The U-20 is Colombia’s biggest-ever international sports event. This time around, the country is embracing the challenge. The games will be played in Bogota, Medellin, Cartagena and five other cities and watched on TV by 500 million people around the world. Spectators will learn about the country’s improved security, booming economy and natural beauty.

This past year, social media replaced traditional news outlets as an unrivaled source of information.The problem is, an unfiltered hashtag feed provides quality journalism in a haystack of foreign languages. So technically savvy outlets found that by editorially curating quality social media channels, they could cut out the noise associated with a raw Twitter feed and still relay key information at Internet speed.

The Guardian's overage became a crucial source of information for Egyptians themselves once the internet was switched back on. With local media sites often paralysed by the unrest, Guardian articles and the rolling live blog – much of which was translated into Arabic – provided vital detail about the latest political developments...in Tahrir and elsewhere.

The Israeli Chamber Orchestra will break with tradition to play a work by Hitler's favourite composer, Richard Wagner, in Germany. It is rare for Israeli musicians to play the anti-Semitic composer's work, which was appropriated by the Nazis. Musical director Roberto Paternostro said that while Wagner's ideology was "terrible", the aim was "to divide the man from his art".

The United States has increased its funding for the binational Fulbright Program to $8.5 million per year, making it one of the largest Fulbright programs in the world. The U.S. government has committed $15 million for a new five year Fulbright Indonesia Research, Science, and Technology Program – or FIRST Program - to support American and Indonesian students and scholars.

First outlined by President Obama during his “New Beginnings” speech in 2009, the Global Entrepreneurship Program supports entrepreneurs in Muslim majority emerging economies by linking them with mentors and access to financing. Indonesia is the second country after Egypt to implement the pilot, which officials say supports stable democracy by creating jobs and growing local economies.

Since 2008, under the leadership of the Obama Administration and direction of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the United States has actively advocated for a more networked society. The U.S. Department of State has coined this initiative, 21st Century Statecraft.

In the face of tough global economic conditions, Johannesburg Convention & Events Bureau - a division of the JTC - remains focused on aggressively promoting the city as a leading global destination for business, sports and events tourism, as it is a key driver for economic growth and development.