With only two candidates, and a very likely winner, Egypt’s upcoming presidential election may not be the hottest of electoral races around.  But social media has found a way to spice things up by bringing a Hollywood star into the limelight.  Kevin Spacey has become the pick of many Twitter and Facebook users to become Egypt’s next president in a trending spoof campaign.

Witnesses to the fatal shootings last month of two Yemenis by American government officials said they saw a Western-looking man pull a gun from his belt and shoot both Yemenis dead during what appeared to be a kidnapping attempt at a barber shop.  Yemen has seen increasing numbers of attacks and kidnapping attempts on Westerners in the country, which isbattling a strengthening, Yemen-based branch of al Qaeda.

 Michelle Obama added her voice to worldwide calls for the safe return of over 200 kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls. The First Lady tweeted: 'Our prayers are with the missing Nigerian girls and their families. It's time to #BringBackOurGirls." The tweet was signed "-mo," indicating that she sent it herself.

Right now, all over the world, former Fulbright scholars like me (Norway, 2012) are raising the alarm, trying to persuade Congress to stand by one of its best creations, passed by unanimous bipartisan consent of the Senate and signed into law by President Truman in 1946.  Yet the Fulbright budget, which falls under the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), seems to be on the chopping block.

Beverly Hills city council has condemned the government of Brunei for introducing new laws that impose harsh penalties, including death by stoning for homosexuality and adultery, and called on it to either change its laws or sell two of its most famous hotels. The council unanimously passed on Tuesday a resolution criticising Brunei, which has drawn fire for a controversial penal code announced last month. Brunei owns the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Hotel Bel-Air, two properties in its Dorchester Collection.

I attended the 3rd Los Angeles Turkish Film Festival (LATFF) this past March at the Hollywood’s legendary Egyptian Theatre. When I first heard about the festival last summer from a friend, I honestly thought it would be almost impossible to hold a successful Turkish event in Los Angeles. First, I was so much absorbed in my work on Turkey’s popular culture exports and their role as public diplomacy tools.

We sometimes feel like L.A. gets no respect. This megalopolis of billionaire media moguls, extraordinary global food and influential SoCal culture is still often treated by New York media as a backwater of undiscovered delights. But at least the U.K.'s Guardian newspaper gets us. 

It's such a great, simple idea: Young Brazilians want to learn English. Elderly Americans living in retirement homes just want someone to talk to. Why not connect them?  FCB Brazil did just that with its "Speaking Exchange" project for CNA language schools.