Civil liberties advocates said Wednesday they have uncovered a government program to screen immigrants for national security concerns that has blacklisted some Muslims and put their U.S. citizenship applications on hold for years.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California said in a report that federal immigration officers are instructed to find ways to deny applications that have been deemed a national security concern. For example, they'll flag discrepancies in a petition or claim they failed to receive sufficient information from the immigrant.

Eritrea's capital Asmara boasts buildings unlike anywhere else in Africa, a legacy of its Italian colonial past, when architects were given free rein for structures judged too avant-garde back home.

Modernist architectural wonders in this highland city include a futurist petrol station mimicking a soaring aircraft and a funky art-deco bowling alley with checkered, colored glass windows.

The latest rooftop architectural wonder highlighted in China is a temple that brings worshipers closer to the heavens by being on top of a 21-storey apartment block.

Surrounded by foliage, the temple has glazed golden tiles and traditional upturned eaves with carvings of dragons and phoenixes, but defies convention by standing on top of the tower in Shenzhen, the Yangcheng Evening News reported.

Singapore's government has ordered a prominent church to pay compensation to a former employee who was fired for alleged adultery, officials said Tuesday.

The Faith Community Baptist Church has reportedly said it will abide by the order and pay the woman 7,000 Singapore dollars ($5,500) in salary and maternity benefits, but it insisted it was correct to dismiss her.

The ruins of this ancient complex sit on dunes by the sea, a world away from Gaza City's noise and bustle. Up in the sky, birds compete for space with children's kites flying from a nearby farm.

St. Hilarion's monastery, a reminder of the time in late antiquity when Christianity was the dominant faith in what is now the Gaza Strip, is one of many archaeological treasures scattered across this coastal territory.

Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards paramilitary units plan to teach drone-hunting to school students, an Iranian newspaper reported Monday.

The report by pro-reform Etemad daily quoted Gen. Ali Fazli, acting commander of the Guard's Basij militia, as saying the new program will be taught as part of a "Defensive Readiness" lesson in high schools from late September.

Bestselling Chinese author Murong Xuecun had nearly 4 million followers on his Twitter-like microblog. One day in May his account disappeared. So did his profiles on several other social media sites. No explanation was given, but one is starting to emerge.

Many famous Chinese — from pop stars to scholars, journalists to business tycoons — have amassed substantial online followings, and these larger-than-life personalities don't always hew to the Communist Party line. Now Beijing is tightening its grip on China's already heavily restricted Internet by making influential microbloggers uncomfortable when they post material the government doesn't like.

A rare round blue diamond will go under the hammer in Hong Kong in October, with auctioneers hoping the sale will fetch a record-breaking $19 million despite fears over the slowing Chinese economy.

Auction house Sotheby's expect the 7.59-carat fancy vivid blue diamond, which is about the size of a shirt button, to set a new record for price-per-carat.

With its rich history, winding white-washed alleyways and enviable Mediterranean setting, the Kasbah of Algiers has been a world heritage site for 20 years but is now threatened by neglect and decay.

The city within a city, crowned by a 16th-century hilltop citadel overlooking the bay and studded with Ottoman palaces, hammams, mosques and souks, has been rocked down the centuries by earthquakes, fires, floods and conflict.

Hundreds of people queued in a remote village in eastern India over the weekend to receive blessings from meters-long and potentially deadly snakes, thought to bring them good luck.

Snake charmers clapped and beat colorful drums to lure their "prized catches" out of wicker baskets and clay pots, as part of an annual festival in the village of Purba Bishnupur in West Bengal state.