Officially at least, America still calls this Southeast Asian nation Burma, the favored appellation of dissidents and pro-democracy activists who opposed the former military junta's move to summarily change its name 23 years ago.

President Barack Obama used that name during his historic visit Monday, but he also called Burma what its government and many other people have been calling it for years: Myanmar.

The city of Rome unveiled a revamped statue of Pope John Paul II on Monday after the first one was pilloried by the public and the Vatican.

Artist Oliviero Rainaldi said he was pleased with the final product, saying it matched his original vision. He blamed workers for a botched assemblage the first time around.

Tens of thousands of Croatians gathered in the eastern city of Vukovar Sunday to commemorate one of the bloodiest episode of the Balkan nation's 1990s war for independence.

Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic and President Ivo Josipovic attended the memorial ceremony, which drew about 50,000 people.

Thousands of Catholics and other opponents of French government plans to legalise gay marriage and same-sex adoption marched in Paris on Sunday, a day after more than 100,000 turned out across France for the cause.

The rally, organised by conservative Catholic group Civitas, was marred by accusations that protesters had roughed up journalists and topless counter-protesters partially dressed as nuns.

Thanksgiving, the last U.S. holiday undisturbed by mass commercialization, is now victim to the ever advancing Christmas shopping season, with stores welcoming shopaholics before the family turkey can be taken from the oven.

Thanksgiving was long that rare day when stores closed and families gathered for long, uninterrupted meals. Unlike at Easter, Christmas or Hanukkah there was no merchandising -- other than for the unfortunate birds.

Lebanese chef Maroun Chedid and top chefs from across the globe rustled up a mouth-watering lesson in Mediterranean cuisine on Saturday, at a pow-wow for 240 food stars hosted in Monaco by France's culinary "godfather" Alain Ducasse.

Ducasse was feting a quarter century at his first three-star eatery, the Louis XV in Monaco, by hosting a three-day chefs' summit in the principality, with a local producers' market on Saturday a highlight of the event.

The world's top Islamic body called Saturday for the international community to protect Muslims in Myanmar's unrest-hit Rakhine state from "genocide" as U.S. President Barack Obama readied for a landmark trip to the country.

"We expect from the United states to convey a strong message to the government of Burma so they protect that minority, what is going on there is a genocide," said Djibouti Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, who is the acting chairman of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Russian art experts have uncovered what is believed to be an original Rubens painting in a small-town museum in the Urals mountains region, its director said Friday.

The painting called "Mary Magdalene in mourning with her sister Martha" was long assumed to be a copy, but restoration revealed it to be "undoubtedly" an original by the 17th century Flemish painter, museum director Valery Karpov told Agence France Presse.

Russia's state English language channel Russia Today (RT) scored one of its biggest scoops by interviewing Syrian President Bashar Assad but its coverage of the crisis has come under increasing scrutiny over alleged pro-regime bias.

Assad dramatically used the exclusive interview with the Kremlin-funded channel to pledge "to live and die" in Syria, days after RT was criticized by British television watchdog Ofcom for lack of balance in one of its news broadcasts on Syria.

In czarist times, Geda Zimanenko watched her mother offer the local police officer a shot of vodka on a plate and five rubles every Sunday to overlook the fact that their family lived outside the area where Jews were allowed to live.

Then came the Bolshevik Revolution and Zimanenko became a good Communist, raising her own son to believe in ideals that strove to stamp out distinctions of race and religion. Her grandson, born after the death of dictator Josef Stalin, was more cynical of Communism and felt the heat of growing Soviet anti-Semitism.