Despite growing up in the birthplace of hip-hop, Bronx resident Ronalda Livingston traveled all the way to Germany to learn more about her borough's biggest export. "It was a mind-blowing experience," said Livingston, now 21, of her first-ever overseas experience, a visit to Berlin in 2010. "I have grown so much since the trip."

The exchanges between Santiago Zabala and Hamid Dabashi published in Al Jazeera brings about one of the crucial issues of the 21st century: the increasing process of re-westernisation (the revamping of Western ways of thinking, from Christianity to Liberalism and Marxism), de-westernisation and decoloniality in all sphere of life, politics, economy, religions, aesthetics, knowledge and subjectivity.

Pianist Herbie Hancock will celebrate the special connection between Turkey and jazz music forged decades ago when the Turkish ambassador opened his residence to white and black musicians at a time when segregation held sway in the U.S. capital.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), an emerging leader in the Republican Party who is considered one of the likely candidates for the 2016 US presidential race, is scheduled to meet on Wednesday in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

The year-long celebrations of Swami Vivekananda's 150th birth anniversary is set to be a key element in India's cultural diplomacy this year and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) will use Bengal as its most important resource base while organizing events across the world.

Mayor Annise Parker has named former Houston Rockets' star Yao Ming as an Honorary Goodwill Ambassador for the city of Houston. In a Feb. 15 ceremony at City Hall, Yao was given a key to the city. Yao, who was in town to attend the NBA All-Star Game, will promote the city on the international stage.

Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke for nearly 30 minutes Sunday about the civil war in Syria and North Korea's recent nuclear test, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. The two agreed to look for a date in the next several weeks for their first meeting since Kerry took over as the top U.S. diplomat, Nuland added.

The itinerary and agenda for President Obama's trip to Israel next month is still being hammered out by teams on both sides. But the visit already has an official name, and by the end of the week, it will have a logo too. Past presidential or dignitary visits to Israel have been named, but mostly by the police, who code-named their operation to secure President George W. Bush's visit "Clear Skies" and Pope Benedict XVI's tour as "White Robe."