Caricatures of Arab and Western leaders appeared beside those of top jihadists at an Iranian cartoon contest on Islamic State group crimes that drew entries from artists around the world.

Political cartoons have a long tradition in Iran, despite many restrictions in the staunchly conservative Islamic republic on taboo subjects such as the supreme leader, the clergy and military.

President Barack Obama is posthumously bestowing America's highest military honor on two World War I Army veterans who may have been denied the honor because of discrimination.

Obama was holding a White House Medal of Honor ceremony Tuesday for Sgt. William Shemin, who was Jewish, and Pvt. Henry Johnson, from an all-black regiment.

A bitter struggle for control over the nation's oldest synagogue goes to trial this week, with lawyers saying they may use more than 1,000 exhibits dating as far back as 1733.

The congregation that worships at the 250-year-old Touro Synagogue in Newport says its very existence is at stake. The congregation that owns it accuses the Newport congregation of lawlessness for agreeing to sell a pair of ceremonial bells valued at more than $7 million.

A group of Russian Cossacks have set off on a horse trek from Moscow to Berlin to commemorate 70 years since the WWII defeat of Nazi Germany, the event organizer said Sunday. 

Some 20 horsemen aim to spend the next month covering the roughly 2,500 kilometers to Germany, travelling through Belarus and Poland along the route taken by Soviet cavalry during World War II. 

A squadron of Napoleon's army pant up the path that leads to Stoney Hill Wood, a copse of beech trees chosen for an ambush of the Duke of Wellington's redcoats.

"Vive l'Empereur!" shout the troops as they advance through the English countryside. "Vive Hollande!" shouts one joker, before being reprimanded.

Apparently more than just valuable artwork is missing from the Boston Public Library's archives.

A library spokeswoman says a retired employee who now volunteers told administrators last week that gold coins originally placed in the cornerstone of the main building have been missing for decades.

The winning entry from a Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest will not be allowed on ads on Washington's public transportation system, officials said Thursday, angering competition organizers.

The cartoon was part of a contest that came under attack in Texas last month, when two suspected Islamist gunmen opened fire on event participants with assault rifles, before a traffic policeman shot them dead.  

The inauguration of the 11th edition of JABAL Exhibition, Jeunes Artistes des Beaux-Arts du Liban, organized by Fransabank, was held on May 13th, at the Saint-George Hotel under the patronage and in the presence of Mrs. Lama Tammam Salam, and H.E Mr. Adnan Kassar, Chairman of Fransabank Group. Mrs. Nora Joumblat was among the 1.500 invitees who attended the private viewing, along with a large number of various social figures, businessmen, art collectors, art gallery owners, as well as the organizing committee of JABAL, the artists, and the media.

Under the theme «Visionary Artists where myths and dreams are all about Lebanon», 32 artists were rigorously selected to unveil their projects, some of which were especially made for this occasion, presenting a sensitive and eclectic overview of modern day art. They created their own shapes, images, objects, and concepts, through their drawings, paintings, photography, installations, sculptures, videos, and performances, and which illustrate their confidence in the future and a vision which reflects the expectations of these young artists who have a keen mind and a critical sense towards contemporary society.

A play by author Michel Houellebecq -- whose book imagining a Muslim-governed France stirred controversy -- will be staged as planned at a Croatian arts festival despite calls for its cancellation over security fears, the culture ministry said Wednesday.

The Dubrovnik Summer Festival announced earlier this month it would have to cancel Houellebecq's drama "The Elementary Particles" ("Les Particules elementaires") after the interior ministry deemed it a "security risk".

It was not until late on her wedding day that Aygul told her parents she was even in a relationship. And they were furious.

A year later, her Uighur father was still so angry she had chosen a Han husband he beat her up in a Beijing train station, stamping on her throat as he hurled insults.