This year Georgia and Cyprus are celebrating 25 years of diplomatic relations, and I think we have achieved substantial progress in forming excellent political, economic and cultural cooperation in this time. [...] I’m extremely proud of taking part in this endeavor. Last year we initiated the Georgian Culture Festival which was held in Nicosia and Limassol. This year we have added the beautiful city of Paphos as well.

On Tuesday (August 15), Lionsgate announced that it will be opening its first branded outdoor theme park at Jeju Shinhwa World, South Korea. [...] In a statement, Lionsgate Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer said: "We're pleased to partner with our friends at Landing International, one of Asia's premier developers, on our first branded outdoor theme park and one of our largest and most exciting location-based entertainment destinations.

When Shadi Shiha arrived at the Israeli-Jordanian border and saw the armed Israeli soldiers and the Israeli flag, he almost turned around and went home. [...] That was almost a year ago. Shiha, who is also a serious break-dancer, spent two semesters at the Arava Institute at Kibbutz Ketura in southern Israel and he says it changed his world view.

The semi-governmental forum will run from Aug. 16-17, led by South Korea's public diplomacy envoy Park Enna and former Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. The countries' leaders agreed to institute the conference during a summit in 2013 as part of efforts to promote mutual understanding between the neighbors' populations.

Indonesia and New Zealand agreed on Wednesday to improve coordination in combating terrorism through information exchange and preventive measures. [...] BNPT chief Comr. Gen. Suhardi Alius and New Zealand's assistant commissioner for international and national security, Michael Pannet, also discussed deradicalization programs, with both countries agreeing to exercise a soft-power approach as a means of prevention, particularly toward families and communities with a history of radicalism to alter their orientation and offer counternarratives.

St Mary’s University, Twickenham, has entered into a formal partnership with EMD École de Management in Marseille. [...] As part of the new agreement, the two institutions are set to collaborate on the delivery of a new Master of Science (MSc) programme in International Business Management. This part-franchise programme will be awarded by St Mary’s and delivered and assessed collaboratively by St Mary’s and EMD, Marseille.

Cultural diplomacy is a tricky business and the same was certainly true in 1977 when the Arab British Centre (ABC) was set up. The aim of the London-based organization was to improve understanding of the Arab world in the UK through political lobbying and cultural programmes.

“In the area of security and defense, France and the UAE are fighting a common battle against terrorism and extremism, both on the ground and in the minds,” said Ludovic Pouille, the new French Ambassador to the UAE. [...] About the joint initiatives of France and the UAE, he said: “I am thinking in particular of the joint Franco-UAE initiative that led to the organization last December in Abu Dhabi of the international Conference on Safeguarding Endangered Cultural Heritage.," the envoy said.