According to the United Nations, 6.6 million people have been displaced by Syria's civil war. They have found refuge across the globe, facing economic hardship, language barriers, social and cultural acclimation. Despite their challenges, Syrians find hope and solace in their traditional food culture as a source of normalcy, stability, and hope in bridging cultural divides. 

If six weeks in Paris during the European summer learning filmmaking from some of the greats of French cinema sounds like your kind of working holiday, you should probably keep your ear to the ground for the 2017 edition of the Femis Gulf Summer School. The programme – a partnership between The Embassy of France to the UAE and the Femis Film School in Paris – sends students from across the Gulf to Paris each summer for an intensive six-week course.

A popular restaurant, which sells Indian and Pakistani cuisine and the idea of peace between the not-so-friendly neighbours right at the international border between both countries, will showcase its food at an international food event in Paris next month.

A local women’s rights advocacy group has teamed up with an international foundation in a three-year programme to reach out to victims of domestic violence in the city. That includes new arrivals from the mainland, the lesbian community and young students who suffered from what was called “dating violence”, said Linda To Kit-lai, founding member and executive director of HER Fund, a Hong Kong-based non-governmental organisation.

The day before the “Brexit” vote, when British citizens will decide whether to remain in the European Union, they were in London initially to pass out croissants fresh off the Paris train to convince their still-European compatriots not to leave the E.U. [...] “Our aim was never to affect votes,” she said. “I think we’re all aware that this campaign has been incredibly divisive, that there’s been so much anger, and we just wanted to do something that had positivity and friendship at its heart.”

Leaders from 175 countries signed the Paris Agreement on climate change Friday as the landmark deal took a key step forward [...] dozens of world leaders for a signing ceremony that set a record for international diplomacy: Never have so many countries signed an agreement on the first available day. 

French culture will be celebrated in Korea throughout 2016, as the year marks the 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and France. [...] The 2015-2016 Korea-France Year kicked off in Paris last year with more than 150 cultural programs featuring traditional and contemporary Korean music, visual arts, films and literature hosted in France. 

London has been anointed the city with the highest “soft power,” beating out contenders like New York and Paris. Its ability to create high-skill jobs and attract an international diverse group of business talent has led Deloitte to name the British city as the “soft power capital of the world."