Yeah, Yeah, Yeah — Ye-ah!

A large piece of stage backdrop autographed by the Beatles during their first live U.S. concert 50 years ago is headed to auction, where it could draw $800,000 to $1 million.

So what is this thing called cool? A major photography exhibition that opens Friday at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington dares to tackle the question.

From Elvis Presley and James Dean to Jay-Z and Johnny Depp, "American Cool" namechecks 100 actors, actresses, artists, musicians and writers in the United States whose creativity and style have shaped the concept of cool.

A campaign of "no tolerance" for violence against women was launched in Morocco Wednesday by rights groups pressing the government to take greater action.

The "Strength of Women" group, which is partly funded by the European Union, has drawn up a petition that it will present to Islamist premier Abdelilah Benkirane listing a number of demands.

Paintings by Pablo Picasso, Rene Magritte and Juan Gris have pushed a sale at Christie's to a record for London of nearly £177 million ($288 million, 213 million euros), the auction house said Wednesday.

Gris' still-life "Nature Morte a la Nappe a Carreaux" ("The Checked Tablecloth") led the way, selling for £34.8 million to smash the world auction record for the Spanish artist.

What are the root causes of World War I? What led Europe at the height of its power to plunge into such a self-destructive conflict? Two historians, Gerd Krumeich of Duesseldorf University and John Horne of Trinity College, Dublin, offer their explanations.

GERD KRUMEICH: "Without a doubt, the roots of the conflict lie with the rivalries born of European nations' imperial ambitions. At the turn of the century, all believed that having an empire was vital for their development, even their survival in a world faced with rapid industrialisation and international competition.

No public memorial marks the former Shanghai internment camp made famous by JG Ballard's novel "Empire of the Sun", where more than 1,800 foreigners were held by the Japanese during World War II.

Ballard's fictionalised version of his experiences in the Lunghwa camp was published 30 years ago, followed in 1987 by the Steven Spielberg film starring a young Christian Bale as Jim Graham, a boy who comes of age on his own in the facility.

A Portuguese court on Tuesday cleared the controversial sale of 85 paintings by Spanish master Joan Miro valued at over 36 million euros, just hours before they are due to go up for auction.

The decision came in spite of demands from Portugal's opposition Socialist party for a suspension of the sale, according to the Lusa news agency.

A virtually unknown novel by Charlie Chaplin -- the only book the silent film comic ever wrote -- is being made public for the first time.

"Footlights", which will be unveiled in London later Tuesday, was written by Chaplin in 1948 and later transformed into his film "Limelight", in which a washed-out clown saves a dancer from suicide.

European lawmakers on Tuesday backed a call for the EU to fight homophobia and protect the rights of sexual minorities as fears rise of growing intolerance in many countries in the bloc.

"Homophobia must not be tolerated in Europe any more," said Greens MEP Ulrike Lunacek, who steered the resolution through the assembly.

An international rights group said Tuesday that Afghan President Hamid Karzai should refuse to sign a law passed by parliament that would deny women protection from domestic violence and forced marriage.

Afghanistan's parliament, a two-chamber house dominated by conservative clerics and former Islamist warlords, passed a "criminal procedure law" last year which experts say contains articles that deny women legal protections.