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. 

Part of the exchange program Center for Cultural Interchange (CCI) Greenheart, some 25 international students from France and Spain spend the month of July with host families in the City of Oneida. Coordinated through the Oneida City School District, 2016 marks the sixth year OHS has opened its doors to international students seeking to improve their English skills and learn more about American culture.

What has been described as the inter-cultural dialogue between nations was experienced in Lagos, few days ago when a world heritage site in China was re-enacted via art exhibition in Lagos. Captured by a Nigerian artist, Uzoma Samuel Anyanwu, the Chinese cultural sites of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum and the Terracotta Army Museum exhibition of photography, collage painting and sculpture further confirmed the ongoing relationship between Nigeria and the East's leading power-house.

In an exchange programme launched by the British Council, students from the UK would soon get an opportunity to learn and understand the Indian culture through various short-term courses. According to a report in TOI, out of a group of 500 students, 50 will be joining the University of Kerala for a two-week-long course in Indian Studies.