US-Russia relations are facing considerable scrutiny during President Donald Trump'sfirst 100 days in office, filled with scandal over communications between key Trump aides and Russian officials and allegations of Moscow meddling in the 2016 election. But all of that was a world away Tuesday evening at the Russian embassy in Washington, as high school students from middle America participated in a rich cultural exchange.

The league, launched by India's ambassador to Japan Sujan Chinoy in the presence of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, will be headed by Hakubun Shimomura, former minister for education, culture, sports, and science and technology [...] Chinoy said that the establishment of the league comes at an opportune moment. "India and Japan have a special strategic and global partnership based on our shared values of democracy, rule of law, tolerance and transparency..." he said. 

“India-UAE Cultural Celebrations: a cultural partnership for a positive future” is a cultural engagement programme between India and the United Arab Emirates, which celebrates the long-standing relationship between the two countries and looks to strengthen existing cultural and economic ties. The programme is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development and the Indian Business and Professional Group, and will involve various other Indian business and community groups. 

China's President Xi Jinping, on the way to his eagerly awaited first encounter with Donald Trump, met his Finnish counterpart in Helsinki Wednesday, extending Beijing's famed "panda diplomacy" to Finland. The two sides agreed to carry out "cooperative panda research" and "make the pandas messengers of friendship between our two countries," Xi said at a joint press conference in Helsinki.

Mark McDowell was a career diplomat for 20 years with the Canadian Foreign Service, where he made a name for himself as a pioneer in e-diplomacy. Defying the strictures of government bureaucracy, he pushed use of the internet and social media to engage with foreign publics and bring about cultural exchange. Mark brought his web-savvy and unconventional approach to public diplomacy to Myanmar

"Film co-productions can help foster greater cultural exchange and understanding between two different countries, such as China and the United States," Hollywoord film director Julia Pierrepont III said at her home in Sunland, Los Angeles.

Vietnam and Japan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Tuesday to boost tourism cooperation between the two countries. [...] Under the MoU, both nations will work together to promote tourism initiatives, introducing attractive destinations, encouraging visitor exchanges, and sharing experience and information in areas of mutual concern.

The National Symphony Orchestra had just finished its first performance in Russia in nearly a quarter of a century. It arrived at a time when official relations between the United States and Russia are, to put it mildly, fraught. And it demonstrated that, at a time when political rhetoric is heated, music may be offering the real language of diplomacy, formalized and couched in centuries of tradition. Indeed, it wasn’t even clear whether people were clapping for what they had just heard or for what this visit represented.c