The U.S. State Department on Friday fended off criticism for commissioning a $1 million sculpture for its London embassy, saying it was "a good use of our limited resources."

The piece by Irish-born artist Sean Scully was purchased as part of the department's Art in Embassies program and will be reportedly installed at the new mission due to open in 2017.

The late Tito, former Yugoslavia's communist strongman, has been largely ignored in Slovenia since its independence but historians insist that, good or bad, he should be remembered: and a new exhibit does just that.

Josip Broz -- nicknamed "Tito" -- ruled over the former Yugoslavia from 1945 until his death in 1980, having been named president for life.

A Romanian man accused of stealing seven masterpieces from a Dutch museum was arrested in Britain after months on the run, Romania's Interior Ministry said Friday.

"Following an exchange of information between Interpol Romania and Interpol Manchester, one of the suspects accused of the theft of several paintings in Rotterdam was arrested in Britain," the ministry said in a statement.

A state-of-the art Palestinian city with residential towers, a mall and a convention center is rapidly going up on once desolate West Bank hills and turning into a symbol of national pride.

A giant Palestinian flag flies from the highest point of Rawabi, signaling to Israeli settlers living nearby that the first new Palestinian city being built since Israel captured the West Bank in 1967 isn't just about real estate.

Cyprus, dubbed the "Island of Love" as the birthplace of the goddess Aphrodite, is a magnet for Lebanese and Israeli couples from across the water to tie the knot in a civil wedding.

"We don't have the same religion," shrugged Yohana, resplendent in a white dress fresh out of her suitcase.

Pope Francis on Thursday set up a committee to fight child sex abuse in the Catholic Church and give pastoral care to victims following a recommendation from a council of cardinals he has asked to advise him.

The announcement was made by U.S. cardinal Sean O'Malley, the archbishop of Boston and one of the eight members of the council, who said the precise composition of the new committee will be announced "in the near future".

Traditional Japanese Washoku cooking methods, millenia-old Georgian wine-making techniques and the Mediterranean diet were among 14 new entries added to UNESCO's list of "intangible heritage" in need of being preserved.

Envoys picked the new listings at a meeting in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, UNESCO said in a statement late Wednesday.

A Norman Rockwell painting titled "Saying Grace" has sold in New York for $46 million, the highest price paid for any work sold at a U.S. art auction and for a work by the illustrator.

Sotheby's auction house says two people on the telephone bid against each other for nine minutes before the hammer came down Wednesday. The buyer's identity hasn't been disclosed.

Commuting has never been so arty -- taking the metro in Naples is an increasingly cultural experience with its ever-expanding network of "art stations" created by international designers.

For the price of a 1.3 euro ($1.8) metro ticket, tourists and locals have access to 16 stations filled with 200 colorful works of art -- including sculptures, murals, mosaics and floor decorations.

Angel Ayala has never been a big fan of museums. Blind since birth, the high school student says the exhibits are so sight-dependent that he can't enjoy them.

But he's making an exception for the Penn Museum, an archaeology and anthropology center in Philadelphia that offers touch tours for the blind and visually impaired. Ayala can now feel the eroded limestone of an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus and the intricate hieroglyphs on the statue of a pharaoh.