Issues including whether the humanities have a place in 21st-century nations will be among those discussed at the British Council's Going Global conference next year, it has been announced. The conference, which will be held on 4-6 March in Dubai, will have the central topic of universities' role in creating knowledge economies.

The Trey McIntyre Project will bring its unique style of contemporary ballet to Kingsbury Hall this week. It’s easy to see that this isn’t a company that rides on its laurels: All three of the ballets on the program were choreographed in 2012, including "The Unkindness of Ravens," which premiered earlier this month at New York’s highly acclaimed Brooklyn Academy of Music.

In bizarre news of the day, the U.S. Department of State of has named Andrew W.K. the Cultural Ambassador to the Middle East. "This is a tremendous invitation," W.K. said in a statement on his website. "I'm very thankful to the Department of State for giving me the opportunity to visit a place I've never been before."

The U.S. Ambassador labored to get Congress to ratify a trade treaty that would grant “favored nation” status to Russia. Washington’s leading newspaper harshly criticized Russia for human rights violations. Russia’s secret police were reading all the Ambassador’s mail. The Czar was convinced that Washington was fomenting democracy rebellions inside his empire.

Indonesia was not on US President Barack Obama’s Southeast Asian itinerary as he made his first trip abroad since winning reelection. But like many visitors to Southeast Asia, he might have enjoyed a brief respite from worries back home when he was in our region.

The capital city is set to host Art Connection 2012, a cultural exchange between artistes of Odisha and Japan, from November 25. The eight-day festival will feature dance performances, workshops and exhibitions on traditional and contemporary art.

Eight Japanese lifeguards from Kanagawa Prefecture have begun a week-long exchange program that sees them training with Australian counterparts in Greenmount Beach, Coolangatta. Going on for the past 12 years, the program is a chance for the two countries to share their beach safety strategies.

Latin dancer, choreographer and teacher Becky Fleming has been encouraging the children at Garran Primary School to learn more about Cuba's musical traditions. "Their learning about the music and the rhythm and the timing and how to be little gentlemen and ladies," she said. "It is teaching them respect for each other.