Every weekend, a new generation of rebels converges on downtown Havana, their tattoos, piercings, and dyed hair a world apart from the "new man" the island's revolutionary leaders dreamed of.

They claim membership in a disparate band of urban tribes -- "emos," "screamos," "repas," "mikis," "punks" and "freaks" -- but come together on G Street, one of the capital's main avenues, to drink, smoke, flirt, gossip and listen to the music that defines their clans.

Patrick Modiano of France, who has made a lifelong study of the Nazi occupation and its effects on his country, won the 2014 Nobel Prize in literature Thursday for what one academic called "crystal clear and resonant" prose.

Modiano, a 69-year-old resident of Paris, is an acclaimed writer in France but not well known in the English-speaking world. The Swedish Academy said it gave the 8 million-kronor ($1.1 million) prize to him for evoking "the most un-graspable human destinies" and uncovering the world of life behind the Nazi occupation.

Iran on Thursday blocked access to an Instagram page devoted to the lifestyle of Tehran's young elite that stirred indignation and spawned a rival site on how the majority live.

"Richkidsoftehran", created in September on the photo-sharing service, attracted almost 90,000 followers, with its contributors saying they wanted to show another image of Iran from the stereotypes in the West.

Activists in Saudi Arabia are revving up a right-to-drive campaign using social media in the world's only country that bans women from getting behind the wheel, a campaigner said on Thursday.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opened in 2011 in Wal-Mart's hometown, Bentonville, Arkansas, with a respectable collection of work by famous artists from Norman Rockwell's "Rosie the Riveter" to a George Washington portrait by Gilbert Stuart.

But the museum has just opened a massive exhibition of contemporary art called "State of the Art" that could be a game-changer. The museum is sometimes mocked by critics from outside the region for its location and Wal-Mart connections — its permanent collection was funded by Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton — but the new show represents a serious effort to introduce contemporary art to a mainstream audience far from the rarefied galleries of hipster neighborhoods and urban centers.

Think of the United Arab Emirates in the Gulf and what springs to mind? Billowing white robes against desert dunes, camel racing and falconry or futuristic buildings needling skywards?

In a Tokyo karaoke booth thick with cigarette smoke, Shinsuke Chiba's eyes bulge as the 41-year-old rips into an enthusiastic, if somewhat misjudged, rendition of the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the UK".

A search team is set to salvage the wrecks of Japanese and British military aircraft which crashed in a northeastern Indian lake during fierce fighting in World War II, an organizer said Wednesday.

Indonesia pledged Thursday to step up protection of ancient cave paintings that researchers say show that Europe was not the birthplace of art as many had long believed. 

A marigold and magenta mohawk adorning his shaven skull, Chinese punk rocker Shan Lin has a subversive message in a country that suppresses dissent -- a rebel with a cause.

"The more anarchists the better, the more chaos and the more we love that! This country is so screwed up! There's a reason our band is called The Demonstrators," said the 30-year-old, before taking the stage at a punk festival in Beijing.