The state developer of an ambitious cultural district in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday outlined a new timetable for the stalled project, with its first attraction — a branch of the Louvre — slated now to open in 2015.

A division of the Guggenheim will follow in 2017, which like the outpost of the French art institution will make its debut in the Emirati capital years later than originally planned.

Hundreds of photographs by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo that were sealed away when she died will be publicly displayed for the first time in the United States next month at the Artisphere arts center in Arlington, Virginia.

Artisphere is announcing plans Wednesday for an exhibition titled "Frida Kahlo: Her Photos," which includes more than 250 images from her personal collection. They were packed away in 1954 when Kahlo died, along with items from her husband, artist Diego Rivera, and were unsealed in 2007.

Syria, Bahrain and Yemen received their worst ever press freedom ranking Wednesday in Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) index for 2011, a tumultuous year that saw the downfall of several Arab dictators.

Eritrea, North Korea and Turkmenistan came right at the bottom of the 10th annual list by the press freedom group, with the same clutch of European states -- led by Finland, Norway and Estonia -- at the top.

India's embassy in Washington has contacted U.S. assistant secretary of state Robert Blake to protest a gag by late night TV host Jay Leno involving Sikhism's holiest shrine, a senior State Department official said Tuesday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Indian government "contacted us" and Blake responded along the lines of an earlier State Department position, which affirmed US constitutional rights to free speech.

In an unintentionally ominous prediction, John F. Kennedy said ahead of a trip to Dallas, where he would be assassinated, that he was expecting a "tough day," secret recordings reveal.

The John F Kennedy Presidential Library on Tuesday released 45 hours of recordings that Kennedy made of his White House meetings, covering everything from U.S.-Soviet relations to his reelection plans.

The organizers of an Indian literary festival have canceled a video conference with author Salman Rushdie after protests and threats.

Sanjoy Roy said Tuesday they decided to cancel the video address to avoid violence by Muslim activists gathered at the Jaipur Literary Festival.

Delicate work to restore a Leonardo Da Vinci masterpiece, to be unveiled in March, has turned into a headache for the Louvre, after experts accused the Paris museum of putting the precious oil work at risk.

Da Vinci began painting "The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne" in 1503 and when he died in France in 1519 the unfinished work, depicting Christ beside his mother and grandmother with a sacrificial lamb, was acquired by King Francis I.

Karbala is considering petitioning for a Guinness World Record for the number of Shiite pilgrims who visit the Iraqi shrine city for annual Arbaeen rituals, its governor told Agence France Presse on Saturday.

Amal al-Din al-Har admitted the move was partly motivated to convince those who are skeptical of official estimates of the numbers of pilgrims passing through Karbala during Arbaeen and the preceding Ashura commemorations.

British author Salman Rushdie is to address an Indian literature festival by video link after he was forced to pull out in person because of protests by Islamic hardliners, organizers said on Monday.

Rushdie's appearance at the Jaipur Literature Festival was cancelled on Friday, with the Indian-origin writer citing alleged threats to his life from underworld gunmen who had been hired to kill him.

The medieval walled city of Lahore is under threat from a construction 'free-for-all' ruining centuries of heritage, as an ambitious Pakistani restoration project to protect it stalls.

Rapid and illegal growth is crowding out the "old city" -- the section of the eastern hub fortified by a wall during the Mughal era -- while its unique carved wood balconies jutting on to bricklined streets fall into disrepair.