Death row inmates in Japan want to be told of their execution in advance, instead of on the day they are to be hanged, a lawmaker's survey said.

A majority of those sentenced to die would also like the present method of administering punishment to be reviewed, with the largest bloc saying their preferred choice would be lethal injection.

China has passed a new law stipulating that family members should pay regular visits to their elderly relatives, according to the government's official website.

The ruling, approved by China's National People's Congress on Friday, is part of a package of amendments to the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly legislation and will come into force on July 1, 2013.

Archeologists in central Mexico uncovered the bones of 12 children and adults who may have been buried 800 years ago, a National Institute of Anthropology and History expert told AFP.

The skeletons were discovered as the archeologists supervised the installation of a new drain in an old neighborhood of Cholula, a city located 120 kilometers north of the Mexican capital.

Canada has stripped citizenship from a Ukrainian-born man it is seeking to deport for alleged ties to a Nazi killing squad in World War II, the immigration ministry announced Friday.

Helmut Oberlander, who has been fighting deportation since 1995, can still appeal the decision in federal court, Citizenship and Immigration Canada spokeswoman Nancy Caron told AFP.

Iraqis wistful for a golden age in politics, often labelled divided and cynical now, have been able to harken back to such a time through an exhibition on their inaugural parliament 87 years ago.

During the exhibition at the modern Council of Representatives building in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, visitors strolled past historical documents, newspapers, books and photographs.

Fries, crunchy, salty, tasty fried sticks of potato are claimed by Belgium and France as the product of their national gastronomic genius but the true origins are shrouded in popular folklore.

"Fries, they are the orphan of street cooking, of low birth. That is why it's hard to establish where they really come from," says French historian Madeleine Ferriere.

It may not seem the most obvious setting, but a squat building overlooking a slum is home to one of Pakistan's leading galleries, which for 30 years has defied dictatorships and fundamentalists to champion cutting-edge art.

Rohtas Gallery was founded in 1981, at the height of military ruler General Zia-ul-Haq's martial law, as Pakistan was undergoing a program of Islamisation that imposed Draconian restrictions on culture and entertainment.

Pope Benedict XVI has galvanized Catholics at the close of 2012 to go on the offensive over key faith issues, forging new alliances and fighting secularism in the West with a media campaign.

Damaging sex abuse scandals and growing opposition to the Church's attitude toward gay marriage and women priests have forced Benedict to rethink how to communicate with the modern world and stem the flood of deserting believers.

A Catholic priest has sparked outrage in Italy by claiming that women bring domestic violence on themselves by dressing provocatively and neglecting housework, Italian media reported Thursday.

"How often do we see girls and mature women going around scantily dressed and in provocative clothes?" Piero Corsi said in a Christmas message posted on the door of his church in the small town of San Terenzio in northwest Italy.

Nearly two-thirds of British people support plans to introduce gay marriage, according to a poll published on Thursday which showed growing backing for the reform.

Some 62 percent of those questioned for the poll in the Guardian newspaper said same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, against 31 percent who oppose the change and seven percent who were undecided.