Swedish inventor and scholar Alfred Nobel, who made a vast fortune from his invention of dynamite in 1866, ordered the creation of the famous Nobel prizes in his will.

The 2017 Nobel season opens next week with all eyes on the two most anticipated prizes: literature, after last year's shock award to Bob Dylan, and peace, as tensions rise over nuclear concerns in North Korea and Iran.

Saudi Arabia's historic decision to allow women to drive has won plaudits internationally and inside the conservative kingdom, as euphoria mixed with disbelief among activists who long fought the ban.

Under an anonymous back street in south London lies a vast underground air-raid shelter that has been turned into a pioneering urban farm supplying supermarkets and restaurants in the capital.

Afghanistan's only female provincial governor has been replaced by a man, an official said Wednesday, in a blow to women politicians in the patriarchal country.

As part of its cultural sponsorship activities, SGBL bank has partnered for the second consecutive year with the Beirut Art Fair, the must-attend international event in Lebanon and the region for artists, galleries and art lovers.

Following the success of the first edition of REVEALING, SGBL confirms once again its support for this unique collective platform entirely dedicated to young contemporary creation in the MENASA region.

Millions of Shiite Muslims in deeply religious Afghanistan are bracing for terrorist attacks as they prepare to commemorate Ashura, one of the holiest days in the Islamic calendar.

As Saudi women hail the news they will be able to drive their own cars from next June, they still face a web of restrictions in the conservative Islamic kingdom. 

Saudi Arabia is condoning hate speech against its Shiite minority from the upper echelons of its religious establishment, schoolbooks and social media, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.

A Saudi education official has been sacked over a schoolbook that accidentally included a doctored photograph of a former ruler sitting next to a "Star Wars" character, triggering online ridicule.