A potent mix of state censorship, conservative publishing choices and scant translation means international readers are given a narrow view of contemporary China, industry critics say.

There are the occasional books by Chinese authors that hit the international bestseller lists such as the blockbuster "Wild Swans" by Jung Chang, which has sold millions worldwide, and Adeline Yen Mah's "Falling Leaves".

A year ago, China was the sensation of the international art market, but as New York auction houses prepare next week's autumn sales of Asian works, the Chinese dragon has clearly lost some fire.

"It's no longer break-neck," Henry Howard-Sneyd, vice chairman for Asian art at Sotheby's, told Agence France Presse.

For a small but growing number of young Americans, the living room is the classroom when it comes to the "three R's" of reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic.

Homeschooling is growing in the United States, as parents who question the ability of conventional teaching to properly educate their children take matters into their own hands -- with help from the Internet.

A top Democratic official said Thursday that a decision to ditch a party policy naming Jerusalem as Israel's capital, later ordered reversed by President Barack Obama, was not deliberate.

The official weighed in on a row which rattled the first two days of the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina, as delegates passed their platform -- the list of policies to which the party is committed.

The largest flower and ornamental plant show in Latin America is held in a quaint small town founded by Dutch immigrants that is the heart of Brazil's flower industry.

Welcome to Expoflora, complete with an incongruous Dutch windmill greeting visitors at the entrance of the giant flower exhibition center, a two hours' drive from Sao Paulo.

Bullfights returned to Spanish public television on Wednesday after a six-year suspension, sparking warnings of legal action from animal rights activists.

State-financed broadcaster RTVE screened live a bullfight in north-central Valladolid featuring star matadors "El Juli" Julian Lopez Escobar, Jose Maria Manzanares and Alejandro Talavante.

Internationally-acclaimed directors Takeshi Kitano from Japan and Kim Ki-duk from South Korea told Agence France Presse at the Venice film festival that making art house films in Asia is a daunting task.

With his bleak morality tale "Pieta" now one of the favorites to win the Golden Lion prize in Venice on Saturday, Kim said he regretted that audiences at home still did not sufficiently appreciate his foreign award-winning work.

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts announced Wednesday it will disperse its entire collection of works from the ground-breaking Pop artist through sales and donations.

The profits will be used to bolster the foundation's grant-making activities, with Christie's entering a long-term deal to market the works.

The owner of an Indian store called "Hitler" said Tuesday he had agreed to drop the Nazi dictator's name and re-brand his shop following protests from the Jewish community and the government.

The shop, which sells Western menswear, opened in Ahmedabad city in the western state of Gujarat last month with "Hitler" spelled out in large white letters above the storefront, complete with a Swastika as the dot on the "i".

Twenty-four pieces of golden jewelry, uncovered at the ancient city of Troy and kept in a Pennsylvania museum were returned to Turkey on September 1, local media reported on Wednesday.

"Only such an event could make an excavation team leader or a culture minister as happy as I am now," Ertugrul Gunay, culture and tourism minister was quoted as saying by daily Milliyet.