Eight participants were involved in an intensive five-day performance arts programme in the YES! Hip Hop Academy held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah recently.

The two-day programme will be structured around plenary and dialogue sessions, during which the delegates will review policies, exchange views on best practices and identify future action in the fields of sport, education and culture.

Saying that "in today's interdependent global economy, what is good for India is good for America, and vice versa," a senior US official has advocated greater state and city engagement between the two countries.

Still, in the unquantifiable world of soft power, hosting an Olympic games is a big deal. Some 100 presidents, princes and other national leaders will flit by London at some point during the games, along with up to 40,000 journalists.

A copy of ‘The Complete Works of Shakespeare’ with a favourite passage from ‘Julius Caesar’ that Nelson Mandela inscribed with his signature will be displayed at the British Museum next month. The book is in fact a a copy of The Complete Works of Shakespeare that former Robben Island prisoner Sonny Venkatrathnam kept in his cell. Venkatrathnam disguised its cover with Diwali cards to prevent its seizure by prison authorities. He eventually passed it to 33 of his friends and fellow South African political prisoners, asking them to sign a passage that meant a lot to them.

A Bite of China, a hit documentary focused on Chinese cuisine, is reaching out across the ocean and attracting fans in Japan.

The Confucius Institutes are in themselves a good thing, as an international cultural presence for China and an exercise in soft power. Canadian universities and colleges, however, should refrain from partnerships with them, as they are bound to include a propagandistic element inconsistent with liberal education.

In fact, the China Cultural Center in Benin has designed a variety of classes for Beninese who are particularly enthusiastic about Chinese culture, including teaching them the Chinese language. Since the China Cultural Center opened in 1988 in Cotonou, it has been serving as a platform for the Beninese people and other Africans to deepen their understanding of China.