Pope Francis arrived in Colombia on Wednesday with a message of unity for a nation deeply divided by a peace deal that ended a five-decade war with Marxist FARC rebels but left many victims of the bloodshed wary of the fraught healing process. Francis, making his 20th foreign trip since becoming pontiff in 2013 and his fifth to his native Latin America, started his visit in Colombian capital Bogota. He will travel later in the week to the cities of Villavicencio, Medellin and Cartagena.

Sports fans and athletes from Colombia took to social media to criticise the government's plans to slash next year's national sports budget by 60 percent. [...] Thousands of Colombians have started an online campaign called #NoRecuertenMisSuenos (Don't Slash My Dreams), extolling their country's athletes and calling on the government to reverse its decision.

The Festival of the Americas brings together the University of Iowa and Colombian students to learn from each other and grow as pianists. [...] The festival has new and returning students from two different cultures in which students learn from each other, not only about music but also about culture, like when one another normally eat, work, and practice.

Through a new smallholder farmer loan initiative with the Inter-American Developmental Bank (IDB) directed toward a women-led coffee cooperative, and an expanded partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) aimed at helping young coffee farmers in post-conflict zones build greater resiliency and expertise, Starbucks will help create opportunities in some of Colombia’s most vulnerable coffee growing communities.

When Colombia’s newest television series airs this week, it will have many of the hallmarks of a classic telenovela. A handsome stock broker from the big city meets a mysterious and beautiful country girl. When she disappears, he’s left as the prime suspect in a shocking crime. But the biggest twist might be who’s helping finance the project: Uncle Sam. The U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, put $1 million into the RCN Television series called “No Olvidarás Mi Nombre,” or “Don’t Forget My Name,” which begins airing Tuesday in Colombia.