Shares in the first Chinese auction house to be listed in Hong Kong closed up 29 percent on their debut Thursday, following the firm's $331 million initial public offering.

Poly Culture Group, the world's third largest auction house by revenue behind Sotheby's and Christie's, made a splash with shares reaching HK$42.60 (U.S.$5.49) by the end of trading.

Branded by Kenyan authorities as an epicentre for the indoctrination and recruitment of Islamic militants, the Musa mosque in Mombasa has become a primary target of the country's escalating war on terror.

But this war is also causing controversy, amid allegations of state-sponsored assassinations, heavy-handed raids and fears that these tactics could be helping and not hindering radical Islam.

A year after being chosen Pope Francis is very popular with American Catholics though his handling of the pedophile priests' scandal left many underwhelmed, a new study found.

More than eight in 10 surveyed in the Pew Research Center study of 1,821 adults 18 or older --- fully 85 percent -- had a favorable opinion of the pope a year after his elevation, it found.

The sightseer of 4014 may have to pay a virtual visit to the Tower of London or Statue of Liberty, said a climate study Wednesday that warned of dramatic ocean encroachment on heritage sites.

While modern civilization is fascinated by the pyramids of Egypt, Rome's Colosseum and the Parthenon in Greece, much of this inheritance as well as our own cultural legacy may be lost to sea-levels rising as much as 1.8 meters (six feet) due to global warming, researchers said.

The Vikings are renowned as bloodthirsty warriors, but a new exhibition at the British Museum aims to show the cultural achievements and trading skills that spread their influence far and wide.

"Vikings: Life and Legend", which opens on Thursday and runs until June 22, seeks to go beyond the stereotypical image of terrifying bearded axemen, raping and pillaging their way around Europe between the ninth and 11th centuries.

Dr. Sherwin Nuland, a medical ethicist who opposed assisted suicide and wrote an award-winning book about death called "How We Die," has died at age 83.

He died of prostate cancer on Monday at his home in Hamden, Connecticut, said his daughter Amelia Nuland, who recalled how he told her he wasn't ready for death because he loved life.

Auction house Sotheby's said Tuesday it has been forced to buy back a flawless, near-60 carat pink diamond it sold last November after the buyer defaulted on the record $83-million (60-million-euro) payment.

New York diamond cutter Isaac Wolf had outbid rivals for the gemstone, called the "Pink Star", in the Geneva auction conducted by the company.

Spain's offer of citizenship to the descendants of Jews who were expelled from the country over 500 years ago during the Inquisition has sparked a flurry of global interest.

Maya Weiss-Tamir, an Israeli lawyer who specializes in applications for citizenship in European countries, said she had received over 1,000 inquiries since the Spanish government approved the draft citizenship bill on February 7.

The sumptuous gardens of Castel Gandolfo, a summer getaway for centuries of popes, have opened to the public at the behest of Pope Francis, the Vatican Museums announced Monday.

"It took a man like Francis" to open the grounds to all, museum director Antonio Paolucci said in a statement, describing the gardens as a place "where the splendor of art and the glory of nature combine in an admirable balance".

The Temple of Venus and walls of a tomb and shop in the long-neglected ruins of Pompeii near Naples have been damaged, possibly due to heavy rain, officials said on Monday.

Custodians found that a two-metre wall of an ancient shop in the ruined city -- which had recently been restored -- had collapsed under the weight of another wall that crumbled onto it.