The five founding members of Ithaca Welcomes Refugees might be the human embodiment of the “COEXIST” bumper sticker. They are: two protestant pastors, a Muslim American, a Jewish social studies teacher, and an aid worker who married into a Hindu family. [...] With the current Syrian crisis in mind, the city’s Common Council unanimously voted in June to declare Ithaca a welcoming community for all refugees.

Nine students and two chaperones headed off July 12 for Miyoshi City, the official “sister city” of The Dalles. [...] The objective of the visits is “to build and sustain cross-cultural connections and mutual understanding with our sister cities and the larger global community,” read an excerpt from the mission statement of the Sister Cities website. 

Ethiopia’s untapped tourism potential is shifting the gear to new initiative to increase number of visitors with its brand new promotion logo “Land of Origin.” The government emphasizes on the need for a tourism sector which is both environmentally friendly and economically viable to generate sustainable revenue supporting the country mission to become middle income country in the coming decade.

As part of 2016's Year of China-Latin America Cultural Exchange, an exhibit showcasing contemporary Chinese art has opened in Panama City. [...] featuring a selection of 50 works of art by some 20 Chinese artists working in a wide range of media, from sculpture to video installations, and themes, from traditional landscape paintings to abstraction.

The international cultural exhibition fair Silk Road will open in Dunhuang (China's Gansu Province) on 20 September. This forum will bring together representatives of more the 50 countries, Communist Party Secretary of Gansu Province Wang Sanyun told reporters partaking in the Eurasian media seminar on 28 July, BelTA informs.

The United Nations’ adoption in 2014 of an International Yoga Day was remarkable for many reasons. [...] No International Day resolution has been co-sponsored by so many countries or has been passed in such a short timeframe. It was definitely a remarkable achievement for Indian diplomacy. It has also been hailed as a demonstration of India’s soft power.

The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) yesterday said that its annual summer camp is to promote exchanges between Taiwanese students and their counterparts from Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam. The program is to bring together 50 university students to discuss regional development and cooperation, the AIT said.

Young overseas Chinese can now go on an (almost) free two-week trip to China. Since 1999, the Office of Overseas Chinese Affairs (OOCA), an office of China’s powerful State Council, has organized annual trips, called “root seeking camps,” to help Chinese children growing up abroad stay in touch with their national heritage. Many of these camps used to charge tuition and fees.