The number of visitors to the World War II Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp soared to a record 1.43 million in 2012, the museum at the site in southern Poland said Friday.

"This is a record in the 65-year history of this museum. We've received over a million visitors each year over the last six years," it said in a statement published on its website.

Pope Benedict XVI will get a good view of Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue when he flies by in a helicopter during a Catholic youth festival in July, a church official said Friday.

Organizers expect some two million young faithful to flock to the city for the Roman Catholic Church's next World Youth Day festivities to be held in the Brazilian city from July 23-28.

Only one of Spain's luxury Parador hotels will close, instead of seven, as earlier planned, following negotiations between the parent company and labor unions.

The hotels, located in historic buildings in some of Spain's most beautiful locations, are a symbol of the country's key tourism industry.

Two iconic Ghost Gum trees painted many times by famed Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira have been burnt down just as they were being considered for inclusion on a heritage register.

Northern Territory's Minister for Indigenous Advancement Alison Anderson said police believe arsonists set ablaze the trees, which stood 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the outback town of Alice Springs.

A trove of ancient manuscripts in Hebrew characters rescued from caves in a Taliban stronghold in northern Afghanistan is providing the first physical evidence of a Jewish community that thrived there a thousand years ago.

On Thursday Israel's National Library unveiled the cache of recently purchased documents that run the gamut of life experiences, including biblical commentaries, personal letters and financial records.

One of France's best-known comic book creators, Jacques Tardi, has refused the country's highest honor saying he does not want to fall under any political influence.

Tardi, best known for his works on the horrors of war and his Adele Blanc-Sec fantasy series, said he had learned this week that he was to receive the Legion d'Honneur medal.

A Tunisian university dean accused of assaulting a veiled student said on Thursday his trial was aimed at undermining democracy after the judge set a January 17 date for the verdict.

"I am confident that justice will be done for the university," Habib Kazdoghli, dean of the humanities faculty at Manouba University, said as he emerged from the courtroom.

Shiite pilgrims from Iraq and around the world are to throng Iraq's shrine city of Karbala on Thursday for the climax of Arbaeen mourning rituals amid tight security for fear of militant attacks.

Over the past 10 days, the annual commemoration ceremonies are expected to have drawn up to 15 million pilgrims braving the threat of deadly violence by Sunni insurgents targeting the Shiite community in recent weeks.

An Egyptian newspaper editor is under investigation for allegedly insulting President Mohamed Morsi, a prosecution source said on Wednesday, a day after a similar probe was launched against a comedian.

State prosecutor Talaat Ibrahim ordered the investigation into Abdel Halim Qandil, editor of the Sawt al-Umma newspaper and a critic of Morsi, after a political activist sued him for allegedly insulting the president.

A new book has revealed rare historical gems buried in New Zealand's national archives, including a bizarre WWII plan to create a "tsunami bomb" and military files detailing supposed UFO sightings.

Author Ray Waru said he wrote "Secrets and Treasures" to highlight the material publicly available at Archives New Zealand in Wellington -- where almost 100 kilometers (62 miles) of shelf space is crammed with historical artefacts.