Almost 140 bearded men who resemble Ernest Hemingway converged on Key West, the late author's home during the 1930s, to compete in the Hemingway Look-Alike Contest that began Thursday evening.

The challenge is a highlight of the island's Hemingway Days festival that salutes the literary talent and adventurous life of the Nobel Prize-winning writer.

Fans of late martial arts legend Bruce Lee, who broke negative stereotypes around Asian men in films, gathered in Hong Kong this week to commemorate their idol's death half a century ago, remembering his legacy and his life philosophy on persistence.

Lee, who was born in San Francisco but raised in the Asian financial hub, was famous for his martial arts talent and his fight against racist portrayals of Asians on big and small screens in the 1960s and 70s. He died at the height of his fame due to an allergic reaction to painkillers when he was 32.

The American University of Beirut’s Office of Advancement was announced as a Catalyst Award winner for Institutional Advancement during Anthology Together, Anthology’s annual user conference, on July 17-19 in Nashville, Tennessee.

AUB was one of 40 winners chosen from among 109 nominees from institutions in 21 countries.

Iraq's prime minister ordered the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador from Iraq and the withdrawal of the Iraqi charge d'affaires from Sweden on Thursday as a man desecrated of a copy of the Quran in Stockholm.

The diplomatic blowup came hours after protesters angered by the planned burning of a copy of the Quran stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad, breaking into the compound and lighting a small fire.

Benjamin Franklin was so busy as an inventor, publisher, scientist, diplomat and U.S. founding father that it's easy to lose track of his accomplishments.

So add one more to the roster: his early work in printing colonial paper currency designed to counter a constant threat of counterfeiting.

Pope Francis' peace envoy was traveling to Washington on Monday as part of the Holy See's peace initiatives for Ukraine, hoping to support humanitarian operations especially concerning children, the Vatican said Monday.

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi's visit, which lasts through Wednesday, follows his recent mission to Moscow and an earlier stop in Kyiv, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Iranian authorities have announced a new campaign to force women to wear the Islamic headscarf and morality police returned to the streets 10 months after the death of a woman in their custody sparked nationwide protests.

The morality police had largely pulled back following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last September, as authorities struggled to contain mass protests calling for the overthrow of the theocracy that has ruled Iran for over four decades.

Italy has demanded the restitution of seven antiquities which it believes were looted before being sold by dealers to the Louvre in Paris in the 1980s and 90s, the museum said on Friday.

Russian lawmakers on Thursday approved a toughened version of a bill that outlaws gender transitioning procedures, with added clauses that annul marriages in which one person has "changed gender" and bar transgender people from becoming foster or adoptive parents.

The bill received swift, unanimous approval of Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, in its key second reading, and lawmakers scheduled the third and final reading for Friday. There is little doubt that the bill, a crippling blow to Russia's oppressed LGBTQ+ community, will be adopted amid the Kremlin's crusade to protect what it views as the country's "traditional values."

Tourists are waiting more than two hours to visit the Acropolis in Athens. Taxi lines at Rome's main train station are running just as long. And so many visitors are concentrating around St. Mark's Square in Venice that crowds get backed up crossing bridges — even on weekdays.

After three years of pandemic limitations, tourism is expected to exceed 2019 records in some of Europe's most popular destinations this summer, from Barcelona and Rome, Athens and Venice to the scenic islands of Santorini in Greece, Capri in Italy and Mallorca in Spain.