An exhibition of Peranakan art and artifacts such as porcelain and beadwork has gone on display at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul, as part of cross-cultural exchange between Singapore and Korea. 'The Peranakan World: Cross-Cultural Art from Singapore and the Straits' was developed by the Asian Civilisations Museum here, and will be on show at the Korean national museum till May 19.

As US President Barack Obama's visit to Israel and the West Bank draws near, political instability in the region is believed to be a major talk during his three-day stay, besides his wish to introduce his new team and to garner more popularity among the Israelis after re-election. Obama's trip is "a combination of diplomacy and public diplomacy," Prof. Eytan Gilboa of the Bar-Ilan University said of the landmark visit, Obama's first to Israel as president.

On Thursday [Mar 21], the U.S. Consulate will once again welcome Harvard’s finest a cappella groups to perform a free charity concert in aid of the Bermuda-registered charity, the Family Centre. The Harvard Krokodiloes and the Radcliffe Pitches are in Bermuda for their annual spring break and will sing popular, toe-tapping music from the 1920s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s, including jazz, swing, ballads, and rock from America’s Golden Age.

In his first 48 hours in the Bronx, Omar al-Mashhadani caught a few echoes of the life that he and his family had left behind in Baghdad. Thousands of people were swarming along 161st Street, toward the hulking stadium on the other side of the El on River Avenue.

A group of foreign college students who came to the U.S. on cultural work exchange visas in December have been protesting their working conditions at a McDonald's in Harrisburg, Pa. In the process, they've wading into a debate about guest workers in the U.S. The students include Jorge Rios, who says three months ago he eagerly did the legwork necessary to get a J-1 visa, used for student work exchange.

In mid-July will be the 34th anniversary of Operation USA's inaugural relief airlift to 44,000 Vietnamese refugees huddled on a water-less, tree-less offshore Island in Malaysia. No different than most contemporary start-ups, the germ of an idea for a relief effort to aid some refugees has now grown into a much-lauded international disaster relief and development organization which has worked in 100 countries.

For more than a half-century, relationships with “sister cities” abroad have fostered diplomacy, educational opportunities and cultural growth. Now, however, cities in Washington state — and the South Sound in particular — are using them for economic expansion as well.