Fatima and Khan are exchange students at Maryville College. They came to East Tennessee through the U.S. Department of State's Global Undergraduate Exchange Program in Euroasia & Central Asia, a highly competitive scholarship program designed to provide cross-cultural education and understanding.

Just a decade or so ago, most public‑school-educated parents felt obliged to give their children the same start in life they themselves were given (...). These days the price is just too high, says Andrew Halls, head of King’s College School in Wimbledon, and he’s been honest enough to name the cause: the hordes of prospective parents from other countries, oligarchs and oil men, all jostling for places for their progeny. They push the price of an elite ‘British’ education up beyond the reach of any ordinary Brit.

The revered voice of Ugandan priest John Ssenyondo has gone quiet in his old parish in the Mexican town of Nejapa. His body was found in a mass grave last October, six months after he was abducted in broad daylight, while preaching against drug gangs. But his parishioners in Guerrero state continue to remember a man who stood for reconciliation.

Indonesia announced last week that it will scrap visa on arrival fees for Australians in an attempt to boost the number of visitors to the country. While this may lead to a small increase in Australian tourists visiting Bali, what the government really needs to do to increase people-to-people exchange to make it easier for young people to work and study in Indonesia ultimately facilitating deeper economic, political and cultural relations.

Like many students in Japan, Kim Yang Sun cycles to school each morning. Unlike most, she then changes into a traditional Korean outfit and studies under portraits of former North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.

The Canadian Friends of the University of Hargeisa School Social Work Committee was formed in 2008 to explore the idea of a Social Work program at the University of Hargeisa, located in the politically stable city of Hargeisa in Somaliland. 

Welcoming international students used to be one of the key ways that Britain developed long-term, soft power relationships to aid trade and wield political influence. (...) A 2011 report by the Home Affairs Select Committee was highly critical of the government’s approach to welcoming international students and expressed concerns that more regulation of visas could have serious unintended consequences.