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New York Exhibition Plots Rise of Global Fashion

Paris, Milan, New York and London may reign in world fashion, but Asian and South American cities are ones to watch, according to an exhibition at one of the world's best design schools.

Dubbed "Around the world in 80 Items" by Style.com, the museum at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology is charting a new generation of fashion-forward cities eying global prominence.

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Vatican's Accord or Not, Bosnian Town Believes in its 'Miracle'

For believers, the Bosnian town of Medjugorje is as sacred as Lourdes or Fatima, a place where the Virgin Mary appeared to children that decades on has become a huge pilgrimage site.

And ahead of Pope Francis' visit to the capital Sarajevo on Saturday, the Catholics who flock to this small town hope the Vatican may finally recognize its controversial shrine, as it does the "official" ones in France and Portugal.

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Fairytale Venue with Dark Past for G7 Meet in Germany

Group of Seven leaders will gather from Sunday in a quintessentially German venue handpicked by Chancellor Angela Merkel, a luxury hotel with a fairytale setting and a tumultuous past.

Elmau Castle, nestled in the Bavarian Alps, is a five-star resort that will be transformed into a fortress for the two-day meeting of the club of rich nations.

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From Jack the Ripper to Krays, New Show Traces UK Crime History

The diary of a detective hunting Jack the Ripper and a poison-filled syringe intended for use by the notorious Kray twins are among items at a new crime exhibition in London.

"The Crime Museum Uncovered" show at the Museum of London comprises more than 600 exhibits, including champagne belonging to the Great Train robbers, objects handled by acid-bath murderer John Haigh and various tools used by a post-war Russian spy ring.

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Taliban, other Afghans Talk Women's Rights in Norway

Members of Afghanistan's Taliban are in Norway for informal talks with representatives of Afghan society, the Norwegian government said Thursday, in a new sign of a nascent dialogue.

According to Afghan and Norwegian media, the talks were expected to focus on women's rights in Afghanistan.

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Morocco Arrests Two men who Kissed in Public

Two Moroccan men who kissed in public were arrested by authorities in the conservative Muslim kingdom and a Spanish feminist was expelled after a pro-gay protest, officials said on Thursday.

On Tuesday authorities arrested two French members of the controversial feminist campaign Femen after they protested topless in front of a Rabat landmark against Morocco's treatment of gays.

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Native American Wins Right to Wear Feather at Graduation

A native American student has won the right to wear an eagle feather at his U.S. school graduation, after a last-minute deal was reached to curtail court action, officials said Wednesday.

Christian Titman had repeatedly asked his school in California to let him display the feather, presented by his father as a mark of his academic achievements, at his graduation Thursday.

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Haiti Artisans Embrace Ethical Fashion

Diameter, width, thickness -- nothing is left to chance as Brazilian jewelry designer Ana Suassuna trains Haitian artisans how to shape cow horns into fashionable bracelets.

As sanders whir in the background, Suassuna surveys the work being done in a small studio in the heart of bustling Port-au-Prince.

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Grapes of Wrath: Muslim Wine Ferments Divisions in China

When Chen Naibao got into the wine business, he left out the pigeon blood and lamb meat that have been hallmarks of vintages in China's Xinjiang region for more than a thousand years.

The animal parts are usually added to enhance flavor and increase the supposed medicinal qualities of museles, a traditional wine raved about in Tang dynasty poetry and long fermented by local Uighurs, despite the prohibition on alcohol of their Muslim religion.

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Dictator or Visionary? In France, Napoleon Splits Opinion

Under the glittering dome of the Invalides military hospital in Paris, where Napoleon lies buried, France's great general continues to divide opinion, 200 years after his historic defeat at Waterloo.

The few French tourists who come to pay their respects bicker among themselves: for Jean-Marie, Napoleon was a "dictator" but his wife Claudine reminds him that he "accomplished great things, including France's legal system".

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