Other sports have created global appeal before. The NFL, for one, has been playing regular-season games before sold-out crowds in London since 2007. [...] But Ranadive envisions basketball as the world sport of the 21st century, calling his globalization plan “NBA 3.0."

Two Chinese giant pandas have arrived in South Korea from their previous home in Sichuan Province, China. [...] China has been sending their pandas abroad as a sign of goodwill since the 1950s as part of what’s known as ‘panda diplomacy’. 

The United States turned to cultural diplomacy on Tuesday to push gay rights at the United Nations by taking 15 U.N. ambassadors, including those from Russia, Gabon and Namibia, to see an award-winning lesbian musical on Broadway.

Rebeca Lane is spitting verses in the name of feminism. The Guatemalan hip-hop artist […] is using her music to spotlight sexism and the abuse that many women face in her country. She touches on topics that range from the more insidious, like catcalling, to the more severe, including the alarmingly high murder rates.

Leading Chinese performing artists who included opera singers, acrobats, dancers and instrumentalists on Sunday entertained a mammoth crowd in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. [...] In his opening remarks, Liu said the music concert was part of a series of activities that have been lined up to promote Sino-Kenya cultural cooperation.

The 21st Francophonie Festival is going to launch in more than 200 cities across China in March. A variety of cultural events featuring French music, films, literature, sports, gastronomy and art will show the French language and culture.

For the second year in a row, #OscarsSoWhite has dragged America’s diversity problem back into the global spotlight. [...] Yet the recent report by USC’s Annenberg School found that not much has changed—only seven percent of films in the past year had casts that accurately reflected the nation’s actual demographics.