A Pablo Picasso masterpiece expected to fetch at least $120 million at auction went on show Monday in Dubai, kicking off a set of rare viewings outside the United States.
"Femme a la montre", the 1932 portrait of Marie-Therese Walter, Picasso's mistress and "golden muse", is being exhibited for two days before heading to Hong Kong and London, a boon for the United Arab Emirates' bid to establish itself as a cultural powerhouse.
Libya's prosecutor general has ordered the arrest of eight officials as part of his inquiry into the recent flood disaster that killed thousands, his office said on Monday.
The flash flood, which witnesses likened to a tsunami, broke through two ageing dams on September 10 after a hurricane-strength storm lashed the area around Derna, a port city in Libya's east.
Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians in a raid in the West Bank Sunday, the Palestinian health ministry said, as the army launched new drone strikes on the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Violence has surged in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since early last year, particularly in the West Bank where eight Palestinians have now been killed in Israeli incursions since Tuesday.
"Two Palestinians were killed by live Israeli bullets to the head" during the pre-dawn raid, the ministry said.
About a dozen women hunch over sewing machines in Libya's capital, urgently making clothes for the living, and shrouds for the dead, two weeks after a huge flood devastated the eastern city of Derna.
In the war-battered north African country that has long been divided between two rival governments, the tragedy that killed thousands has sparked a nationwide sense of solidarity.
Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians in a pre-dawn raid Sunday in the West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said, as the army confirmed it dismantled a militant "operational command centre" in the occupied territory.
Violence has surged in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since early last year, particularly in the West Bank where eight Palestinians have now been killed in Israeli incursions since Tuesday.
"Two Palestinians were killed by live Israeli bullets to the head" in the town of Tulkarem, the ministry said.
The Red Sea's spectacular coral reefs face a new threat, marine biologists warn -- the mass death of sea urchins that may be caused by a mystery disease.
Because the long-spined creatures feed on algae that can suffocate corals, their die-off could "destroy our entire coral reef ecosystem", warned scientist Lisa-Maria Schmidt.
In Israel's Red Sea resort of Eilat, which borders Jordan and Egypt, Schmidt recalled the moment she and her colleagues first witnessed the population collapse.
Hosts China swept the first gold medals at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Sunday in a statement of intent on day one of the region's answer to the Olympics.
China claimed the first gold when Zou Jiaqi and Qiu Xiuping dominated the women's lightweight double sculls rowing to kick off a medal rush for the home nation.
The Chinese pair finished in 7min 6.78sec, with Uzbekistan's Luizakhon Islamova and Malika Tagmativa taking silver -- almost 10 seconds behind.
"I am very excited as it's my first Asian Games," said Zou, clutching her gold medal.
The Israeli army launched a drone strike on the Gaza Strip on Saturday after violent protests in which three Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire, sources on both sides said.
The early evening strike is one of a series that have come amid near-daily protests at the border by Palestinians after Israel closed the Erez crossing from Gaza.
A drone "struck a military post belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation, adjacent to the area where a violent riot was taking place", the army said.
Four Roman tombs dating back 2,000 years have been discovered in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian archaeologist said Saturday, bemoaning a lack of resources that has delayed excavations in the besieged territory.
"With the discovery of these four tombs, the total number of tombs in this Roman cemetery, dating from the period between the first century BC and the second century AD, now stands at 134 tombs," said archaeologist Fadel Al-Otol.
The discovery marks the first complete Roman necropolis, or cemetery, fully unearthed in Gaza, he told AFP.
Chinese President Xi Jinping opened the 19th Asian Games in a colourful ceremony in Hangzhou on Saturday, launching a two-week sporting extravaganza that boasts more athletes than the Olympics.
After being delayed by a year because of China's now-abandoned zero-Covid policy, more than 12,000 competitors from 45 nations and territories will battle it out in 40 sports.
In front of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other visiting leaders, Xi officially opened the Games at the 80,000-capacity Hangzhou Olympic stadium, also known as "the Big Lotus".
