A painting by Johann Conrad Seekatz stolen from a Warsaw museum by the Nazis during World War II has been handed back to Poland, U.S. authorities said Thursday.

The painting -- "St.Philip Baptizing a Servant of Queen Kandaki" -- was looted from the National Museum of Warsaw during the 1939-1945 conflict, federal prosecutors in New York said in a statement.

Police in Cambodia said Friday they have recovered a precious golden urn stolen last year that contains what are considered to be remnants of Buddha's body.

The urn was taken from a mountain shrine 40 kilometers (25 miles) outside the capital in mid-December.

Community leaders gathered in Mali Thursday to mark an international day of campaigning against female genital mutilation, publicly renouncing a practice that is still legal in the deeply-conservative west African nation.

Moussocoura Sidibe, the spokesman for 14 communities representing numerous ethnic groups in the Muslim-majority country, said they were taking "the solemn commitment to abandon the practice of FGM and early and forced marriage involving girls in our communities".

A prosecutor says three people have been arrested in connection with the theft of a multi-million-dollar Stradivarius violin stolen from the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concertmaster.

Assistant District Attorney Kent Lovern said Wednesday he couldn't reveal any information beyond the arrests.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah — Ye-ah!

A large piece of stage backdrop autographed by the Beatles during their first live U.S. concert 50 years ago is headed to auction, where it could draw $800,000 to $1 million.

So what is this thing called cool? A major photography exhibition that opens Friday at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington dares to tackle the question.

From Elvis Presley and James Dean to Jay-Z and Johnny Depp, "American Cool" namechecks 100 actors, actresses, artists, musicians and writers in the United States whose creativity and style have shaped the concept of cool.

A campaign of "no tolerance" for violence against women was launched in Morocco Wednesday by rights groups pressing the government to take greater action.

The "Strength of Women" group, which is partly funded by the European Union, has drawn up a petition that it will present to Islamist premier Abdelilah Benkirane listing a number of demands.

Paintings by Pablo Picasso, Rene Magritte and Juan Gris have pushed a sale at Christie's to a record for London of nearly £177 million ($288 million, 213 million euros), the auction house said Wednesday.

Gris' still-life "Nature Morte a la Nappe a Carreaux" ("The Checked Tablecloth") led the way, selling for £34.8 million to smash the world auction record for the Spanish artist.

What are the root causes of World War I? What led Europe at the height of its power to plunge into such a self-destructive conflict? Two historians, Gerd Krumeich of Duesseldorf University and John Horne of Trinity College, Dublin, offer their explanations.

GERD KRUMEICH: "Without a doubt, the roots of the conflict lie with the rivalries born of European nations' imperial ambitions. At the turn of the century, all believed that having an empire was vital for their development, even their survival in a world faced with rapid industrialisation and international competition.

No public memorial marks the former Shanghai internment camp made famous by JG Ballard's novel "Empire of the Sun", where more than 1,800 foreigners were held by the Japanese during World War II.

Ballard's fictionalised version of his experiences in the Lunghwa camp was published 30 years ago, followed in 1987 by the Steven Spielberg film starring a young Christian Bale as Jim Graham, a boy who comes of age on his own in the facility.