Archaeologists say they've discovered the ruins of what is believed to be Peru's oldest Roman Catholic church.

The church outside the northern coastal city of Piura was built in 1534 but its mud walls deteriorated over time as Spanish conquistadors abandoned the area, said archaeologist Cesar Astuhuaman of Piura University.

Kenyans are bidding farewell to the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in a state funeral marked with prayers, praises and tree planting.

Hundreds of Kenyans, including President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, amassed at a landmark park in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, to attend prayers held for the late Wangari Maathai.

French luxury brand Hermes has launched a limited edition Indian sari range as it seeks to "connect" with Indian culture and the country's elegant traditions, it said Saturday.

Indian women may wear Western dress during the day but for weddings and other formal occasions they often prefer to wear six-yard (five and a half meter) saris, reflecting the strong pull of tradition.

"Are women allowed to do a full body wax?" Just an everyday question for the "fatwa" desk at Darululoom Deoband, a famed cradle of conservative Islamic thought in north India.

Hundreds of queries seeking guidance on every aspect of social and religious life are posted to the school each week and dutifully noted in a green leather-bound register by Habibur Rahman, a 21-year-old student.

Precious Bible manuscripts originating in the Jewish community of Damascus, Syria, were on display for several hours, offering a rare glimpse at a collection that includes books spirited to Israel in clandestine operations before the ancient community disappeared at the end of the 20th century.

The books displayed Wednesday are held at Israel's national library. Because of security and conservation concerns, most of the collection went on display just once before, also for just a few hours, more than a decade ago.

Vandals daubed swastikas on the exterior walls of Joseph's tomb in the West Bank city Nablus, a spokesman for the Israeli army said on Thursday.

"This morning, soldiers discovered swastikas painted on the walls of the building that contains the tomb. The soldiers cleaned the premises and a complaint was sent to the Palestinian Authority," the spokesman told AFP.

Swedish poet Tomas Transtromer won the 2011 Nobel Literature Prize on Thursday, the Swedish Academy said.

Transtromer, 80, was honored "because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality," the jury said.

Two Polish paintings that were stolen during World War II and confiscated by U.S. authorities last year were returned to the National Museum in Warsaw on Tuesday.

Polish Culture Minister Bogdan Zdrojewski handed over the pictures to the museum in a ceremony at his ministry.

Thousands of Namibia's ethnic Hereros and Namas gave an heroic welcome Tuesday to 20 skulls of their ancestors returned from Germany, where colonial authorities had taken them a century ago.

About 4,000 people stood on the tarmac at the capital Windhoek's international airport, where the plane carrying them home landed at sunrise to ululating women and men shouting battle cries amid banners reading "welcome to our ancestors, our heroes".

Scientists, writers and brokers of peace around the world will be holding their breaths for a potentially life-altering, $1.5 million phone call from Scandinavia next week.

Goran Hansson will dial the first one.