Pablo Picasso's anti-war masterpiece "Guernica", one of the world's most iconic paintings, on Sunday served as a backdrop to a dance performance for the first time in its 77-year history.

About 80 people sat on the floor or stood as Josue Ullate, a bare chested dancer in black tights, jumped and leapt in front of the large black-and-white canvas at Madrid's Reina Sofia Museum.

Once pilgrims came on camels or on foot in their thousands, now millions of Muslims make the journey to the Mecca each year, traveling by boat, coach and budget airline, and their number is constantly rising.

In the past century new modes of transport and technological advances have transformed the hajj.

A high school curriculum, billed as a way to teach archaeology, history and the arts through Bible stories, also tells students God is always there in times of trouble and that sinners must "suffer the consequences" of disobeying.

The Mustang School Board in suburban Oklahoma City voted this month to place the Museum of the Bible's curriculum in its schools as an elective for a one-year trial after being assured that the intent is not to proselytize but to use the Bible to explain key principles in the arts and sciences.

In his native Poland, Pope John Paul II's old stomping grounds are places of pilgrimage. Here are the top five spots in Poland associated with the superstar pope, who will be made a saint at a ceremony in Vatican on Sunday.

THE PALACE OF THE KRAKOW BISHOPS

The world's largest blue diamond will go under the hammer in Geneva next month, with the rare gem expected to fetch up to $25 million, auctioneers said Friday.

"The Blue", a shimmering pear-shaped rock the color of cobalt and weighing 13.22 carats was described by Christie's as "the largest fancy vivid blue diamond in the world."

A dozen previously unknown works of digital art created by much-loved pop artist Andy Warhol have been discovered by a computer club at an American university in his hometown Pittsburgh.

The art was found by members of the Carnegie Mellon University computer club on floppy disks dating back to 1985 stored in the archives of The Andy Warhol Museum, the school announced.

Israel is launching a new program to extend instruction on the Holocaust to children in kindergarten, despite some public criticism that they are too young to understand.

"For the first time, there is a comprehensive educational program for Holocaust instruction to all age groups, from kindergarten to high school," said a joint statement Friday from the education ministry and Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.

Scientists will start scanning Monday with a radar the floor of a Madrid convent where they hope to find the body of Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, author of "Don Quixote".

They said on Friday they were ready to begin searching in the Convent of Trinitarians to identify the writer, who died in poverty despite creating one of the landmarks of Western literature.

A bronze statue honoring longtime film critic and Pulitzer Prize winner Roger Ebert was unveiled Thursday in Illinois, where he grew up.

Ebert died last April at the age of 70 after a long battle with cancer.

A film that will be shown at the National September 11 Memorial Museum when it opens next month unfairly links Islam and terrorism, clergy members said in letters demanding it be changed.

"The Rise of Al Qaeda," a brief documentary narrated by NBC anchor Brian Williams, shows the growth of international terrorist groups in the years leading up to the 2001 attacks. The film has not been publicly released, but museum officials have screened it for groups including an interfaith clergy advisory panel.