Top Nazi war crimes suspect Laszlo Csatary, accused of overseeing the deportation of thousands of Jews to their deaths during World War II, denied all allegations against him at a first hearing before prosecutors in Hungary on Tuesday, his lawyer said.

"Csatary denied all allegations against him," the 97-year-old man's lawyer, Gabor Horvath, told journalists after a three-hour closed-door hearing.

The remains and personal belongings of five American airmen have been recovered from the wreck of a U.S. Air Force plane, almost 70 years after it sank in Canadian waters, a diplomat said Tuesday.

The amphibious plane was accidentally discovered by underwater archeologists in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in 2009 and a 50-person U.S. military team was sent earlier this month to search for the remains of the crash victims.

Rome's ancient Colosseum is leaning and needs urgent repairs but the long-delayed restoration project has been pushed back to December, the site's director said Monday.

Experts have discovered that the former gladiator battle ground is tilting about 40 centimeters (16) inches on its southern side, possibly due to cracked foundations, sparking fresh fears the iconic monument may be falling apart.

An expected worldwide boom in Muslim tourism is reflected in the growing availability of amenities such as halal spas and airport prayer rooms, experts say.

Thanks to their growing number and affluence, Muslims -- especially from the oil-rich Middle East -- are travelling like never before, and it is a trend that looks set to gather pace.

Looking at the spray paint on the cross and the rusting scooter seat in the weeds, it is hard to argue with the local landowner who laments, "Iraq is not like Egypt -- here, nobody gives a damn about our heritage."

In this town in south Iraq, home to two cemeteries -- one for British and Indian soldiers, the other for Turkish veterans -- who died in World War I, much of the remnants of bygone eras and rulers have been left crumbling.

The United States warned the world was sliding backwards on religious freedoms Monday, slamming China for cracking down on Tibetan Buddhists and hitting out at Pakistan and Afghanistan.

As the State Department unveiled its first report on religious freedoms since the start of the Arab Spring, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it was a "signal to the worst offenders" that the world was watching.

Iran is a very urbanized society with a largely educated, young Muslim population that ranks as the Middle East's second-biggest, its latest census figures, published on Sunday, show.

The snapshot, issued on the website of the presidency's planning and strategic supervision department (www.amar.org.ir), also corrected some misconceptions about the country, notably by reporting fewer than expected Jews and Internet users.

Koyuki Higashi is slim, articulate and intelligent, things that make a would-be wife attractive to many in Japan. But Higashi knows she will probably never marry because she is a lesbian.

Despite the increasing tolerance of gay marriage in much of the developed world, especially in Europe, and a gradual acceptance of the issue in more liberal states in the U.S., the subject is not on the radar in Japan or in many parts of Asia.

Once banned as "bourgeois", the work of painter Marc Chagall is enjoying a revival in the ex-Soviet Union with a new exhibition delving into the influence folk art and his Russian Jewish roots had on his work.

"Visitors often ask, why Chagall's animals are blue, yellow or pink, why the bride is flying over the rooftops and the man has two faces. They will now understand where Chagall drew (his images) from," said curator Ekaterina Selezneva.

A row over religious circumcision in Austria that has spread from Germany made more waves Saturday after an unprecedented joint call by Jews, Muslims and Christians for unequivocal government support.

The Jewish Community (IKG), the Islamic Community of Austria (IGGiOe) and Catholic and Lutheran bishops called on Friday on Vienna to "issue a clear commitment to religious freedom and to the legality of male circumcision."