Funded by a $40 million investment from Microsoft Corp., the University of Washington and China’s elite Tsinghua University will launch a new program in Seattle in the fall of 2016 to focus on technology and design innovation—a cooperative move between nations for whom technology has been a sore point in recent years. The “Global Innovation Exchange” will represent the first physical presence by a Chinese research university on U.S.

Nearly a decade before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that U.S. laws which criminalize “homosexual conduct” are unconstitutional in the 2003 case Lawrence v. Texas, a gay Cuban man won protection in the United States from the persecution he faced in his native land because of his sexual orientation. It was the first time that persecution based on sexual orientation was established as valid grounds for asylum in the United States.

Saturday, June 6, proved a musical, tasteful, and culturally astounding evening at the Washington Residence of the German Ambassador to the United States, where the Washington National Opera welcomed guests to its annual Opera Ball. Supporters of the Opera, including three Supreme Court justices, U.S. senators, and an array of ambassadors, filled the residence. The ball featured an immaculately decorated arena, delicious food, and jovial entertainment.

Ensconced in the royal kitchens in the Genoese palace, Garcia has the job of devising daily menus and cooking for the royal couple. In order to experience the cuisine of chef Christian Garcia you have to be royalty, a high profile palace guest, a dignitary, or just plain fortunate to receive an invitation to the imposing Prince's Palace in Monte Carlo, Monaco.The rare exceptions are privileged invitees to the Prince's Palace for private events such as Prince Albert's wedding festivities in 2011, state banquets, fundraisers for Prince Albert’s many charity projects, or even chef Paul Bocuse'

VOI’s Josh Hasten deals with two timely topics: Senator Bernie Sanders and a conference on Israeli public diplomacy. First, he is joined in-studio by HonestReporting’s Yarden Frankl, who discusses a recent NPR interview, in which Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was asked if he held joint US-Israel citizenship. Sanders didn’t take the bait, recognizing that the reporter was insinuating he had dual loyalties.

We have a problem—not a problem from hell, but one that claims to come from heaven. That problem is sometimes called radical, or fundamentalist, Islam, and the self-styled Islamic State is just its latest iteration. But no one really understands it. In the summer of 2014, Major General Michael Nagata, the commander of U.S. special operations forces in the Middle East, admitted as much when talking about the Islamic State, or ISIS. “We do not understand the movement,” he said. “And until we do, we are not going to defeat it.” 

American wrestler Jacob Curby died before he could fulfill his dream of competing in the Olympics. But a competition established in his name will mark another milestone in the accelerating sports diplomacy between Iran and the United States.