The first direct commercial flight between the US and Cuba landed today in the city of Santa Clara, in the center of the island, after more than half a century of restrictions.  It marked a further step in the normalization process between the two countries, reported dpa news.

Together O’Neal and Canales became the first official U.S. Department of State Basketball Sports Envoys to Cuba, taking U.S. diplomacy to new heights by forging positive ties with the people of Cuba through the unifying power of sports.  

This summer one of the UK’s most prestigious universities provided refugees in the UK the opportunity to recharge their academic batteries by attending summer courses on a free bursary. For the third year running, King’s College London has been working in partnership with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to offer summer school places to people who have fled persecution and conflict in their home countries. 

In July 2014, Xi Jinping, the President of China, toured Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, and Cuba, all of which had leftist governments at the time. [...] Xi declared that Chinese-Argentine relations would reach “unprecedented new horizons.” [...] As of two years ago, it seemed that China and many countries in Latin America were moving unequivocally toward a future of closer cooperation and economic affinity.

This week Harlem will be infused with Cuban culture in the form of concerts, Cuban food tastings and fashion shows. The inaugural Harlem/Havana Cultural Exchange kicked off Sunday with a two-hour performance at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, but the exchange will hit up various neighborhood institutions throughout the next week.

An exchange between the infinitely rich cultures of Cuba and Harlem is surely a marvelous idea. Afro-Cuban jazz was born in Harlem, the uptown neighborhood has been home to generations of immigrants from the Caribbean country and it shares a history with the island nation.

The famed American Museum of Natural History opens an exhibition this fall that its scientists say breaks new ground on multiple fronts. [...] In keeping with the newly relaxed relations between the United States and Cuba, scientists from both countries have broken through more than a half-century of restrictions in place since the Cold War.