The American Democracy Project, a national initiative that has chapters on many college campuses, aims to prepare college graduates to be knowledgeable, engaged citizens in their communities, according to the official ADP website. The project is a partnership between The New York Times and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.

The delegates recognized that there would be many hurdles to traverse for the military and scientists to fully harness the fruits of Arctic diplomacy. In particular, the distrust of China as a non-Arctic nation taking interest in the region needed to be moderated with a recognition of other global powers having presence in areas very distant from their own regional vicinity.

A group of 120 high school girls from various African countries and the U.S. have been chosen to take part in a training programme aimed at promoting education and skills in science, technology, engineering, art and design and maths (STEAM).

The BRICS emerging economies will launch a development bank at a summit this week which President Vladimir Putin hopes will help reduce Western dominance of world financial institutions and show Moscow is not isolated.