Imagine opening your hotel room window to gaze upon the lavish grounds and famous palace of Versailles after spending a night on the estate itself.

That prospect could soon be reality -- at least for some of the wealthier visitors to France -- after a government body that manages Versailles put out a tender to build a hotel alongside the fabled grounds.

Peru's leading newspaper said it will no longer publish editorials by the cardinal and archbishop of Lima after accusing him of plagiarizing past popes in his articles.

The suspect stories have also been taken down from the website of El Comercio "because the newspaper does not publish articles in which the text is signed by someone but in reality written by another," the publication said.

Social media users blasted a new Chinese film Monday for depicting a summit of world leaders during World War II which embellished history by portraying revolutionary leader Mao Zedong as vital to a conference he never attended.

The Cairo Declaration -- an upcoming war film produced by a company affiliated with China's military -- is part of a host of government-directed events to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Japan's surrender.

Moe Pwint Oo shoots the grimy punchbag a steely glare before slamming her fist into it, striking a blow for equality as she practices Myanmar's homespun martial art Lethwei -- a sport that encourages head-butting and grants victory by knock-out only.

The petite medical sciences student is one of a growing number of women taking up Lethwei kickboxing, building up a sweat in the yard of a gritty Yangon gym where some of the country's best fighters train alongside local enthusiasts, expats and even the odd actress.

With their narrow head and long legs, greyhounds are one of the fastest dog breeds on earth, making them the preferred choice of hunters in Spain to catch rabbits and hares.

But instead of being rewarded, campaigners say greyhounds are often mistreated, especially once they have become too old to hunt.

Energy-rich Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said foreign academics must earn government approval before publishing research on the isolated country in comments relayed by state television on Saturday.

"Foreign academics can only publish their scientific work after consideration of the Ministry of Culture or the academic committees of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan," the 58-year-old president said, without specifying how the government could prevent independent research being published. 

As U.S. President Barack Obama lounged with his family on a Massachusetts beach Thursday, the White House released a list of six books that he took on vacation.

The always keenly watched -- some say overwatched -- presidential reading list included some unsurprising choices, such as Ron Chernow's acclaimed biography of first president George Washington.

The United States on Thursday returned to French authorities an oil painting by Pablo Picasso that was reported stolen from a major Paris museum 14 years ago.

"The Hairdresser," which Picasso created in Paris in 1911 during his Cubism period, was seized by U.S. customs agents in New Jersey.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday will make a statement just ahead of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

His remarks will be closely watched by Asian neighbors China and South Korea, which suffered from Tokyo's 20th century militarism. They warn any watering down of previous statements with explicit apologies would jeopardize diplomatic ties.

A Paris beach event celebrating Tel Aviv attracted a handful of visitors but a huge number of journalists, riot police and security guards on Thursday, as well as a much larger "Gaza Beach" protest.

Bemused locals who headed down to "Tel Aviv Sur Seine" had to maneuver through bag checks, security pat-downs and metal detectors to reach the small stretch of sand on the banks of the Seine.