Poland's powerful Roman Catholic church on Monday hailed a Vatican announcement that its own John Paul II would be one of two late popes to be made saints next April.

"It will be a great day for the whole church worldwide, for Poland's church and for our country," episcopate spokesman Father Jozef Kloch told reporters Monday in Warsaw.

Israel has posthumously honored an Egyptian doctor for his role rescuing Jews during World War II, the first time a citizen of the Arab country has received the award.

Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial authority in Jerusalem, awarded Dr Mohammed Helmy the honor of "Righteous Among The Nations," which is given to non-Jews who stood up to the Nazi genocide during the war.

Afghanistan on Monday began two days of official mourning for people killed by the communist regime in the late 1970s after a list of thousands of the dead was released.

The names of nearly 5,000 Afghans tortured and killed in 1978 and 1979 by Afghan intelligence officials were published this month by the Dutch prosecutor's office as part of a war crimes investigation.

With melons that sell for the price of a new car and grapes that go for more than $100 a pop, Japan is a country where perfectly-formed fruit can fetch a fortune.

An industry of fruit boutiques has defied Japan's sluggish economy to consistently offer luscious and lavishly tended produce for hefty prices -- and it is always in demand.

France has awarded the U.S. writer Philip Roth its highest decoration, the Legion d'honneur (Legion of Honor), with the country's foreign minister bestowing the award in New York.

At a ceremony on Friday, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, in the Big Apple for the United Nations General Assembly, praised Roth's prolific career as one of the leading men of American letters.

George Washington's Mount Vernon estate on Friday formally opened a new $47 million library dedicated to the study of America's first president, with plans to host a series of scholars who will examine the lives of Washington and the Founding Fathers.

And if those scholars occasionally knock Washington off his lofty perch as America's flawless father, that's OK by Mount Vernon.

An oil painting by German abstract artist Gerhard Richter from Eric Clapton's collection is heading for a New York City auction.

Christie's auction house says "Abstraktes Bild" is estimated to sell for $20 million to $25 million on Nov. 12. It says the English guitarist and songwriter bought the painting at auction in 2001.

Some 250 works of contemporary art are being donated to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the U.S. museum announced Friday.

The gift is from American collector and former art dealer Virginia Dwan, 81, and includes 34 sculptures, 15 paintings, as well as prints and drawings, photographs, films and a set of artist books.

Poland's powerful Roman Catholic church on Friday apologized over two alleged pedophile priests as prosecutors on both sides of the Atlantic began probing the men, one a former Vatican envoy.

Prosecutors in the Dominican Republic have asked Interpol to arrest fugitive Polish priest Wojciech Gil, 36, who allegedly abused several young boys while serving on the Caribbean island.

A nine-metre (30-foot) high bronze statue of South Africa's first black president Nelson Mandela will be erected at a government complex in the capital Pretoria, an official said Thursday.

The figure with outstretched arms and one foot slightly forward, will depict a younger looking Mandela, as he looked 10 years after his 1994 election.