In Iran, the cycle of presidential elections has coincided with the culmination of the nation’s World Cup qualifying campaigns; for a country whose relationship with the international community has been so complex and problematic, the presence of Team Melli (as they are known) at the tournament has taken on immense significance.

Iran sent 2,000 advance troops to Iraq to help fight an extreme jihadist insurgency effectively seizing control of major cities in the country, a senior Iraqi official told The Guardian on Saturday.

Brazil’s jogo bonito is globally recognized as an ideal combination of sports, culture, and national personality. Given this backdrop, Cobi Jones and Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak, visited Manaus, Brasília, Fortaleza, Natal, and Recife as U.S. Department of State Sports Envoys to share more about their experiences off-the-pitch than on it.  The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs together with Mission Brazil partnered to implement the “Sports for All” strategy that uses sports to engender greater social inclusion, promote education, and teach job skills. 

Ethiopia will send a public diplomacy delegation to Egypt soon to boost the people-to-people relation, said Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  According to the minister Dr Tedros Adhanom the delegation is expected to enhance the overall diplomatic relations with Egypt.

Liz Williams, executive director of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, and Ryan Hughes, who will be the chef at the museum's restaurant Purloo, have traveled to Moscow to build good will through good eats, reports the Advocate. Williams and Hughes are part of a delegation funded by the U.S. State Department that also includes musicians Donald Harrison Jr., Keith Frank and the KIPP McDonogh 15 Middle School marching band.

The US is considering downgrading Thailand to a human trafficking blacklist, following revelations in the Guardian that slaves are being used in the production of prawns sold in leading American, British and European supermarkets. Washington will directly address allegations of human trafficking in Thailand's trade in prawns – known in the US as shrimp – in an imminent report that could result in economic sanctions against Bangkok. 

Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, has said that, Turkey and Iran are two important countries in the Islamic world and determined to stand against violence and extremism in the Middle East.  In a joint press conference with Rouhani, Abdullah Gul, the Turkish president, said that they discussed political, economic and cultural relations.

As authoritarian states such as Russia and China ramp up well-funded and sophisticated global propaganda operations, U.S. officials and members of Congress fret that the U.S. government’s information operations are lagging behind. There is some reason for concern. The five international broadcasters funded by the federal government have long suffered from poor organization, bad management and confused missions.