There are nearly 27M refugees in the world and a quarter of them are now in rural Australia. Known as less than progressive, Australia's policies have been historically condemned as outright abusive. But today, refugees claim they feel welcome in Australia. In 2020, a study found 22% of immigrants in Australia faced discrimination and 90% of those felt this discrimination negatively impacted their health. From Afghans to Filipinos, refugee communities today are feeling that their resettlement in the small towns of Australia are not only successful but also fruitful. This is because small towns need people, as everyone relocates to urban cities. And though many refugees still experience racism and Islamophobia, this can be a turning point for Australia as a host country. Will they live up to the title of ‘one of the most multicultural countries in the world’?

In the US, it's spooky season–but how about in Asia? Is there anything similar to Halloween? From India, the Philippines and Cambodia to China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia, you’ll come to learn that spirits, festivals, and rituals exist across Asian cultures alike. Burning incense, offerings from cars to houses, and honoring spirits are ways that people celebrate during the Hungry Ghost Festival. In other parts of Asia, millions visit cemeteries on All Saints Day like in Manila. Pitru Paksha is a time when ancestors visit the living in India, for Hindu believers. Does your culture believe in ghosts? What traditions do you observe to honor the dead and their spirits?

After canceling dinner with Nancy Pelosi, President Yoon has announced he wants South Korea to become the world’s top weapons supplier. After Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, Yoon protects his relationship with China by abruptly devolving their dinner plans to a phone call. These plans for South Korea to lead in the arms industry makes many fearful. Meanwhile, Project Dastaan unveils a new VR initiative for Indian and Pakistani people to revisit their ancestral home villages pre-partition. University of Oxford is allowing people, who were alive during the partition that separated two nations into Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority India, to visit their villages. Is this a moving idea or creepy and sensationalist?

When crowned in 1952, the Queen was 25 years old. She inherited responsibility for hundreds of millions of colonial subjects spread across 70 colonies, territories, and mandates. She never distanced herself from the mechanisms of the Empire and in fact, remained complicit in it and benefited from it throughout her lifetime. In fact, Queen Elizabeth’s 186 carat crown jewel is worth $591M. The Kohinoor diamond – originally from India – is seen as an imperial trophy, and has come to represent British wealth, genocide, and colonization. Since her death, calls for its return have been heightened, and with it--questions to why the monarchy exists. This winter, almost 1.3 millions Britons are expected to fall into poverty and inflation is at its highest in 40 years. What will the new King need to do to truly begin to make amends for Britain’s dark past?

In Atlanta, there’s only one place you can get late night sushi on a Thursday: Trap Sushi. Fusing Atlanta and Japanese pop culture, Trap Sushi builds community around food, music, anime, and cosplay. Founders speak on the due diligence it takes to appreciate (and not appropriate) culture. Artist Tolden Williams, aka Troop Brand, grew up in Mississippi loving Dragon Ball Z. Stephanie Lindo, an environmental scientist, first learned about manga and anime from her Vietnamese best friends. When Tolden discovered Stephanie art online, their shared love for Japanese culture fueled a project that has now become centerstage of Atlanta’s growing cosplay community. Many Black cosplayers are on the rise–and so is racism. This exists in anime communities too, where being Black means you cannot play a certain character. Trap Sushi has become the place where people of all backgrounds feel safe and accepted to tap into cosplay, anime, and community in general.

Rishi Sunak, the UK’s new Prime Minister, is Hindu, of Indian descent, and the first PM of color. He is also one of the richest men in Britain, and his family’s wealth is almost twice that of the monarchy. While many Hindus celebrate the win, others are questioning if Sunak is right to lead. When Sunak was the Chancellor of the Exchequer - equivalent of the finance minister - he raised taxes around the same time his family was accused of tax evasion. The former banker and husband of a tech heiress, is being called to question by critics, like Labour Party’s deputy leader Angela Rayner, MP Zahra Sultana and writer Basit Mahmood. Calls for a general election are mounting from both the left and the right. Still others are calling this moment historical for minority representation. Meanwhile in India, many are celebrating his victory as a “gift of Diwali”.