Every time Mohammed al-Ghoraifi visits Najaf he returns with another precious stone on his finger. Like for many pilgrims visiting the Iraqi Shiite holy city, buying a gemstone ring is part and parcel of the experience.

They should have vanished a century ago after Russia's October Revolution, melted down with the rest of a solid silver tableware set by Faberge, Imperial Russia's legendary jeweller.

Israeli film "Foxtrot," which Culture Minister Miri Regev has castigated as an insult to the military, has won the country's best film award, making it a candidate for the Oscars.

Billboards featuring a glamorous image of U.S. First Lady Melania Trump and the caption: "Just imagine how far you can go with a little bit of English" were supposed to attract students to a language school in Croatia.

Russian officials and Orthodox priests on Tuesday unveiled a statue in Moscow of inventor Mikhail Kalashnikov, whose iconic AK-47 assault rifle has claimed countless lives worldwide.

Malaysia has canned an annual craft beer festival after an Islamist party warned it would turn the city into "the biggest centre of vice in Asia".

Israel's justice ministry said Sunday the government would advance legislation giving gay couples equal rights in adopting children following controversy over the issue.

He has been beaten up, received death threats and hundreds of insulting emails, but Karamba Diaby is not one to give up.

Serbia's lesbian prime minister is set to take part in Belgrade's Pride parade on Sunday, an event held yearly under heavy security after previous marches were disrupted by anti-gay violence.

The "secret" art collection amassed by Claude Monet, the father of Impressionism, went on display for the first time in Paris on Thursday, 90 years after the great painter's death.