that he tweeted and disseminating them without permission via Getty.

African countries are interested in Turkey after many Turkish projects and investments launched in the continent. Turkey did not limit its activities with political or economic aims but contributed to African countries to develop in the fields of health, education and agriculture. Having spent his carreer mostly in African countries, retired Turkish Ambassador, Numan Hazar told AA that after Ottoman era, Turkey did not really have any dialogue with African countries.

Sonoman Bill Boerum was the final and featured dinner speaker on Saturday night at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Culver City Sister City Committee. Boerum is vice chairman of the board of directors of Sister Cities International, a Washington, and D.C. based organization promoting citizen diplomacy.

Eugenie Moore Anderson emerged a trailblazer for American women in international diplomacy during the post-World War II era. In 1949 she became the first American woman to hold the rank of ambassador. Helen Eugenie Moore, who went by Eugenie, was born in Adair, Iowa, in 1909. After attending Simpson College, Moore left Iowa and transferred to Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where she planned on a career in music.