Culture
Latest stories
Contested Chinese Imperial Seal on Auction in Paris

A French auction house is to put on sale Monday a historic Chinese seal despite threats of legal action alleging the piece may have been stolen from Beijing's Forbidden City by Anglo-French forces in 1860.

The green jade seal is expected to fetch up to 200,000 euros ($263,000) and dates from the Qianlong period (1736-95).

W140 Full Story
Mennonites Find Prosperity in Paraguay Outback

With Bible in hand as a shield against adversity, Paraguay's Mennonites have celebrated their bounty 85 years after settling in the inhospitable plains known as El Chaco.

Established in 1927 by Mennonites fleeing Germany and the Soviet Union under Stalin, the deeply pacifist Protestant community has survived and flourished to become an important generator of wealth for Paraguay, said Ronaldo Dietze, a descendent of German settlers.

W140 Full Story
China Cracks Down on Doomsday Rumors

China has detained dozens of people, some of whom it terms doomsday cult members, as part of a nationwide crackdown on rumors about a supposed forthcoming apocalypse, state media said Monday.

Authorities in five different areas have detained 52 people for spreading predictions of a December 21 "doomsday" linked to the ancient Mayan calendar, the state news agency Xinhua reported.

W140 Full Story
Mandela Remains in Hospital for Ninth Day

South Africa's former president Nelson Mandela remained in hospital for a ninth straight day on Sunday as he recovered from a lung infection and gallstone surgery.

The office of the president, which has been sending out brief updates on the health of the 94-year-old Mandela, did not release any information Sunday and the presidential spokesman could not be reached for comment.

W140 Full Story
Historian Probes Conductor Von Karajan's 'Nazi' Past

Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan, a major figure in 20th-century classical music, was a bigger fan of the Nazis than he made out, according to a historian who has unearthed previously unseen documents.

"It is time to probe scientifically the claims that Karajan constructed and cobbled together... and which in the end he really believed himself," said Oliver Rathkolb from Vienna University.

W140 Full Story
'Casablanca' Piano Sells in NY for More than $600K

The piano used for the song "As Times Goes By" in the classic 1942 film "Casablanca" has fetched more than $600,000 at auction.

The 58-key upright was sold to an unidentified buyer for $602,500 at Sotheby's New York on Friday.

W140 Full Story
African Migrants Face 'Impossible' Life in Greece

Stuck in a small Athens flat all day to avoid being caught by police, earning another stint in prison and possibly a beating, 29-year-old Cameroonian Eugene Manaa rues the day he came to Greece.

"Life is not just difficult here. It's impossible," says Manaa, who recently spent two months in prison on the island of Crete for illegal entry into Greece.

W140 Full Story
400 African Migrants Arrive on Italian Island

Two boats carrying more than 400 African migrants arrived on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa on Saturday, the latest in a wave of thousands of undocumented migrants arriving from North African shores.

The boats were intercepted overnight by Italian coast guards in open sea south of the rocky outcrop, which is closer to Africa than to the Italian mainland.

W140 Full Story
Opposition Fails to Slow Gay Wedding March

Despite often fierce opposition, the legalization of gay marriage is gaining ground in the West, with France and Britain now expected to join a dozen countries where homosexual couples can legally wed.

For opponents, especially religious conservatives, increasing legal recognition of gay couples is a troubling trend that signals the breakdown of traditional families. Extreme critics have claimed it will open the door to sexual deviance.

W140 Full Story
Afro-Peruvians Ensnared in Poverty, Racism

Peru has one of Latin America's fastest-growing economies, but Afro-Peruvians are still overwhelmingly mired in poverty.

Those lucky enough to work in unskilled jobs their ancestors had three or four centuries ago -- as pallbearers, hotel bellhops and restaurant wait staff -- hope they may finally be on the cusp of meaningful change.

W140 Full Story