How to define Nazi-era "loot" is central to what could prove a touchy book launched Tuesday on the controversy surrounding one of Europe's most prestigious private art collections, the impressionist works acquired by E.G. Buehrle.

The late industrialist amassed a fortune selling weapons to both the Nazis and the Allies during World War II, wealth that helped buy several hundred artworks -- some from Jews under threat -- that will soon go on show at one of Switzerland's leading museums, the Kunsthaus in Zurich.

The head of the U.N. cultural watchdog on Monday branded the destruction by IS jihadists of an ancient temple in Syria's Palmyra ruins as a "war crime."

"This destruction is a new war crime and an immense loss for the Syrian people and for humanity," UNESCO chief Irina Bokova said in a statement, adding that the "perpetrators must be accountable for their actions."

Argentina will return thousands of stolen archaeological pieces to South American neighbors, President Cristina Kirchner said Saturday.

"We are doing something unusual, really special: restoring cultural wealth to other countries, in this case Ecuador and Peru. We are returning to them more than 4,000 pieces that had been stolen and have been recovered," she said at the National Museum of Fine Art in the capital.

China is heavily promoting Shanghai's role sheltering European Jews from the Nazis as part of its commemorations for the 70th anniversary of victory over Japan, which will culminate in a huge military parade.

As the "port of last resort", China's commercial hub provided a home to tens of thousands of Jewish refugees who fled persecution in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s.

Islamic State militants blew up the ancient temple of Baal Shamin in the UNESCO-listed Syrian city of Palmyra on Sunday, the latest in a series of cultural relics to be destroyed by the jihadist group.

The jihadists have become notorious for demolishing archaeological treasures since declaring a "caliphate" last year straddling Iraq and Syria.

Palmyra, the ancient Syrian city that has fallen to the Islamic State jihadist group, has withstood the last 2,000 years with its immaculate temples and colonnaded streets.

Listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, the "pearl of the desert" is a well-preserved oasis 210 kilometres (130 miles) northeast of Damascus.

Wrapped tightly in sleeping bags to keep them from freezing in frigid conditions, Australian winemaker Sirromet's bottles slowly make their way across the vast Mongolian landscape on the back of a yak.

The wine's journey from Queensland state on Australia's east coast, about 9,500 kilometers (5,900 miles) as the crow flies, to isolated parts of the sparsely-populated Asian nation is one example of the growing appeal of vintages from Down Under.

Hands clasped together before the four-faced Hindu god Brahma, Bangkok's glimmering temple dancers were back on stage Friday, four days after a bomb tore through the shrine thronged daily by devotees.

Sunisa Pothisansuk was midway through an act she has performed every other day for eight years when the blast struck Erawan shrine, escaping unscathed from an attack which killed 20 people, mostly Asian tourists, and left scores injured.

Britain's intelligence services kept tabs on Nobel winning author Doris Lessing during the 1950s, fearing that her communist sympathies had been "fanned almost to the point of fanaticism", according to archived documents released Friday.

The country's domestic and foreign intelligence agencies amassed files on the author, detailing her visits to East Germany and Cold War Moscow at the invitation of the Union of Soviet Writers.

There are 65 border walls either planned or erected in the world, up from just 16 when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, according to University of Montreal expert Elisabeth Vallet.

Experts say they serve a primarily political and symbolic function, but they have become increasingly popular with governments as they try to look tough on migration and security.