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More than 70 guests representing over 20 countries—including ambassadors and other VIPs— came together July 15 for a night of art and food to celebrate the opening of Embassy Row’s newest “in place to be.”
The symbolic event, billed as a press conference, took place at Lithuania’s embassy in Washington. It was highlighted by the presence of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the 38-year-old opposition leader and widely regarded winner of her country’s August 2020 presidential elections
On July 15, Sonia Guzmán, the country’s new ambassador to the United States, hosted a reception at her Washington, D.C., residence to promote both products. At the event, some 120 guests enjoyed premium cigars while sampling top Dominican rums, as well as coffee and chocolate.
Since Christopher Columbus first disembarked on the island of Cuba in the 15th century and brought infectious disease on an unsuspecting population, foreigners have dictated Cuba’s destiny. Irrespective of which great power was at play, all have pursued a similar course of action: Might is right. Little has changed in the intervening centuries.
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Culture
The Statue of Liberty has a mini-me in D.C. — well, if you consider “mini” to weigh 1,000 pounds and stand nine feet tall. On June 19, Little Lady Liberty embarked on a similar trek that her big sister took 135 years ago, crossing the Atlantic to join her full-size sibling on Ellis Island for America’s Independence Day. She was then trucked to D.C. to be displayed on the lawn of the French ambassador’s residence just in time for France’s Bastille Day.
The Phillips Collection may have hit the grand old age of 100, but its spectacular celebratory exhibition isn’t stuck in the past. Even as the show reflects on the museum’s own history, “Seeing Differently: The Phillips Collects for a New Century” is grappling with the future.
“Dreamland,” which features two photography series by Swedish artist Helene Schmitz as well as an outdoor sound installation, takes a hard look at the impact of humans and technology on the natural world.
A new exhibition organized by the American University Museum showcases the indelible mark that the Peace Corps has left on countless lives with objects and stories from 30 volunteers representing a sampling of the 240,000 people who have joined the corps since its inception 60 years ago.
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As President Biden remarked at the recent G7 summit to fellow world leaders “America is back.” While the United States is seeking to deepen relationship around the world, digital diplomacy has a pivotal role to play in influencing key decision makers at the White, State Department and on Capitol Hill. Digital media offers a low-cost way to engage, persuade and influence the citizens of allies and adversaries.
Round House Theatre — which has produced numerous virtual plays during the pandemic — cautiously invited a limited, masked and socially distanced audience back into the building for its production of “We’re Gonna Die” and filmed it for digital streaming audiences.
Mexico has its tequila, France its champagne and Cyprus its haloumi cheese. Yet some national dishes have inevitably led to squabbling. Israel and Lebanon both claim hummus as their own; Chile and Peru have argued for more than a century over which nation concocted the pisco sour.
As the delta variant of COVID-19 rips across the globe—driving infection rates to record highs throughout Africa, Latin America and Asia—Caribbean leaders are pleading with the Biden administration for vaccines in order to avert total economic catastrophe.
The United Nations diplomatic corps is about to say farewell to one of its best-known members. Christoph Heusgen, Germany’s permanent representative in New York since 2017, departs at the end of June. During his tenure, which included a stint on the Security Council in 2019 and 2020, Heusgen has impressed and sometimes infuriated other diplomats with his plain-speaking, principled brand of diplomacy. He will be missed.
Presidential motorcades, huge monuments and noisy political protests are all part of the fabric of life in Washington, D.C. So are foreign diplomats and their license plates—which, like in any world capital, imply special perks like premium parking spaces and immunity from speeding tickets. But what about these so-called “diplo plates” as collectibles?
It would be nothing short of a “catastrophe” for athletes and the world sporting community if Japan cancels the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo due to coronavirus concerns. That’s the unanimous view of three sports experts who spoke in a June 2 webinar organized by the Czech Embassy in Washington.
KIBBUTZ KETURA, Israel — At a remote desert outpost in Israel’s Arava Valley—far from the Hamas missiles and mob violence that shook this country last month—Jews and Arabs are quietly working together to tackle the region’s most pressing water, energy and ecological issues.
After the widespread circulation of a video earlier this month that appeared to show two seventh-grade boys forcing their genitals into the mouth of a girl in first grade, Shpresa Shala—education director for the municipality of Prishtinë, Kosovo’s capital—brushed off the incident as “games kids play.” That led even more people to join the street protests under the banner: “It’s not a game, it’s trauma.”
A distance of more than 3,000 miles separates the Czech capital of Prague from Banjul, capital of The Gambia—mainland Africa’s tiniest independent republic.
Yet cycling enthusiasts who’d like to bridge the gap, at least symbolically, can easily do that on June 3, which happens to be World Bicycle Day 2021.
Two relatively small bells and one enormous bell were unveiled May 5 at the Dutch Embassy, as part of ceremonies marking the ongoing renovation of the Netherlands Carillon, one of metropolitan Washington’s most important landmarks.
The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which took effect Jan. 1, involves more countries than any other trade bloc on Earth. Of the 55 member states of the African Union, 54—all but Eritrea—have signed on to the treaty, which aims to create a single market through the elimination of tariffs on 90% of all goods by 2022.
March 26, 2018, is a day Marko Đurić, Serbia’s new ambassador to the United States, will never forget. On that Monday, Đurić—at the time chief negotiator for Serbia’s Office for Kosovo and Metohija—was meeting with local Serbs in the town of North Mitrovica when he was violently detained for having crossed into Kosovar territory illegally.
With Saudi Arabia’s March 22 ceasefire offer collapsing within hours of being made, Yemen’s years-long conflict shows no signs of abating, as renewed U.N. peace efforts remain stymied and the specter of colossal humanitarian disaster looms large yet again.
