Vladimir Putin’s nostalgia for the Soviet Union has never been a secret but, post-Crimea, the Kremlin has been actively campaigning for a return to a totalitarian state, writes Owen Matthews.

WHY do Russian artists so eagerly support Putin’s policy in Crimea?

China has set up its own peace prize and plans to award it on Thursday, the day before the Nobel Committee honours an imprisoned Chinese dissident in a move that has enraged Beijing.

Archaeologists have unearthed the upper part of a double limestone statue of a powerful pharaoh who ruled nearly 3,400 years ago, Egypt’s Ministry of Culture said today.

Chinese government officials have banned Oasis from performing in the country - after discovering the British rockers participated in the Free Tibet campaign 12 years ago.

Singer Bjork has accused the media of exaggerating her recent pro-Tibetan independence remark during a Chinese concert.

China has threatened to blacklist foreign artists who speak out in favour of Tibetan freedom, following pop star Bjork's recent onstage chant for the mandated country.

The Rolling Stones opened their first ever concert in mainland China on Saturday with the classic hit, “Start Me Up.”

Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger said he was not surprised that Chinese officials had banned five of their songs at their debut concert in Shanghai.

Saddam Hussein’s new novel returns to his favourite theme of good v evil – the good being Arabs and Muslims, the bad being the West.

Turkey today shocked art lovers who had travelled from as far as Japan to see Picasso paintings at a national museum. Four of the five works are fakes, they admitted.

Egyptian authorities say ancient temples in Karnak and Luxor are being threatened by groundwater.