Millions of Israelis on Thursday stood silently and all road traffic stopped as sirens wailed for two minutes to remember the six million Jews who were killed during the Nazi Holocaust.

The annual ritual, which is observed at 10 am (0700 GMT), is a central part of Holocaust Memorial Day which began at sundown on Wednesday.

A photographer capturing the "unsafe, dirty" New York City subway for a year circa 1980, shadowed a lone woman, standing on a platform.

"I took the picture and then I approached her, and she said, 'I was aware of you, and I was getting ready to kick you,'" said photographer Bruce Davidson.

Qatar could invest in a new ancient Roman theme park, Italian media reported Wednesday, a day after the Gulf state's emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani met with local officials in the Eternal City.

"We showed the emir several plans. The one that most caught his attention and which he said he wants his people to work on is the idea of a theme park on ancient Rome" the city's mayor, Gianni Alemanno, was quoted as saying.

The Philippines leads the world in the number of people who believe in God, while the elderly across all countries tend to be the most religious, according to a U.S. study out Wednesday.

Belief in God tends to be strongest in the United States and Catholic countries and lowest in Scandinavia and former Soviet states, according to the survey carried out by the NORC research group at the University of Chicago.

Sex experts are urging Hong Kongers to strip off their reputation as some the least active lovers in Asia to get more out of their sex lives and overcome challenges of privacy in a cramped city.

"People say Hong Kongers have the least amount of sexual knowledge in the world. One of the reasons is they have no place to have sex," said Professor Emil Ng, associate director at the Family Institute of the University of Hong Kong.

Horse riding has become a popular hobby in the Gaza Strip but local Palestinians face constant hurdles -- from a conservative society to Israel's blockade on the territory -- to practice the sport on their home turf.

The Al-Faisal equestrian club, on the seafront in Gaza City, attracts around 50 riders a day, according to Samir Salama Saad, director of the "Beautiful Life" society which bought the club several months ago.

Some 500 Jews are expected to travel in May to Tunisia's Ghriba synagogue, the oldest in Africa, reviving a pilgrimage scaled back last year amid security fears, the chief organizer said Tuesday.

"This pilgrimage is going to have a very important impact on tourism and its success will attract thousands of Jews in the future," Rene Trabelsi told Agence France Presse.

Sab’a wu Sab’a, Seven and Seven days needed for the moon to complete half its journey in the sky. One night the moon breaks into pieces and disappears, leaving the village in despair. Since that night, no stories could be told.

And so hakawati, shadows, lights, mirrors, water and reflections fly unhinged in an attempt to put together the scattered pieces of the moon.

Lebanese wine industry is going through a rebirth. Whereas there were only 5 wineries in the early 90s, there are over forty operating today. In order to make sense of this exciting and diverse landscape, Le Commerce du Levant has decided to partner up with Tamyras to publish the first bilingual (English/French) guide to Lebanese wine.

The Zawaq Guide presents every single Lebanese winery, region by region. For each region, the guide lays out the main tourist attractions, as well as tips on accommodation and restaurants in the area, so that the reader can blend the pleasures of wine with an appreciation of Lebanon’s rich cultural heritage. The Zawaq Guide tells the story of forty wineries, from the big brands to the smallest “garage wines’, detailing the characteristics of their terroir. The guide also looks at the wineries in the making and those around the world that are run by members of the Lebanese Diaspora.

The St Cuthbert gospel, Europe's oldest intact book, will remain in Britain after a record-breaking fundraising campaign by the British Library, it said Tuesday.

Half of the £9 million ($14.2 million, 10.8 million euros) required to purchase the 7th Century copy of the Gospel of St John came from The National Heritage Memorial Fund with charitable foundations, trusts and the public making up the rest.