A Japanese city devastated by the 2011 tsunami has received anonymous gifts of gold worth more than $250,000 in a phenomenon dubbed a "goodwill gold rush" ahead of the second anniversary of the disaster.
North Korean defectors in the South launched 200,000 anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the tense inter-Korean border on Saturday, the birth anniversary of the North's late leader Kim Jong-Il.
New York City this week marked the fifth anniversary of a groundbreaking free condom program that has distributed tens of millions free rubbers, under the racy slogan "NYC Condoms -- Get Some!"
Libya on Sunday will mark the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled the regime of strongman Moamer Kadhafi, amid fears of fresh violence and calls for demonstrations across the country.
Founded to care for victims of war, the International Committee of the Red Cross has faced a tough task, sometimes been found wanting, but has always known how to adapt to shifting challenges.
The Maldives is to hold presidential polls on September 7, the first since the archipelago's first democratically elected leader was toppled in what he called a coup.
Supporters of ailing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez marched in Caracas on Monday marking the day 21 years ago that their leader, then a young paratrooper officer, launched a failed military coup.
The city of Volgograd was renamed Stalingrad for a day Saturday as Russia marked the 70-year anniversary of a brutal battle in which the Red Army defeated Nazi forces and changed the course of World War II.
Huge crowds were expected to demonstrate in Egypt on Friday for the second anniversary of the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak and brought in an Islamist government, at a time of political tensions and economic woes.
France and Germany on Tuesday will celebrate 50 years since a landmark treaty sealed their post-war reconciliation aiming to paper over nagging differences between Europe's two powerhouse neighbours.
Tunisians marked the second anniversary on Monday of veteran dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's flight into exile in the first of the Arab Spring uprisings but insecurity and social tensions persist.
Families of Italy's cruise shipwreck victims returned to the site of the disaster on Saturday as preparations got underway for a commemoration ceremony to mark the first anniversary of the fatal crash.
Pakistan marks the fifth anniversary of the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Thursday, with her son expected to launch his political career with a speech in the family's ancestral home town.
The refurbished Hollywood sign was presented in all its freshly painted glory Tuesday after its biggest makeover in 35 years, in time for 90th birthday celebrations next year.
The Rolling Stones on Monday release a greatest hits album titled "Grrr!" featuring two new tracks recorded over the summer in Paris, as fans count down to a string of 50th-anniversary concerts.
A star-studded guestlist including Kate Moss and Bob Geldof gathered in India Wednesday for a lavish 50th birthday party arranged by supermodel Naomi Campbell for her Russian billionaire boyfriend.
Libya on Tuesday celebrated the first anniversary of its "liberation" from the regime of Moamer Kadhafi, even as fighting flared in a former bastion of the slain dictator.
Hundreds of survivors and relatives of the dead on Friday paid tearful tributes to the 202 people killed in the Bali bombings 10 years ago, when Islamist extremists unleashed terror on partying tourists.
Over 50 years of cinematic success, James Bond has exercised his masculine charms on a string of women, although the role of the "Bond Girls" has subtly evolved over the years.
