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Experts Row over 'Earliest' Chinese Inscriptions Find

Fierce debate has erupted among experts in China over the discovery of 5,000-year-old inscriptions that some believe represent the earliest record of Chinese characters.

Pottery pieces and stone vessels unearthed at the Zhuangqiaofen archaeological site in the eastern province of Zhejiang push "the origin of the written language back 1,000 years", the state-run Global Times newspaper reported.

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Qatari Prince Vows to Restore Paris Mansion Damaged in Fire

The Qatari prince who owns the Hotel Lambert in Paris vowed Thursday to restore the landmark mansion to its original grandeur after it suffered severe damage in a fire.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani said he was determined to follow through with the restoration of the mansion after the fire on Wednesday at the 17th-century townhouse on Ile Saint-Louis overlooking the Seine.

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Tehran Art Auction Lures Spenders Amid Hard Times

Some arrived in Porsches or BMWs, which were whisked away by valet parking attendants. The hotel lobby was awash with the celebrated and powerful including A-list actors, well-known artists and captains of commerce.

For one glimmering moment late last month, the Iranian capital was the talk of the world's art market after 80 works sold for $2 million, astonishing a country whose economy is battered by Western sanctions but still has pockets of wealth looking for investment havens for their money.

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Anti-Muslim Riots Haunt Shattered Myanmar City

The thugs ordered Kyaw not to look as they killed his classmates, but the terrified teenager still caught glimpses of the merciless beatings as a wave of anti-Muslim killing engulfed his school town in central Myanmar, leaving dozens dead.

"They used steel chains, sticks and knives... there were hundreds of people. They beat anyone who tried to look at them," the 16-year-old told Agence France Presse.

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First Apple Computer Sells at Auction for $387,750

An original Apple computer from 1976 has sold at auction for nearly $388,000.

Known as the Apple 1, it was one of the first Apple computers ever built.

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Shakespeare's Othello Makes Triumphant Venice Return

St Mark's Square in Venice on Wednesday was the spectacular backdrop to a tragic opera in the first open-air performance in 43 years by the famous La Fenice theatre -- a new must on the global culture calendar.

La Fenice is staging Italian maestro Giuseppe Verdi's interpretation of Shakespeare's "Othello, the Moor of Venice" -- with South Korea's Myung-Whun Chung conducting La Fenice's orchestra and choir.

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New Book on JFK Assassination Coming in October

The ever-disputed investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is getting a fresh look.

Former New York Times correspondent and best-selling author Philip Shenon has a book coming out this fall that alleges "powerful" people interfered with the Warren Commission's efforts to determine whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in shooting JFK in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.

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Memories Vivid at Iraq Torture Centre Turned Museum

Kamiran Aziz Ali grimaces and leans forward, his hands behind his back, re-enacting the moment in January 1990 when Saddam Hussein's henchmen flung him into a jail cell in the "Red House".

"I am still in pain," Ali says. "I cannot sit down for a long time anymore."

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Huge Blaze Causes 'Irreversible' Damage to Paris Landmark

A major fire caused "irreversible" damage on Wednesday to a landmark 17th-century Paris mansion, the Hotel Lambert, as it was undergoing controversial renovations by the Qatari royal family.

Murals, frescoes and paintings dating back hundreds of years were completely destroyed by the blaze which broke out around 1:30am (2330 GMT Tuesday).

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Unique Egyptian Sphinx Unearthed in North Israel

Part of an ancient Egyptian king's unique sphinx was unveiled at a dig in northern Israel on Tuesday, with researchers struggling to understand just how the unexpected find ended up there.

The broken granite sphinx statue -- including the paws and some of the mythical creature's forearms -- displayed at Tel Hazor archaeological site in Israel's Galilee, is the first such find in the region.

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