Croatia/China:  What could possibly be better than ultra-fit, hairless-bodied, Olympic water polo players with mustaches?  My mind cannot comprehend anything more amazing.

 "We came to an idea to do something special, that will be only ours," Croatia's Maro Jokovic told the AP. "And we agreed because we are a team, we fight for each other and we die for each other, and we wanted to do something not so usual among other teams."

Bravo!  Too bad this hairy tribute to former Olympic coach Ratko Rudic did not prevent them from being beaten 7-5 by the US on Saturday and upset 9-11 by Spain on Sunday.  If I could give out a medal for winning my heart, this team would have it.

I am indeed delighted and will be obsessing over these chaps for the next month or so.

Nepal:  As metrosexuality spreads, Nepal is rapidly becoming a society without mustaches.  Once passed down from one generation to the next as a sign of masculinity, the mustache is being wiped from the face of men who now find it fashionable to be clean-shaven.  This is a new trend that started in urban areas, driven by women who claim their men look younger and more handsome without facial hair.

India:  Hindu men have long been mustached because of a long-held belief that they should not shave their mustaches so long as their parents are alive.  Alas, in the modern day, some prefer bare upper lip and no longer see any correlation between their mustaches and their parents’ lives or longevity.  A poll of men of Indian heritage, ages 25-25, born in the US and/or raised,  found that they are glad to see their brothers in the homeland finally emerging from the 1980s.

Turkey:  In a response to so-called ‘European Union standards’, bus drivers in Turkey have been forbidden to have mustaches by Metro Tourism, one of Turkey’s biggest transportation companies.  Read the entire story from Turkish Daily News.

Italy (see also: New Jersey):  Men are so into their mustaches that they’ve made a mustache comb pendant chic.  Get yours here.