The number of Catholic priests and believers in the world is on the rise, a Vatican report showed on Monday, with gains in Africa and Asia offsetting a slump in Europe and the Americas.

The world's Catholics rose from 1.196 billion to 1.214 billion between 2010 and 2011, an increase of 1.5 percent, according to the Church's annual statistics report.

Descendants of Cape Verde's Jewish community, a diverse, multi-cultural diaspora from around the world, stand in silent homage to the memory of their ancestors in a Catholic cemetery restored by a Muslim king.

The gathering in Praia, the capital of the west African archipelago, is more than just an emotional introduction among newly discovered family and friends. For its organizers, it is a potent symbol of religious tolerance.

China's ancient rulers misled their people by fabricating results of divination rituals used to help decide policy and shape public opinion, state media quoted researchers as saying Monday.

Emperors during the Shang dynasty (1600 BC-1046 BC) relied heavily on prophecy and divination, using techniques such as burning turtle shells or cattle bones and basing predictions on the pattern of cracks, the official Xinhua news agency said.

A pair of sandals formerly owned by India's independence hero Mahatma Gandhi is to go under the hammer in Britain later this month.

Auction house Mullock's said the battered leather shoes, due to be sold on May 21, were expected to fetch up to £15,000 ($23,000, 18,000 euros) despite being "in a bad state".

Coin enthusiasts are getting a glimpse of more than $100 million worth of rare money, including some of the crown jewels of money collecting at the National Money Show in New Orleans.

Among the attractions are two exceedingly rare 1913 Liberty Head nickels valued at more than $5 million. One was hidden in a Virginia closet for four decades before selling at auction last month for $3.17 million. The other was frequently carried in the pocket of a former owner from Wisconsin so he could show it to strangers.

Greece is preparing a case for the return of antiquities looted by the Nazis during World War II, officials said on Friday.

"The entirety of the archaeological service's archives is under investigation" in a search for photographs and sketches of lost items, the general secretariat for culture said in a statement.

Held a virtual prisoner by the Bolsheviks months before his execution, Russia's last tsar Nicholas II pasted informal snapshots of his family into an album which has now come to light in a Russian provincial museum.

The photographs, most of which have never been seen before, show the last of the Romanov rulers of Russia without pomp and in unguarded moments. Many were taken by Nicholas II himself.

Cuban leader Raul Castro's daughter, a sexologist and supporter of gay rights, has urged Cubans to join a traditional "conga" dance against homophobia taking place in Havana on Saturday.

"We are the heirs of a strongly patriarchal Spanish culture, very homophobic and very discriminating," said Mariela Castro, whose father succeeded her uncle and revolutionary leader Fidel Castro as the island's president in 2006.

Lebanese director Ziad Doueiri whose award-winning film "The Attack" has been banned in Lebanon said on Friday that the Arab League has asked its member states to take steps to prevent the film being shown.

"The Arab League has asked Arab governments, Lebanon included, to withdraw the permit to distribute the film," he told Agence France Presse in Paris.

The Czech crown jewels went on show at Prague castle Friday, in a rare public display for the 700-year-old items that are pulled out only on special occasions.

The medieval works of art consist of a gold crown decorated with 96 precious stones including rubies and sapphires, along with a scepter, royal orb and other precious objects.