With brighter hues and bolder brushstrokes, Orthodox icon painters are looking to breathe new life into the ancient art of depicting saints, angels and biblical scenes, lest its rigid rules see it consigned to history.

A dozen church painters from European countries like Greece and Serbia but also from the United States gathered this month in Romania to experiment with adding modern touches to Byzantine iconography without angering the conservative Orthodox Church.

India risked being torn apart by sectarian conflict 20 years ago when Hindu zealots demolished a mosque, triggering deadly riots, but analysts say economic growth has proved a quiet balm on tensions.

More than 2,000 people -- mostly Muslims -- were killed in unrest after the 16th-century mosque in Ayodhya in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, was razed by a Hindu mob on December 6, 1992.

Italian archaeologists have discovered two Greco-Roman statues at ancient temple in Egypt, the antiquities minister said on Monday.

The two seated lions adorned water spouts used as part of the drainage system from the roof of the Ptolemaic-era temple in Egypt's Fayyum region, south of Cairo.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Monday that Lebanon will maintain its moderate identity, reiterating the government's policy of disassociation from regional developments.

He said: “The rise of the state in Lebanon cannot take place through involvement in regional conflicts.”

Pope Benedict XVI will join Twitter from December 12, with regular tweets in eight languages from the account @pontifex just in time for Christmas, the Vatican said on Monday.

"The first tweets will be answers to questions sent to the pope on matters of faith. The public can start sending them starting now," the Vatican said, adding that tweets would be in Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish.

A China theme park in Australia featuring a full-size replica of gates to the Forbidden City and a nine-storey temple could rival the Sydney Opera House as a tourist drawcard, officials said Monday.

The planned Aus$500 million (U.S.$520 million) attraction moved a step closer after Wyong Shire Council in New South Wales signed a deal on Sunday to sell 15.7 hectares of land to the company behind the proposal.

The Central Asian state of Uzbekistan has with much fanfare put on display what it says is a lost masterpiece of Western art, a painting by Italian Renaissance master Paolo Veronese.

The painting, which Uzbek experts say is one of several versions Veronese painted portraying the lamentation after Christ’s descent from the cross, has gone on display at the Uzbek State Arts Museum.

A popular map on social networks depicting a "bleeding" war-torn Syria has emerged as the centerpiece of an exhibition in Dubai by digital artist Tammam Azzam.

The artwork -- simply a 4.5 square metre (48.5 square foot) map of Syria painted in red to indicate blood -- is one of various pieces portraying the carnage of the conflict while mocking the international community's inaction.

A Roman wall at Pompeii in southern Italy has collapsed, local archaeologists said Friday, in the latest in a series of accidents at the ancient city buried by a volcanic explosion 2,000 years ago.

The section of wall some two meters (seven feet)long was part of the ruins of a house at the sprawling site near Naples. The area has seen heavy rain in recent weeks, and previous collapses have been linked to bad weather.

A rare gold coin from the dying days of Korea's independence before the 1910 takeover by Japan will go on sale in New York in December, Bonhams auctioneers said Friday.

The 20 Won coin dated 1906 last sold just under two years ago for $155,250.