An Impressionist oil painting depicting a chef in his white uniform fetched a tasty $18 million on Wednesday, the most ever paid at auction for a work by the artist Chaim Soutine.

Soutine's "Le Petit Patissier" (The Little Pastry Chef), was the highlight of the Christie's auction in New York. It was estimated before the sale to be worth $16-22 million.

A French painting owned by Madonna has sold at a New York City auction for more than $7 million.

Sotheby's auction house hasn't said who bought Fernand Leger's "Three Women at the Red Table" for $7.2 million on Tuesday. The abstract work had a pre-sale estimate of $5 million to $7 million.

Welcome to Orania, South Africa: a whites-only enclave established in 1991 during the dying years of apartheid.

The town in the sparsely populated Karoo region is inhabited only by Afrikaners.

Paul Cezanne's "Les Pommes" sold for $41.6 million at an auction of Impressionist and Modern art held by Sotheby's in New York, while a painting owned by pop star Madonna went for $7.16 million.

"Les Pommes," a landmark still life of apples on a table from 1889-90, went for the highest price at the Tuesday night auction, followed by Amedeo Modigliani's famed portrait "L'Amazone," which went for $25.9 million.

Europeans appear to be more closely related than previously thought.

Scientists who compared DNA samples from people in different parts of the continent found that most had common ancestors living just 1,000 years ago.

The World Jewish Congress (WJC) urged Europe's governments to consider a ban on far-right parties Tuesday at the end of a three-day conference held in Budapest.

The WJC, which represents Jewish communities outside Israel, adopted a resolution calling on governments in Europe to "consider banning neo-Nazi parties or organizations whose aim is to overthrow the democratic order, or which pose a threat to the safety and well-being of ethnic, religious or other minorities."

Punk and high fashion can now share the same stage, and a new Costume Institute exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Punk: Chaos to Culture," celebrates that influence.

It's an enduring irony that probably makes punk's rebellious originators cringe — and might make those wearing expensive couture dresses with heavy hardware and sexy slashes a little uncomfortable, too.

The Dalai Lama on Tuesday called for the teaching of secular values in education, saying that it was critical for the world to respect all religions -- as well as the right not to believe.

Despite devoting his life to the study of Buddhism, Tibet's spiritual leader said he was convinced that all people -- and often even animals -- shared basic moral values regardless of their religion.

Descendants of Cape Verde's Jewish community, a diverse, multi-cultural diaspora from around the world, stand in silent homage to the memory of their ancestors in a Catholic cemetery restored by a Muslim king.

The gathering in Praia, the capital of the west African archipelago, is more than just an emotional introduction among newly discovered family and friends. For its organizers, it is a potent symbol of religious tolerance.

Zambian police Monday arrested a gay couple after the family of one of the men reported the relationship to authorities, who made the first arrest of its kind under tough anti-gay laws.

James Mwape, 20, and Philip Mubiana, 21, from the northern town of Kapiri Mposhi, are said to have been living together for some time.