While in Washington D.C., the Turkish athletes played wheelchair basketball with American student athletes at local schools and organizations, including George Mason University and MedStar National Rehabilitation Network (MedStar NRH). The athletes traveled to the University of Illinois-Urbana for intensive wheelchair basketball clinics, and team building and conflict resolution activities. Throughout the program, they learned about disability sports culture in the United States.

Like listening to rock music in the 1960s, interest in such a uniquely American import marked the young skaters as socially suspicious, and sometimes for rough treatment by police and arrest, though their experiences were perhaps not all that different from confrontations between U.S. skaters and civic authorities concerned about the destruction of public property.

These refugees don't know dunks, nor do they know why a 25-year-old NBA star, coming off his breakout season, would fly more than 8,000 miles and 24 hours, risk malaria, typhoid and yellow fever, just to hang bed nets in their mud huts for the anti-malaria program Nothing But Nets. On his vacation. "Man, for a huge American sports star," said Nothing But Nets director Chris Helfrich, "he sure doesn't act like it."

Barcelona’s “Peace Tour” of Israel and the Palestinian territories reached its climax on Sunday evening with Lionel Messi and his teammates putting on a display of skills and training techniques in front of 12,000 children. As Messi juggled the ball, thousands of Israeli youngsters in the crowd at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv cheered his name. Dozens of young Israelis, including Israeli Jews and Arabs from the Peres Center for Peace, took part in the training session alongside Barcelona’s stars, including Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta and new signing Neymar.

Pouring vodka down the drain is one thing. But boycotting the Sochi Olympics because of anti-gay legislation passed by Russian lawmakers? That just hurts the wrong people, says one gay Olympic athlete.

UNICEF Ambassador and National Basketball Association (NBA) star Pau Gasol, returned today to Barcelona, Spain following a visit with Syrian refugees in Iraq. More than 1.7 million people - of which around 50 percent are children- have fled the armed conflict in Syria into neighboring countries, including more than 160,000 in Iraq.

Russia is prepared to open its arms to athletes from around the world to compete in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics – as long as they leave their rainbow flags at home. If there were any doubt about how the country’s new “gay propaganda” law would affect athletes and others attending in February, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko made clear the government’s true position today. Visitors will be accountable under the restrictions banning any positive information and communication to children about “nontraditional sexual relationships.”

When Barcelona meet Brazilian side Santos in a friendly on Friday at the Camp Nou, there will be a quick dash to the airport afterwards. They’ve got places to be. People to see. Peace to spread. On Saturday afternoon Barca will be in the Middle East as part of their Peace Tour initiative, as Lionel Mesi, Neymar and a whole host of stars will visit Palestine and Israel over the weekend.