A Pablo Picasso portrait of his muse Marie-Therese Walter with future lover Dora Maar emerging from the shadows fetched 50 million pounds (US$69 million) at a London sale on Wednesday, a European auction record for a painting.

French fashion brand Lacoste on Wednesday swapped the crocodile logo on its shirts for the first time in its history for 10 of the most endangered species on the planet.

Tunisia's ministry of culture has banned the Oscar-nominated film Call Me by Your Name, a love story between two men, one of its main distributors said on Wednesday.

Singer Hoa Trần has launched a music video for the song Chiều Phủ Tây Hồ (Afternoon in Tây Hồ Temple) on February 27 to honour Đạo Mẫu (Mother Goddess religion) – a world intangible cultural heritage recognised by UNESCO.

 Elegant ikebana flower arrangements, together with hundreds of multicoloured flowers from Japan, are on display at “The Beautiful Japanese” – a special event that aims to introduce to Hà Nội’s people the fresh flowers from the Land of the Rising Sun.

 A range of spring festivals are taking place in the north of Việt Nam as locals wish for a year full of happiness, health and prosperity.

 Many critics and poets attending a workshop on contemporary poetry in Hà Nội on Tuesday agreed: the country is home to many poets, but few good poems.

A clay mould in the form of a Bodhi leaf has been unearthed among other valuable antiques at an excavation site in the central province of Hà Tĩnh.

A Bugarian rose festival – the second of its kind – will kick off next week in Hà Nội’s Water Park near the West Lake, organisers have said.