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

The “soft power” of shows such as Downton Abbey and Sherlock can help the UK bounce back globally from the shock of Brexit and help Britain remain a cultural international powerhouse, according to a former ambassador and foreign policy adviser to David Cameron. [...] he is “pretty confident” that “there will be a group set up specifically” to promote Britain and its creative industries around the world.

The Philippine Consulate General in Toronto capped its month-long commemoration of the 118th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence this year with a series of events focused on food in the context of Philippine culture. These events were aimed at boosting the growing interest in Toronto, known for its gastronomic diversity, on the tastes and flavors of Philippine cuisine.  

Paúl is one of 10 DACA beneficiaries who spent this month visiting Mexico as part of a cultural exchange program co-sponsored by the Dallas-based Latino Center for Leadership Development and the Mexican government. It’s an ongoing program that seeks to reconnect young DREAMers with their native country, in a way similar to how Jewish advocacy groups sponsor youth trips to Israel.

The British Council has launched an exchange programme for students from the UK to study in India. A group of 500 students will arrive in the country and 50 among them will be joining the University of Kerala for a two-week-long course in Indian Studies. The syllabus will be prepared by the faculty attached with the University of Kerala.

More than 130,000 American citizens have traveled to Cuba in the last six months under federal exemption rules designed to increase "purposeful travel" and diplomatic relations between the Caribbean nation and the United States. [...] Representatives from U.S. and Cuban government, higher education and research agencies met at the National Press Club to discuss new and existing agreements with institutions like the University of Havana. 

International summits are typically stiff, orchestrated affairs where even loosening a tie can seem like a radical breach of protocol. [...] Over pizza, cookies and games that involved M&Ms and stories about their favorite childhood toys, a group of 15 student leaders from Finland and 16 student government leaders at Gaithersburg High School met Tuesday to share experiences and explore differences for teenagers in the two countries.