Brazil approved a law Monday creating 20 percent quotas for mixed race and black Brazilians in government jobs, in a country where more than half of the population has African roots.

"We have started this change in the racial composition of public officials in the federal administration so it will be more representative of the Brazilian population," said President Dilma Rousseff during a ceremony for the enactment of the law.

The Detroit Institute of Arts said Monday that the three largest U.S. automakers have pledged $26 million to save bankrupt Detroit's world-class collection of art for the public.

General Motors and Ford Motor pledged $10 million each while Chrysler, smaller than the other two, pledged $6.0 million to help the DIA avoid having to sell off paintings by Degas, Cezanne and others to pay the city's debts.

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie said Tuesday that a global summit to end sexual violence in wars must send the message that there is "no disgrace" in being a rape survivor and that "the shame is on the aggressor".

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said at the opening of the four-day conference in London that it was only a "weak or inadequate man" that abuses women -- a statement that drew cheers from the crowd.

Researchers looking for the remains of Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, the author of "Don Quixote", said Monday they had identified five spots in a Madrid church where his bones may lie.

Scientists used infrared cameras, 3D scanners and a ground-penetrating radar to pinpoint the five areas at the church of the Convent of the Barefoot Trinitarians where human remains may be found, said forensic anthropologist Francisco Etxeberria who is leading the search.

Researchers looking for the remains of Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, the author of "Don Quixote", said Monday they had identified five spots in a Madrid church where his bones may lie.

Scientists used infrared cameras, 3D scanners and a ground-penetrating radar to pinpoint the five areas at the church of the Convent of the Barefoot Trinitarians where human remains may be found, said forensic anthropologist Francisco Exteberria who leading the search.

For more than 20 years, the Storyteller of Damascus entertained crowds in a centuries-old cafe in the Syrian capital with long, poetic tales of Arab warriors and lovers, acting out scenes with his fists thumping and a sword that he'd swing and slam on a table.

Rashid Hallak was the most famous of the few remaining "hakawatis" in Syria — traditional reciter-performers of old Arab legends.

Verily, it's a Vermeer.

Christie's auction house says science has confirmed that a disputed painting is the work of Dutch master Johannes Vermeer. The painting could fetch 8 million pounds ($13 million) when it is sold next month.

Seven couples have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutional prohibition on same-sex marriage in North Dakota, making it the last state in the country with a ban to be sued by gay couples seeking the right to wed in their home state.

Also on Friday, a federal judge struck down Wisconsin's ban, ruling it was unconstitutional.

A painting by Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani sold at an auction in Paris Wednesday for 13.5 million euros ($18.3 million), a record for the artist's work in France, auction house Sotheby's announced.

The portrait of his main patron Paul Alexandre done in 1911-1912 had up to now been in the hands of Alexandre's family and was estimated at between five and eight million euros.

Star designer Rem Koolhaas said Thursday that adapting to architectural modernity can be a "painful process", as he prepared to unveil the program for Venice's architecture Biennale.

The Dutch designer is curating this year's program, which will look back over the past 100 years of innovation.