Saudi Arabia on Monday lifted a decades-long ban on cinemas, part of a series of social reforms by the powerful crown prince that are shaking up the ultra-conservative kingdom.

Same-sex couples hurried to declare plans to tie the knot on Saturday as Australia's new marriage equality law came into effect, with wedding registry offices holding special hours for the first day of legalised gay unions.

From a musclebound Superman to ice hockey player to jet pilot, Vladimir Putin plays various heroic roles in paintings at a Moscow exhibition called "Superputin" that opened this week as he began his campaign for a fourth Kremlin term.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi said Friday that local Emirati authorities had "acquired" a $450-million painting by Renaissance master Leonardo Da Vinci, as reports swirled about the original source of funding.

Wedding venues were preparing for a rush of couples eager to tie the knot after same-sex marriage was signed into Australian law Friday, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull already boasting several invites.

Saudis took the stage one by one to poke fun at the world -- and themselves -- introducing a hissing, cackling audience to an art form widely unknown in the conservative kingdom: stand-up comedy.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is the actual buyer of a painting by Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci that sold for a record-breaking $450 million at auction last month, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Applause and shrieks of joy erupted as Lebanese singer Hiba Tawaji dazzled Riyadh in its first female-only music concert, as Saudi Arabia seeks to ease social restrictions on women.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel paid tribute to the sexual assault "Silence Breakers" honored by U.S. magazine Time as its Person of the Year Wednesday.

The Season 2 of Génération Orient, the cultural partnership between SGBL and L’Orient-le Jour, reached its end with the awards ceremony, on Monday, December 4th at the Music Hall in Beirut, in a festive atmosphere, in the presence of the artists and a large audience.

During 12 months, we had the opportunity to get to know and appreciate the history and the course of twelve young Lebanese artists coming from different backgrounds: cooking, illustration, design, photography, storytelling, theater, music, fashion, dance, cinema, architecture and the art of tattooing. Each month, L’Orient-Le Jour featured an artist by dedicating an entire page in the print version of the newspaper and on the website as well as a vast campaign on OLJ’s social media platform (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), with interviews, articles and videos by Karl Hadifé. The final result was voted 50% by the public and 50% by a jury of experts.