Sochi dazzled the world on Friday with an opening ceremony featuring a feast of Russian music and a cast of thousands including ballet stars, acrobats, cosmonauts -- and even an ex-heavyweight boxer.
A provocative Bollywood biopic opening tells the story of a slain human rights attorney who began a career in the law after turning his back on a life as an insurgent, only to be shot dead in his Mumbai office.
US national parks and monuments including the Statue of Liberty and the Grand Canyon are to reopen despite the federal shutdown, after states agreed to fund them temporarily.
North and South Korea agreed Wednesday to reopen their Kaesong joint industrial park next week, five months after it was shut during soaring military tensions.
Boasting its own artificial sun and a floor area three times that of the Pentagon, the "world's largest building" has opened in southwest China to mixed reviews from its first visitors.
The curtain is about to go up at a new theatre dedicated to Japan's centuries-old kabuki-za performing art, sited in a high-tech venue in a 29-storey Tokyo office building.
Known mainly for its steelworks, the gritty industrial hub of Kosice in east Slovakia is hard at work reforging itself as a centre of creativity and the arts as it enters 2013 with the tag "European Capital of Culture".
The Shard -- western Europe's tallest skyscraper -- opens its viewing platform to the public on February 1, giving unrivalled views over London and defiantly snubbing critics of the gigantic tower.
Cosmetics giant L'Oreal on Wednesday opened its biggest factory in the world in Indonesia, as it seeks to profit from strong demand for beauty products in fast-growing Asia.
Medals are up for grabs in cycling and swimming on Saturday after a spectacular opening ceremony to the London Olympics was watched by more than one billion TV viewers.
From the 10,490 athletes heading to London, to the flock of 70 sheep taking part in the opening ceremony on July 27, AFP takes a look at the 2012 Olympic Games in numbers.
Church bells, bicycle bells, handbells, ship's bells, and even mobile phones will sound across Britain in a "cacophonous, amazing sound" to mark the start of the Olympics.
