The leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales has urged followers to write to their representatives in Parliament to oppose the government's plans to allow gay marriage.

In a letter read to congregations over the weekend, Archbishop Vincent Nichols called for Catholics to express their views "clearly, calmly and forcefully."

Kiswanti went to great lengths to get people to read in Indonesia, a nation addicted to social media but with a lacklustre interest in books.

For six years, as she cycled on bumpy village mud tracks in western Java as a door-to-door herbal medicine vendor, Kiswanti would carry a stack of books on the back of her bike to lend to children.

With a champagne flute pressed between his fingers, the Nigerian oligarch stares out with a self-satisfied grin on his bulbous face, not bothered by the desperate masses behind him.

Artist Wande George said the inspiration for the painting, called "The Ruling Class", is visible everyday in the posh Lagos district of Victoria Island where his work was recently displayed.

Wagner, Verdi and a myriad of waltzes will broadcast live to 81 countries when the Vienna Philharmonic kicks off 2013 with its traditional New Year's Concert on January 1.

The event -- sold out over a year in advance and followed by millions around the world -- will once again be conducted by Franz Welser-Moest, musical director at the Vienna Opera, after his first appearance in 2011.

Death row inmates in Japan want to be told of their execution in advance, instead of on the day they are to be hanged, a lawmaker's survey said.

A majority of those sentenced to die would also like the present method of administering punishment to be reviewed, with the largest bloc saying their preferred choice would be lethal injection.

China has passed a new law stipulating that family members should pay regular visits to their elderly relatives, according to the government's official website.

The ruling, approved by China's National People's Congress on Friday, is part of a package of amendments to the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly legislation and will come into force on July 1, 2013.

Archeologists in central Mexico uncovered the bones of 12 children and adults who may have been buried 800 years ago, a National Institute of Anthropology and History expert told AFP.

The skeletons were discovered as the archeologists supervised the installation of a new drain in an old neighborhood of Cholula, a city located 120 kilometers north of the Mexican capital.

Canada has stripped citizenship from a Ukrainian-born man it is seeking to deport for alleged ties to a Nazi killing squad in World War II, the immigration ministry announced Friday.

Helmut Oberlander, who has been fighting deportation since 1995, can still appeal the decision in federal court, Citizenship and Immigration Canada spokeswoman Nancy Caron told AFP.

Iraqis wistful for a golden age in politics, often labelled divided and cynical now, have been able to harken back to such a time through an exhibition on their inaugural parliament 87 years ago.

During the exhibition at the modern Council of Representatives building in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, visitors strolled past historical documents, newspapers, books and photographs.

Fries, crunchy, salty, tasty fried sticks of potato are claimed by Belgium and France as the product of their national gastronomic genius but the true origins are shrouded in popular folklore.

"Fries, they are the orphan of street cooking, of low birth. That is why it's hard to establish where they really come from," says French historian Madeleine Ferriere.