Israel's interior ministry has been ordered to grant citizenship to foreign-born same-sex spouses of Israelis under the same terms as traditional couples, the ministry's lawyer said Thursday.

One sings of peace, the other makes peace: Bob Dylan will not travel to Stockholm on Saturday to accept his Nobel prize, but Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos will receive his award in Oslo for a deal signed with FARC rebels.

The hidden secrets of Egyptian mummies up to 3,000 years old have been virtually unwrapped and reconstructed for the first time using cutting-edge scanning technology in a joint British-Australian exhibition.

Three-dimensional images of six mummies aged between 900BC and 140-180AD from ancient Egypt, which have been held at the British Museum but never physically unwrapped, give an insight into what it was like to live along the Nile river thousands of years ago.

In Qayyarah, Iraqis are thronging a civil court to get married a second time, register births and replace the documents they were delivered during two years of jihadist administration.

Thai authorities are investigating the BBC over a Thai-language profile of the new king, officials said Wednesday, after the article outraged ultra-royalists in a country where criticism of the monarchy is outlawed.

Sri Lankan cricket legend Arjuna Ranatunga Wednesday abandoned a bid to build a record-breaking 100-meter tall Christmas tree after the head of the Catholic church on the island called it a waste of money.

A four-meter-high golden statue of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was raised secretly in a Tel Aviv square in a free speech protest Tuesday, sparking political debate and online humor.

Some UK communities are "worryingly" segregated and government failure to tackle social and economic isolation, particularly among Muslims, is playing into the hands of extremists, a government-commissioned report warned Monday.

Music icon Bob Dylan won't be at the Nobel prize ceremony this week to accept his award, but he has sent along a speech to be read aloud, the Nobel foundation said Monday.

Flags flew at half mast in government buildings in communist Vietnam Sunday, as the country marked a day of national mourning for Fidel Castro -- an honor of the highest accord that has divided public opinion.