Alan Gilbert has chosen to celebrate the close of his tenure as music director of the New York Philharmonic on a political note, with a program called “A Concert for Unity.” BY inviting musicians from countries including Iran and Israel to join Philharmonic members on the stage on Thursday-Saturday, Mr. Gilbert is clearly trying to steer against the divisive winds coming out of Washington. But he is also interesting himself into a tradition of bridge-building musical events that reach back to the aftermath of World War II. Here are five memorable moments of musical diplomacy: 

Zionsville Community High School has received a plaque of appreciation from the U.S. Dept. of State for hosting three students from Kosovo and Liberia through the YES program during the 2016-17 school year. The YES program offers a competitive grant to students from countries with a significant Muslim population. [...] “The focus of these programs is to encourage diplomacy for future generations in hope of fostering a more peaceful world,” said Jan Ellis, local coordinator. Diella Ymeraga, 17, a Kosovo exchange student, described ZCHS as a good and open-minded community. 

With the International Olympic Committee (IOC) set to have chosen Paris over Los Angeles as the site for the 2024 Olympics, it is timely to ask: Is hosting the Olympics good for a nation’s brand, and do they provide a good financial return on investment? [...] He also noted that the concept of nation-branding pervaded China’s handling of the 2008 Beijing games. “In China their goal was broad recognition as a leader on the global stage.” He said that China was largely successful, but that in terms of political reputation, the country was thrown into a negative light.

Delegates of the Young Diplomats of Ghana (YDG) hosted a farewell dinner last week at the Tomreik Hotel in Accra in honor of the UNAIDS Country Director, Mr. Girmay Haile, who ends his duty tour to Ghana at the end of June this year. The dinner offered the opportunity for the young diplomats to have a final interaction with Mr. Girmay, on his experiences working as a Diplomat in Ghana and to congratulate him for his selfless dedication to the vision of UNAIDS in Ghana and support for the cause of YDG as Patron.

Three years into the war in Ukraine, international attention and aid to displaced people has waned. In an area near the war zone, Natasha Bluth reports on volunteer groups trying to fill gaps in support for one of the world’s largest internally displaced populations.Many Ukrainian community organizations, inspired by the Euromaidan protests that called for improved human rights and better ties with Europe, have expanded since the conflict began, including local NGO Ulybka rebenka, or Smile of a Child, which was founded a year earlier to aid disadvantaged children.

In Singapore's botanic gardens this morning, an orchid will be named after the Prime Minister and his wife Lucy in the tradition of naming a hybrid of the national flower after visiting leaders. [...] Tonight, Mr Turnbull will give the keynote address to the Asia Security summit — more commonly known as the Shangri-La dialogue. Delegates from more than 50 countries will be in the audience. [...] The Economist dubbed the incident the "Shangri-La dust up". Security will be intense and Singaporeans have already been warned to avoid anything that could be deemed suspicious. 

Dangal’s success story in China — coming as it does, five months after its theatrical release in India and elsewhere — has triggered a stream of breathless box office updates, analytical thinkpieces, and odes aplenty. As it should. [...] Egyptian hawkers referring to Indian women visitors as “Kareena! Aishwarya!” isn't surprising. But to have a teenager from the tiny island country of Timor Leste tell you that Preity Zinta’s Kya Kehna is his favourite film, or have folks in Vietnam express sadness about Balika Vadhu actress Pratyusha Banerjee’s suicide — that is surreal. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the top followed leader on Facebook globally. According to data shared exclusively by the social networking giant with ET, Modi's Facebook Page has more followers than Donald Trump and his official page -PMO India -ranks third followed by Modi page's personal page and President Trump. The data also shows that Digital India, Make in India and Swachh Bharat are the most engaged campaigns that have been run by the government.