Palestinians in Gaza are preparing to welcome the Muslim holy month of Ramadan under a fragile ceasefire deal, but many say the challenges of their daily lives and the losses of the Israel-Hamas war are dampening the typically festive spirit.

"There is no joy after we lost our family and loved ones," said Gaza City resident Fedaa Ayyad. "Even if we try to cope with the situation, we can't truly feel it in our hearts. … I am one of those who cannot feel the atmosphere of Ramadan."

Long known for its olives and seaside charm, the southern Greek city of Kalamata has found itself in the spotlight thanks to a towering mural that reimagines legendary soprano Maria Callas as an allegory for the city itself.

The massive artwork on the side of a prominent building in the city center has been named 2025's "Best Mural of the World" by Street Art Cities, a global platform celebrating street art.

Samba and literature rarely share the same stage, but at this year's Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, two samba schools used their parades to tell the stories of Black Brazilian female authors. It's an unusual recognition of writers who have been historically marginalized due to their race and gender.

On Saturday, 79-year-old Conceição Evaristo, a writer from Minas Gerais known for her powerful works centering on Black women's experiences, sat majestically atop a float designed by samba school Imperio Serrano at Rio's famed Sambodrome. Two days later, the samba school Unidos da Tijuca dedicated its parade to the late Carolina Maria de Jesus, a favela-based diarist who died nearly five decades ago, and also featured Evaristo.

For the Louvre, the world's most visited museum, it is "statistically inevitable" that fraud would come up at some point, the museum's No. 2 said in the wake of a decade-long, 10 million euro ($11.8 million) suspected ticket-fraud scheme revealed last week.

Kim Pham, the Louvre's general administrator, told The Associated Press that the museum's unique scale makes it particularly vulnerable. However, pressed to name other institutions with similar problems, he declined to single out peers.

Veteran U.S. civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson, one of the nation's most influential Black voices, died peacefully Tuesday morning at the age of 84, his family said.

It's not just people — in China, the robots are also getting ready to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

Friday was dress rehearsal day for four cute humanoid robots, each about 95 centimeters (3 feet) tall at a mall in western Beijing. Curious onlookers stopped to watch.

Muneer Elbaz remembers the joy of visiting the Great Omari Mosque in Gaza with his family, praying at a site where people have worshipped over centuries as empires came and went.

"These were the best days," Elbaz said, as he recalled promenading through the lively markets around the mosque before the Israel-Hamas war. "This place transports us from one era to another."

Love and bacon hovered in the air of the Smalley house one sunny morning when Annie, 7, came to breakfast.

A "baconaholic," according to her father, Annie spied the last remaining strips of the intoxicating salty meat on a plate. She could easily have inhaled them all. But incoming was Annie's sister, Murphy, 16, another bacon devotee. Annie paused and decided to offer one strip of crispy goodness to her sister. "Dad," she declared, ""I just laid down my life for Murphy."

The American University of Beirut (AUB) announced the establishment of its Academic and Executive Hub in Dubai, "reflecting the university’s commitment to expanding its regional presence and strengthening its contribution to executive education, leadership development, and applied research across the Middle East", the university said in a statement.

Strategically located in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the AUB Academic and Executive Hub is designed as a dynamic platform for executive education, academic collaboration, innovation-focused partnerships, and alumni engagement. It aligns with regional priorities for a knowledge-based economy and supports AUB’s long-term strategic vision to remain at the forefront of higher education in a fast-changing global landscape. The hub will also serve as a regional base for applied research, consulting projects, faculty-led seminars, and stakeholder dialogues on critical issues such as leadership, strategy, sustainability, digital transformation, and inclusive growth.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance's team posted and then deleted a message on social media about the Republican's visit to a memorial paying tribute to early 20th century Armenians killed by the Ottoman Empire.

The issue was the post using the term "Armenian genocide," a designation the U.S. government historically has not used for what happened, with a notable exception by the Biden administration. The White House blamed a staff mistake.