More than 4,000 participants from 100 countries gathered June 15-16 in Astana for the 10th annual Astana Economic Forum. The forum focused primarily on renewable energy and green economy under the theme “New Energy – New Economy” as well as discussions of sustainable economic growth, world trade and infrastructure. [...] This year’s key speakers presented their views at the session called Globalization: a Future Full of Uncertainties.

Beginning this week, the U.S. Department of State, in partnership with Global Ties U.S., will sponsor Diplomacy Begins Here Regional Summits, bringing together leaders in business, government, and the nonprofit world to further citizen diplomacy and forge new connections in local communities. The summits will take place across the United States, engaging Americans from diverse backgrounds on the innovations and impacts that stem from international relationships.

Efforts to bring international students to U.S. campuses and send American students overseas has accelerated in the past five years, according to an American Council on Education (ACE) survey of U.S. colleges. International engagement was “high” or “very high,” ACE said of the more than 70 percent of 1,100 American colleges and universities it polled in 2016. Schools have stepped up efforts to “internationalize” campuses in the face of globalization, the report said, but “efforts are still focused first and foremost on the external[.]”

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, and European Parliament President Antonio Tajani are leading the 30th anniversary celebrations for the Erasmus program at the European Parliament in Strasbourg today. To mark the occasion, the Commission is also launching a new Erasmus+ mobile application. Designed for students, vocational learners and participants in youth exchanges, the app will make young people's Erasmus+ experience easier.

Chef Dicky Cheung is the former co-owner/chef of Golden Willow Chinese Restaurant in Concord. [...] The good news is that Chef Dicky hasn’t hung up his apron just yet. Since his retirement, he has been volunteering his kitchen mastery “wok-ing” to help various nonprofit organizations raise money for worth causes. [...] The Concord Ambassadors organization was established in 1974 when executives representing Concord and Kitakami, Japan, met in Concord to draw up a charter of lasting friendship between the two cities. 

Ethiopian Tesfahun Tsehaye was one of the 15 university students who have participated in the recently held 16th edition of Chinese Proficiency Competition, dubbed Chinese Bridge, in Addis Ababa, capital of the Ethiopia. Winning the contest held at country-level with second highest score, the electrical engineering student highlighted the strong China-Africa relations, particularly with the ever-growing Chinese investment on the African continent.