On October 6, 2013, 16 women from Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Egypt, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Poland, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkmenistan and Uganda gathered to share stories about their time in the United States. These women may have come from all corners of the globe and speak different languages, but one trait unifies them: They all want to create more opportunities for women and girls through sports.

Gil J. Stein, the Director of the Oriental Institute and Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology in the department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago, who is in Iran now has called on Abdolmajid Arfayee, the translator of the Cyrus Cylinder, to translate the Achaemenid tablets which have been confiscated by a court in the US.

When chipotle and kimchi abound in the suburbs and Univision co-hosts a presidential debate, it is easy to forget how sudden and extraordinary our ethnic makeover has been. Americans middle-aged or older were born into a country where immigrants seemed to have vanished. As recently as 1970, the immigrant share of the population was at its lowest level on record, and the foreign-born were mostly old and white.

Since Somalia's 1991 civil war and the political instability it wrought, capital city Mogadishu has struggled to rebuild. But recently, signs of better times have begun to emerge. With Al-Shabab militants no longer in control, a new, technocratic government has helped plant signs of stability while attracting a substantial new wave of investment from longtime ally Turkey and other members of the Somali diaspora.

Stands selling jewelry, embroidery and beer imported from Ethiopia lined the entrance to Tel Aviv’s Habima Theater on Friday, as people waited in line for about half an hour to buy the flat, lemony Ethiopian bread injera at the entrance to the Sigdiada, a festival celebrating the culture and folklore of Israel’s Ethiopian Jewish community.

Maria Miller, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, visits the Getty Villa in Los Angeles to highlight what the ancient Cyrus Cylinder holds for cultural diplomacy. On loan from the British Museum, the Persian Cylinder represents a step toward government acknowledgement of basic human rights-- namely, a written acknowledgment of the freedom to practice religion without persecution from the state.

A few months ago, the Pew Research Center observed that Americans’ “isolationist sentiment” hit an all time high. According to Pew, Americans want to pay attention to problems at home, rather than focusing on problems overseas.