Crematorium ovens, gas canisters and images of a gate emblazoned "Arbeit Macht Frei" instantly evoke the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in the West but many Chinese remain ignorant of the Holocaust, which for them is overshadowed by Japanese atrocities before and during World War II.

The first ever exhibition in China devoted to Nazi crimes against humanity has sought to draw more attention to it, with some success: in less than two months, more than 70,000 people visited "Auschwitz: death camp" in Beijing.

A prisoner's cap stolen from the museum at a former Nazi German death camp in Poland and put up for sale on eBay has been returned, a spokeswoman for the institution said Wednesday.

The blue and white striped cap was stolen from the museum at Majdanek more than 20 years ago and only turned up on eBay in the United States this year.

As Iraq rebuilds after decades of brutality, one Baghdad resident is bent on reviving an ancient folk tale that, like much of the country's history, risks being lost in time.

"Baghdad Night" is a 10-minute 3D animated film made against all odds by an Iraqi team led by film-maker Furat al-Jamil.

The organizers of the Miss World beauty pageant in Indonesia insisted Wednesday the show would go on, as Islamic hardline protests began to spread across the country days before the contest starts.

Hardliners have started mobilizing to protest at the decision to host the contest in Muslim-majority Indonesia, while Islamic clerics and even a government minister have voiced criticism.

Archaeologists drawing on a wide range of tools said on Wednesday they had pinpointed the crucial time in world history when Egypt emerged as a distinct state.

Experts have wrangled for decades as to when turbulent upper and lower Egypt were brought together under a stable, single ruler for the first time.

More than 200 languages have vanished in India over the last 50 years, a new study says, blaming urban migration and fear among nomadic tribes of speaking their traditional tongues.

The extensive study, conducted throughout the country over four years and released this week, has found 230 languages have "elapsed" while another 870 have survived the test of time in richly diverse but rapidly modernizing India, home to a vast number of indigenous or tribal peoples.

For the Egyptian musician Hind and her group, the night-time curfew in Cairo has turned into an opportunity to jam until the sun comes up.

When the curfew comes into force from 11:00 pm to 6:00 am, Hind and her group play traditional Egyptian music throughout the night.

It's deep underground, dubbed "the world's longest art exhibition", shows everything from Roman torsos to giant tulips and, if you live in Stockholm, can be seen everyday on your way to work.

Welcome to the Swedish capital's metro system, where 150 artists have exercised their talent on some 100 stations along the 110-kilometre (68-mile) network to distract, amuse or intrigue the tens of thousands of commuters who ply the route daily.

A shiver down the spine is one way of keeping cool during summer in Japan -- traditionally viewed as a time when the spirit world makes its presence felt.

August sees millions of Japanese return to their home towns for the Obon season, in which relatives gather to temporarily welcome back the spirits of their dead forebears.

A film about the life of Pope Francis, the first pontiff from the Americas, is in the pipeline in his native Argentina, Variety reported Monday.

The film, to be entitled "Historia de un cura" ("A priest's tale"), will be directed by Alejandro Agresti and star Rodrigo de la Serna as the pope, who was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires.