In the provocative Lebanese film "The Insult," a minor conflict over a gutter between two ordinary men in Beirut spirals and escalates to the level of national significance with the stability of the country hanging in the balance.

The film, from director Ziad Doueiri ("West Beirut," ''The Attack"), on Tuesday became Lebanon's first foreign language Oscar contender. It's also, somewhat fittingly, caused a fair amount of controversy internationally, being banned in countries like Jordan.

Ambassador of the European Union to Lebanon Christina Lassen on Wednesday opened the 24th edition of the European Film Festival 24 at Cinema Metropolis Empire Sofil, in the presence of Minister of Culture Ghattas Khoury and of political and diplomatic figures, as well as culture, media and social personalities.

“It is the 24th time we host this festival here in Lebanon which we – in all modesty – think has become an essential part of the cultural calendar here,” Lassen said in a speech.

Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev has welcomed the failure of her country's controversial candidate for the Oscars to win a nomination, having called the film "Foxtrot" an insult to the military.

Women journalists covering U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's visit Tuesday to the Western Wall criticized what they called discrimination after being forced to stand behind men under rules enforced by Jewish ultra-Orthodox authorities.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi said Monday it has replaced a map of the Arabian Peninsula that omitted Qatar, embroiled in a months-long diplomatic dispute with its Gulf neighbors.

Tourist Muskan Mahuwakar pictured the Taj Mahal as a dazzling vision of symmetry and beauty but upon reaching the monument, she -- like thousands of other visitors -- was disappointed to find it covered in scaffolding, its once white marble now yellowing due to pollution.

A year after the terror attacks that struck Paris in November 2015, Jeff Koons said he would give the city a monumental sculpture meant to honor the victims -- but critics of the project are saying 'no thanks'.

Two months after legendary designer Azzedine Alaia's sudden death plunged the fashion world into mourning, an exhibition in homage to the "King of Cling" opens Monday in his studios in Paris.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of northern Greece's biggest city Thessaloniki on Sunday, police said, in a long-running row between Athens and Skopje over the use of the name Macedonia.

Pope Francis was set Saturday to hold a huge outdoor mass in a coastal region of Peru struggling to rebuild in the wake of devastating floods last year.