Mass muggings and attacks on Chinese tourists in Paris have spawned alarm and warnings of a decline in the number of free-spending visitors from the Asian giant who swarm to France.

More than one million Chinese visitors come every year to France, a country which for them epitomises luxury, romance and quality products.

Under a canopy of trees in a park not far from Addis Ababa's National Museum, home of many of Ethiopia's historic national treasures, a contemporary art revolution is quietly afoot.

It is here at Netsa Art Village that the experimental work made from shoelaces by Merhet Debebe can be found, or the vibrantly-coloured work of Tamrat Gazahegn, who uses tree trunks as canvases.

A television miniseries brought World War II horrors back to German living rooms this month and provoked a furious reaction from Poland, which accused it of playing down Nazi guilt.

The 14-million-euro ($18-million) production "Our Mothers, Our Fathers", shown in three parts on public broadcaster ZDF, tells the story of five Germans in a story spanning the Nazis' declaration of war on the Soviet Union in 1941 to their ultimate defeat in 1945.

Pope Francis was to preside over his first Good Friday after washing the feet of 12 young prisoners, updating an ancient Easter ritual as part of his efforts to bring the Catholic Church closer to the needy.

The new pontiff is due to recite the Passion of Christ -- the story of the last hours of Jesus's life -- in St Peter's Basilica on Friday, before leading the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) ceremony by the Colosseum, where thousands of Christians are believed to have been killed in Roman times.

Catholic zealots in the Philippines re-enacted the last hours of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, whipping their backs and nailing themselves to crosses in a grisly Easter ritual that persists despite Church disapproval.

Foreign and local tourists flocked to the outskirts of the city of San Fernando, a 90-minute drive from Manila, to see the annual spectacle where a Christian "passion play" is taken to its blood-soaked extreme.

Wine waiters of the world gathered in Tokyo on Wednesday for a competition to find the planet's best sommelier.

Entrants from 54 countries began three days of events designed to test their skills as they marry wines to foods and serve demanding consumers, with all of them having to work in a foreign language.

A document signed by Britain's King Richard III will be auctioned in Los Angeles next week, two months after scientists found the ancient royal's remains under a modern-day car park.

The document, signed by the British royal before he took the throne, is believed to be one of only three Richard III documents to go under the hammer in the last three decades, said Nate D Sanders auction house.

Wrists bent and fingers curled, the immaculately dressed dancers perform a series of gestures that, according to ancient custom, carry the wishes of the Khmer kings to the heavens.

Sporting golden head-dresses, the dancers slowly stretch back their wrists and -- standing on one leg -- perform a set of moves with their hands representing offerings of leaves, flowers and fruit to the gods.

A street in the Argentine city of La Plata became the first to be renamed in honor of Pope Francis, local television reported here Tuesday.

A section of Avenue 53 leading to La Plata's cathedral has now been renamed "Pope Francis" to mark the election to Argentine-born Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio the head of the Catholic Church on March 13.

Super Mario video games, the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Pink Floyd's music and Belgian artist Rene Magritte: who would have thought these had anything in common?

But Vienna's Leopold Museum demonstrates there is a link in its new exhibit "Clouds. Fleeting Worlds," which draws from the most unexpected sources -- not just 18th-century paintings but Nintendo games, album covers and floating silver pillows -- to pay tribute to this airy phenomenon.