A blood bank in the Pacific Northwest has developed a kit for transfusions in remote places that it says "takes the banking out of blood banking." [..] Linda Barnes, chief operating officer at Bloodworks Northwest in Seattle, says the military was the model for what is, essentially, a walking blood bank. Barnes has done a lot of international consulting about strengthening blood systems in places such as Ivory Coast, Kenya, Ukraine and the Caribbean islands.

With the help of Global Ties U.S. and the San Antonio Council for International Visitors, the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs is funding the Police Professionalization Exchange Program for Mexico — a program that will train 3,800 police officials from Mexico in U.S. law enforcement policies and police tactics. [...] Police officials from Mexico are undergoing training to learn the best U.S. law enforcement practices to take back home.

Twenty-five U.S. companies and representatives of Kazakh state bodies, national companies and local business representatives gathered in Astana June 14 for the U.S. – Kazakhstan business forum. The event aimed to attract U.S. companies to priority sectors, including car assembly industry, health, construction, agriculture and light industry. About 500 companies in various sectors of the economy with the U.S. participation operate in Kazakhstan, Minister for Investments and Development of Kazakhstan Zhenis Kassymbek told the gathering.

I believe that a final, negotiated FY 2018 budget request for the State Department should include continued funding – if not a gradual increase – of what has been a relatively small amount of money allocated every year to the soft power of “cultural diplomacy.” Roughly defined as the use of an exchange of ideas, traditions, and values to strengthen relations and encourage engagement, cultural diplomacy is perhaps most easily seen in the use of music, arts, and sports to build cross-cultural understanding.

Today marks one month since the assassination of journalist Javier Valdéz Cárdenas, which shook the international press community and further exemplified the pervasive violation of press freedom in Mexico. Winner of the Committee to Protect Journalists’ 2011 International Press Freedom Award, Valdéz was murdered on May 15 in broad daylight near the Ríodoce office, the local weekly publication he founded in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.

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.

When Colombia’s newest television series airs this week, it will have many of the hallmarks of a classic telenovela. A handsome stock broker from the big city meets a mysterious and beautiful country girl. When she disappears, he’s left as the prime suspect in a shocking crime. But the biggest twist might be who’s helping finance the project: Uncle Sam. The U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, put $1 million into the RCN Television series called “No Olvidarás Mi Nombre,” or “Don’t Forget My Name,” which begins airing Tuesday in Colombia.