The descendants of African slaves donned masks and bright red costumes as they danced through the streets of this small Venezuelan town on Thursday for its annual commemoration of Corpus Cristi.

Young men beat drums and shook maracas as the "devils" paraded through the streets and people gathered to celebrate Corpus Cristi, a Roman Catholic holiday celebrating the transformation of the body and blood of Christ into bread and wine.

The tiny Sidi community, descendants of ninth century African migrants, have lived quietly along India's west coast for hundreds of years while never losing touch with their ancient traditions.

"A Certain Grace", a new book by Indian photographer Ketaki Sheth reveals how the community, many of whose members live in poverty, has assimilated in India while keeping its distinctive culture alive.

The great inventor of Antiquity, Archimedes, is the star of an unprecedented exhibition opening in Rome which includes modern applications of some of his best known discoveries.

"We owe him some revolutionary inventions," Umberto Broccoli, head of cultural heritage in the Italian capital, said at a press presentation of the show.

The power of money, tragedy and destruction: the world looks pitiless and harsh through the lens of the 55th Biennale art festival in Venice, which starts on Saturday.

A record number of 88 national pavilions are taking part -- including, for the first time, the Vatican -- in a festival that takes an overall jaded view of a world hard-hit by economic crisis and full of discord.

The Palestinian foreign ministry on Thursday slammed Israel for having called off a United Nations investigative mission to Jerusalem's Old City, calling it an act of "contempt of international law and institutions."

The ministry said it "condemns in the strongest possible terms the decision of Israel, the occupying power, to prevent the technical mission of UNESCO from carrying its monitoring mission in the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls."

The relics from the Mary Rose, the flagship of England's navy when it sank in 1545 as a heartbroken king Henry VIII watched from the shore, have finally been reunited with the famous wreck in a new museum offering a view of life in Tudor times.

Skeletons, longbows, tankards, gold coins and even nit combs are going on display alongside the remains of the pride of Henry's fleet.

Iraqi authorities have contracted a Czech firm to carry out a 10-month restoration of the ancient Arch of Ctesiphon as part of a plan to boost tourism to the once-popular site.

Through the decades of conflict that have wracked Iraq, the famed 6th century monument, which is the world's largest brick-built arch and the last structure still standing from the ancient Persian imperial capital Ctesiphon, has fallen into disrepair.

Whatever their social or political differences, Cairo's residents agree on one thing: the traffic is a nightmare.

Increasingly desperate to escape the gridlock and pollution of the Egyptian capital, more people are now using the Nile for their daily commute to work.

Investigators are analyzing ashes found in the house of a Romanian suspect charged for the spectacular Dutch museum heist, judicial sources said Wednesday, raising fears that the seven stolen masterpieces may have been burnt.

"Tests are underway, they will take some time," Gabriela Neagu, a spokeswoman for the Romanian prosecutor's office, told Agence France Presse.

The world's oldest complete Torah scroll has been found in a university archive in Bologna, according to an Italian professor who said the text could be from the 12th century.

The precious lambskin scroll had been classified by the university library as being from the 17th century and was named simply "Scroll Number Two".