Dozens of apartment towers sprouting up illicitly in an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem are creating a fraught new dynamic in the struggle for control of the sacred city at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Kufr Aqab is one of several Arab areas within Jerusalem's municipal borders that have been separated from the city by the meandering barrier Israel has built to wall off the West Bank.

Russia is planning a major drive to improve its image abroad by opening more cultural centers, promoting the learning of Russian and encouraging visits by young people, a report said Wednesday.

The Kommersant daily said the plan -- worked out by the government and state cooperation body Rossotrudnichestvo -- was in line with the Kremlin’s desire to use "soft power" to preserve Russian influence abroad.

Art Basel on Tuesday unveiled the lineup for its inaugural Hong Kong show in May, in which it promised "the strongest combination of galleries from East and West that the art world has ever seen".

The art fair franchise bought a controlling stake in Art HK two years ago to take over the management of Hong Kong's biggest annual art event, giving it a presence in the southern Chinese city, a gateway to Asia's booming art market.

Ancient Indians migrated to Australia and mixed with Aborigines 4,000 years ago, bringing the dingo's ancestor with them, according to new research that re-evaluates the continent's long isolation before European settlement.

The vast southern continent was thought to have been cut off from other populations until Europeans landed at the end of the 1700s, but the latest genetic and archaeological evidence throws that theory out.

Navigating the streets of Bangkok can challenge even the most seasoned of travelers. Roads wind into each other instead of running parallel. Narrow alleyways loop into dead-ends. The hodgepodge routinely stumps Google Maps and GPS devices, and even the main waterway, the Chao Phraya River, weaves through the city like a child's messy squiggle as opposed to a clean, sharp line.

Savvy visitors simply ditch those digital devices in favor of a much simpler navigational aid: The hand-held paper maps of American artist Nancy Chandler, whose colorful descriptions of Bangkok have gained a cult-like following since they launched nearly four decades ago.

A 19th century steam train took passengers for a rare ride on the London Underground on Sunday to mark the 150th anniversary of the world's oldest metro system.

A red and black locomotive dating from 1898 and specially restored for the occasion ran between Kensington Olympia station in west London and Moorgate station in the financial district.

The red sun of the Japanese flag flutters alongside the Chinese emblem's five stars at a business zone in Dalian -- a rare sight in a country still embittered by Tokyo's imperial dominance decades ago.

The northeastern city was the only one in China with a Japanese consulate to avoid demonstrations when anti-Japan protests raged across the country over disputed islands four months ago.

Hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims led by naked, ash-covered holy men streamed into the sacred river Ganges on Monday at the start of the world's biggest religious festival.

The Kumbh Mela in the Indian town of Allahabad will see up to 100 million worshippers gather over the next 55 days to take a ritual bath in the holy waters, believed to cleanse sins and bestow blessings.

Italy's highest court on Friday said gay couples can bring up children as well as heterosexual couples in a landmark ruling in a predominantly Catholic country where the issue is a hot-button topic ahead of a general election in February.

"There is no scientific certainty or concrete evidence but only prejudice" behind the idea that "living in a homosexual family is damaging for the growth of a child," the court's ruling said.

A procession of around 100 million devotees, from naked sprinting gurus to worshippers completing simple rituals, will stream into the river Ganges next week for the world's biggest festival.

The Kumbh Mela in northern India, starting Monday and stretching over 55 days, attracts ash-covered holy men who run into the frigid waters, a smattering of international celebrities, as well as millions upon millions of ordinary Indians.