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Salafists Block Tunisia Comedy Show That 'Offends Islam'

Radical Islamists obstructed a stand-up comedy performance by Tunisian actor Lotfi Abdelli, the ministry of culture said on Wednesday, accusing those responsible of attacking freedom of expression.

"The attack by people associated with the Salafist movement on the Bayrem Ettounsi cultural center in the town of Menzel Bourguiba" prevented Lotfi's show "100% Halal" from taking place, the ministry said in a statement.

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Tough Desert Life Wins Bedouin Teen Fairy Tale Award

It was the trauma of seeing Israeli troops raze homes in the Bedouin community where she lives that inspired 14-year-old Salha Hamadin to write an award-winning fairy tale.

Earlier this year, Salha, who comes from an impoverished Palestinian Bedouin community near Jerusalem, was crowned winner of the teenage category of the Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tale Bay competition, which saw 1,200 entries from around the world by youngsters aged 11 to 16.

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Without a Car, Ramadan Shopping a Struggle in Hebron

It is a blistering summer day in the West Bank city of Hebron and Mohammed al-Jaabari sweats profusely as he struggles to haul a heavy gas canister through an Israeli checkpoint.

It is not an enviable task on any day and particularly not during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan when most Palestinians fast from dawn till dusk, making any physical effort doubly hard.

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Yasukuni Shrine: Tokyo Sanctuary for War Dead

The Yasukuni Shrine is a Shinto sanctuary in Tokyo originally built in 1869 to honor those who gave their lives for Japan.

Around 2.5 million souls are enshrined there, the vast majority of them soldiers who died in Japan's armed conflicts running up to and including World War II.

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Indian Yoga Guru Ends Anti-Graft Hunger Strike

An Indian yoga guru on Tuesday ended a six-day hunger strike against corruption but vowed to use his public popularity to pile pressure on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Baba Ramdev, a maverick "holy man" who heads a wealthy international yoga organization, sipped juice to break his fast as several thousand supporters cheered him in New Delhi.

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Indian Sikhs Push 'Turban Pride'

The evening turban-tying class in the Sikh-dominated Indian city of Amritsar is packed with pre-teen boys learning a centuries-old tradition -- that religious leaders fear is under threat.

Over the next 90 minutes, the instructors unfurl long strips of cloth in vibrant hues from indigo to burgundy, and proceed to knot, pleat and finally tie them carefully around the boys' heads.

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Thousands Claiming Ties to the Huns Descend on Hungary

A Hungarian festival for those claiming kinship with the ancient nomadic Huns wound down Sunday after drawing tens of thousands of distant cousins from across Asia and the Caucasus.

Police said some 80,000 people descended on the village of Bugac for three days of concerts, horse racing, folk dances, archery and other activities at the "Kurultaj" festival, a word of Turkish origin meaning "tribal meeting".

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Russia Marks Victory over Napoleon with 'March on Paris'

Russian Cossacks on horseback Sunday kicked off a two-month-long friendly march on Paris to mark the bicentenary of a key battle Russia fought against Napoleon that led to an eventual French defeat.

The commemorative horse trek spanning some 2,500 kilometers (1,560 miles) and estimated to cost $2.5 million (2.0 million euros) is supported by the Russian government and comes amid a drive to boost Russia's global standing.

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Archaeologists Cover Up Afghan Heritage

"It's there," says an archaeologist pointing to the ground, where fragments of a Buddha statue from the ancient Gandhara civilization have been covered up to stop them being stolen or vandalized.

Just months before the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, the Taliban regime shocked the world by destroying two giant, 1,500-year-old Buddhas in the rocky Bamiyan valley, branding them un-Islamic.

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Entrepreneur Invests In Hong Kong's Fragrant Past

He may not be able to resuscitate Hong Kong's long-dead incense trade but entrepreneur Chan Koon-wing is at least hoping to save the tree that gave the city its name centuries ago.

Chan returned to the southern Chinese city from his adopted home in Northern Ireland four years ago to revive his late grandfather's incense-tree plantation in the northern village of Shing Ping, near the border with the mainland.

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