Saudi Arabia has quietly expanded access to its only store that sells alcohol, allowing wealthy foreign residents to buy booze in the latest step in the once-ultraconservative kingdom's experiment in liberalization.

There's been no official announcement of the decision, but word has gotten out, and long lines of cars and people can now be seen at the discreet, unmarked store in the Diplomatic Quarter of the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

Pope Leo XIV urged Vatican cardinals on Monday to put their ambitions of power and personal interests aside, as he followed in Pope Francis' footsteps and used a Christmas greeting to gently criticize his closest collaborators.

"Is it possible to be friends in the Roman Curia?" Leo asked the cardinals and bishops who make up the Curia, as the Holy See bureaucracy is known. "To have relationships of genuine fraternal friendship?"

Tourists will have to pay a two-euro entrance fee to get close to Rome's famous Trevi Fountain, which draws vast crowds daily, Mayor Roberto Gualtieri said on Friday.

Arab female film directors have helped change the landscape of Arab cinema in recent years, presenting stories that haven't been told before and claiming space in an industry in a region that rarely makes room for women to grow.

Four influential female directors took part in this year's Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, paving the way for more diverse narratives in Arab cinema.

On a recent December day, Mark Latino and a handful of his workers spun sheets of vinyl into tinsel for Christmas tree branches. They worked on a custom-made machine that's nearly a century old, churning out strands of bright silver tinsel along its 35-foot (10-meter) length.

The warm spices in gingerbread, the woodsy aroma of pine and fir trees, and the fruity tang of mulled wine are smells synonymous with the holiday season. Many people enjoy lighting candles, incense and fireplaces in their homes to evoke the moods associated with these festive fragrances.

Burning scented products may create a cozy ambiance, and in the case of fireplaces, provide light and heat, but some experts want people to consider how doing so contributes to the quality of the air indoors. All flames release chemicals that may cause allergy-like symptoms or contribute to long-term respiratory problems if they are inhaled in sufficient quantities.

Egypt on Sunday revealed the revamp of two colossal statues of a prominent pharaoh in the southern city of Luxor, the latest in the government's archaeological events that aim at drawing more tourists to the country.

The giant alabaster statues, known as the Colossi of Memnon, were reassembled in a renovation project that lasted about two decades. They represent Amenhotep III, who ruled ancient Egypt about 3,400 years ago.

Iran has arrested Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, her supporters said Friday.

A foundation in her name said she was detained in Mashhad, some 680 kilometers (420 miles) northeast of the capital, Tehran, while attending a memorial for a human rights lawyer recently found dead under unclear circumstances.

Images of the Virgin of Guadalupe on their backs, devotees of Mexico's patron saint flooded streets on the north side of the capital overnight, converging with music, bottle rockets, candles and prayers on the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Some say that every Dec. 12, all roads in Mexico lead to the enormous circular Roman Catholic house of worship where the faithful come to show their devotion on the anniversary of this apparition of the Virgin Mary in 1531, one of the largest Catholic pilgrimages in Latin America.

A group of Syrian-American Jews have registered a nongovernmental organization in Syria in a bid to restore Jewish heritage in a country where the once-sizable religious minority has shrunk to almost nothing.

"Jewish Syrians are an integral part of the Syrian fabric," Syrian Minister of Social Affairs Hind Kabawat told The Associated Press Friday. "Our country is a mosaic of all sorts of civilizations, religions, sects, and nations."