The United States on Wednesday marked the completion of the first year of restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba. [...] Since the re-establishment of diplomatic relations, the department said the United States and Cuba have expanded cooperation in areas such as the environment, transportation, agriculture, health and law enforcement.

Japan’s consul general in New York provided a warm send-off Friday for the area’s new recruits to the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme as the government project for globalization enters its 30th year. “The JET Programme is a major asset to both Japan and the United States,” Ambassador Reiichiro Takahashi said.

Taiwan's youth ambassadors will visit the nation's diplomatic allies and friendly countries for a stay of up to three weeks starting next month to showcase Taiwan's soft power internationally, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official announced on Thursday. [...] "The MOFA-initiated annual youth ambassador program aims at expanding their responsibility and also promoting the relationships between Taiwan and other countries," Shen said.

A special cultural exchange programme that connected 17 state schools in Rio de Janeiro with schools in other countries around the world concluded with a special ceremony on Tuesday at the award-winning Art Museum of Rio. Launched in February this year by the Rio 2016 organising committee, the Conexão Transforma project has built lasting bridges between Brazil and schools in 17 countries.

Virginians may not know it, but for the month of July, the state is hosting a select group of future world leaders. The Mandela fellowship, started by President Obama, is a prestigious program that brings some of Africa’s best and brightest young leaders to the U.S. This year, Virginia Commonwealth University is one of just four colleges hosting 50 Mandela fellows for six weeks.

Two towns separated by two continents have spent a weekend celebrating their rock-solid archaeological bond. Thetford and Nagawa, Japan have common ground in their historic use of flint and obsidian. Now representatives from Norfolk and Japan have commemorated the towns’ bond with the world’s first twinning of archaeological sites.

The group will cement their bond today at a ceremony in Council Bluffs formalizing a friendship between Afghanistan’s third-largest city, Herat, and the Bluffs. The two cities will become “sister cities” as part of a decades-old citizen diplomacy program called Sister Cities International. The program pairs up cities from different countries to promote mutual understanding. 

A yearlong digital training course for Irish high school teachers started in 2014. A fund to help European news outlets adapt to the web popped up in 2015. And in March, a virtual reality exhibition began at a Belgian museum to showcase a Renaissance painter. All these projects are aimed at supporting European culture and education, helping the region embrace the fast-changing online world. And all are financed by Google