#cultural-diplomacy

#cultural-diplomacy

The Grand Egyptian Museum has finally made its suitably grand debut - 103 years after the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb, 33 years after the plan was first announced, and 23 years after its foundation stone was laid. The $1 billion megaproject is the world's largest museum dedicated to a single civilisation, housing over 100,000 artefacts. The dazzling inauguration ceremony held on Saturday evening was attended by royals, presidents, prime ministers and high-level delegations from dozens of countries around the world,

Spain, which initially dismissed any possibility of issuing such an apology in strong terms, acknowledged last Friday through Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares that there was pain and injustice inflicted upon the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. While the statement did not come directly from the Crown, as the Mexican government had hoped, it nonetheless represents a gesture of enormous symbolic and political significance, aimed at repairing the strained diplomatic relationship which at times verged on hostility.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Friday that the history shared between Spain and Mexico, like all human history, has its light and dark sides. There has been pain and injustice toward the Indigenous peoples. There was injustice, and it is right to acknowledge it and regret it. This is part of our shared history; we cannot deny or forget it.

In the opening moments of a new film called "Diamond Diplomacy," Shohei Ohtani holds the ball and Mike Trout holds a bat. These are the dramatic final moments of the 2023 World Baseball Classic. The film puts those moments on pause to share the long and complex relationship between the United States and Japan through the prism of baseball, and through the stories of four Japanese players - Ohtani included - and their journeys to the major leagues.

Eurovision was founded to bring nations together through music. Excluding Israel today goes against this fundamental idea and turns a celebration of understanding between peoples into a tribunal,

Woody Allen's participation in the Moscow international film week is a disgrace and an insult to the sacrifice of Ukrainian actors and film-makers who have been killed or injured by Russian war criminals in their ongoing war against Ukraine. It added: By taking part in a festival that brings together Putin's supporters and voices, Allen chooses to turn a blind eye to the atrocities Russia commits in Ukraine every single day for 11 years now.

The withdrawal from UNESCO reflects the Trump administration's "America-first" foreign policy, expressing skepticism about multilateral organizations and accusing UNESCO of promoting a "globalist, ideological agenda."