Greece's Culture Ministry announced plans Wednesday for a major renovation of the National Archaeological Museum, expanding exhibition space at the Athens site that houses what is considered the most important collection of Greek antiquities in the world.

The project, expected to last four years, will be led by the British architect Sir David Chipperfield, whose major works include restoration of the Neues Museum in Berlin and the design of the East Building at the Saint Louis Art Museum.

China and Iran have urged mutual neighbor Afghanistan to end restrictions on women's work and education.

The call came in a joint statement Thursday issued at the close of a visit to Beijing by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during which the two sides affirmed close economic and political ties and their rejection of Western standards of human rights and democracy.

Half of Americans in a recent survey indicated they believe national news organizations intend to mislead, misinform or persuade the public to adopt a particular point of view through their reporting.

The survey, released Wednesday by Gallup and the Knight Foundation, goes beyond others that have shown a low level of trust in the media to the startling point where many believe there is an intent to deceive.

Oprah Winfrey has chosen Susan Cain's "Bittersweet" as her new book club pick.

"Bittersweet," released last year, is the most recent work from the author of "Quiet," the 2012 bestseller that contended introverted people had been misunderstood and overlooked.

Israel's Ashkenazi chief rabbi, David Lau, ruled Friday that emergency teams deployed to Turkey to help in the earthquake response should work through the Jewish sabbath to save lives.

Some art lovers make it a mission to visit and view as many works as possible by 17th-century Dutch master Johannes Vermeer.

Starting Friday, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is making their lives a whole lot easier.

The U.N.'s cultural agency UNESCO said on Tuesday it was ready to provide assistance after two sites listed on its World Heritage list in Syria and Turkey sustained damage in the devastating earthquake.

As well as the damage to the old city of Syria's Aleppo and the fortress in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, UNESCO said at least three other World Heritage sites could be affected.

An ivory spoon dating back 2,700 years that was recently repatriated to the Palestinian Authority from the United States has sparked a dispute with Israel's new far-right government over the cultural heritage in the occupied West Bank.

The clash brings into focus the political sensitivities surrounding archaeology in the Middle East, where Israelis and Palestinians each use ancient artifacts to support their claims over the land.

Pope Francis opened the second and final leg of his African pilgrimage by heading to South Sudan on Friday, hoping to encourage the young country's stalled peace process and draw international attention to continued fighting and a worsening humanitarian crisis.

Francis had one final appointment Friday in Kinshasa with Congo's bishops before flying to the South Sudanese capital, Juba. There, he joins the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the moderator of the Church of Scotland, the Rt. Rev. Iain Greenshields, in a novel ecumenical push for peace.

Pope Francis urged Congo's young people to work for a peaceful and honest future on Thursday, directing himself to a generation that has been particularly hard hit by the country's chronic conflict and getting a raucous response when he acknowledged the corruption that threatens their prospects.

Deafening cheers and chants greeted Francis on his last full day in Congo as he joined tens of thousands of young people at the Martyrs' Stadium in the capital, Kinshasa. The Vatican said more than 65,000 people attended.