As Imam Omar Shaheed looked out at the 150 people who packed the Columbia Museum of Art’s auditorium Sunday night, he was struck by one thing. “We’re all different religions, but we have a humanity,” he said. “That’s really standing out.” Shaheed, imam at Masjid as-Salaam in Columbia, was part of the panel at “Dinner and Dialogue: Understanding Islam.” The discussion that was part of the event answered questions about the tenets of Islam, the most common misconceptions about the religion and the similarities between Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

With a partnership between the U.S. and U.K. that dates back to the 1980s, Red Dagger 17, now in its fourth consecutive year, intends to further share and strengthen knowledge and skills in military engineering between the Marine Corps and its allies. “We have been treated as equals and with great respect,” said Capt. Marcelo A. Garcia, the company commander of 6th ESB, 4th MLG, MARFORRES. “The 131 Commando Squadron often asks for feedback and have insisted that this exercise is meant to be a sharing of best practices, both in tactics and planning.”

Does life imitate art, or does it just seem that the longer the Trump adventure proceeds the more it resembles “House of Cards?” I’m not suggesting that our real-life drama borrows from the Netflix series, now seen round the world, but there is a sense in which the real and make-believe of American politics are converging as never before. Consider the debate over “real” news versus “fake news.” Consider that fact and non-reality are intertwined as never before in social media, IT games, and movies.

Agenda and MHP Communications has launched #WeAreNato, the organization's first major communications campaign in nearly a decade.[...] "Helping NATO reach audiences in more than 28 member countries and to explain its mission of guaranteeing peace and security for its citizens in the kind of work we love to do." [...] According to Agenda, the framework contract encompasses a wide variety of communications, public affairs and creative media relations. 

Brown’s upcoming visit to Beijing will focus on keeping up the COP21 Paris accords momentum Trump wants to radically reverse. California’s aggressive stance on pollution controls and environmental standards will be highlighted. The governor wants to make a lasting difference in the world. [...] California’s interest and right to combat climate change and seek China’s support is understandable and has precedent. But what’s in it for China?

Core practices of open government are eroding in the Trump Administration, with new limitations on the ability of the press to effectively question officials on U.S. foreign policy. The problem is starkly illustrated by comparing the press briefing schedules of the State Department for May 2016 and May 2017. In May 2016, the State Department held a press briefing nearly every weekday of the month, with only two exceptions. One of them was Memorial Day. In May 2017, by contrast, there was not a single State Department press briefing. The last briefing was on April 27.