It has long served as the spiritual home of New York's French-speaking Catholics, but the Church of St. Vincent de Paul is nearing its end as the faithful grow fewer and the building lies in disrepair.

But Manhattan's last francophone parish, where French singer Edith Piaf got married in 1952, is resisting a decision taken five years ago by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York to shutter it for good.

A flotilla of tall ships from around the world sailed Wednesday into New York Harbor, kicking off annual Fleet Week celebrations and marking the bicentennial of the War of 1812.

The first masts visible over the horizon at the bay entrance early Wednesday belonged to the "Juan Sebastian de Elcano," a four-mast Spanish navy schooner.

South Africa will inaugurate the new Soweto Theatre Friday in the country's most famous township, a project that aims to bring world-class drama to the heart of the black community.

The 150-million-rand (14-million-euro, $18-million) playhouse is a celebration of whimsical architecture made up of three shiny cubes -- one blue, one red and one yellow -- built on land that would likely have become another of the many shantytowns ringing the economic capital Johannesburg.

South Asia's love of literature festivals has spread to the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, which features in many an exotic travelogue but is pretty much a blank space on the global literary map.

The Mountain Echoes Festival held this week in the Bhutanese capital Thimpu is part of a growing South Asian circuit that currently comprises thriving literary festivals in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

The Arab Center for Architecture (ACA), the Arab Image Foundation (AIF), the Association for Arabic Music (IRAB), and the Cinémathèque de Tanger are partners in initiating the Modern Heritage Observatory project (MOHO), which aims to advocate for the preservation of modern cultural heritage – with an emphasis on photography, music, architecture, video and film – in the Middle East and North Africa.

As they struggle for sustainability, cultural heritage actors in the MENA region seek to raise awareness on the need to support and improve the preservation of modern cultural heritage among political and institutional sectors and the general public. The project partners have come together to mobilize for joint action to impact policies and legal frameworks, and to generate political commitment towards modern cultural heritage.

Archaeologists have uncovered a tiny clay seal inscribed with the word "Bethlehem" in what is believed to be the earliest evidence for the existence of the ancient biblical city.

"The first ancient artefact constituting tangible evidence of the existence of the city of Bethlehem, which is mentioned in the Bible, was recently discovered in Jerusalem," a statement Wednesday from the Israel Antiquities Authority said.

Pups in her womb, a large eye visible behind the rib cage, one baby stuck in the birth canal, all fossilized in stone — all modern-day evidence that this ancient marine beast, the Ichthyosaur, died in childbirth.

The almost certainly painful death is perfectly preserved in a rare fossil skeleton, one of the many unique items that will go on display in the Houston Museum of Natural Science's $85 million dinosaur hall when it opens to the public June 2.

Chilean painter Roberto Matta's "La revolte des contraires" (The revolt of opposites) fetched $5 million at a New York auction devoted to Latin American art, setting a new record for the artist.

The winning bid doubled the initial estimate of $2.5 million for the piece, according to Christie's, which held the auction late Tuesday.

On the road to Egypt's Djoser step pyramid at Saqqara there's not a trace of a tourist anywhere, and a handful of trinket and souvenir salesmen sit on a metal railing hoping for a lucky break.

The uprising that overthrew former president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011 dealt a serious blow to Egypt's vital tourism sector, and a year on, visitors have been slow to return to this key archaeological site south of Cairo.

A ghost-hamlet in rural France that became a global media sensation for failing to find a buyer was auctioned off on Monday to South Korean artist Ahae for 520,000 euros ($663,000).

The Asian artist beat competition during bidding from Dutch reality TV giant Endemol that wanted to shoot a series in the hamlet and a Belgian company that wanted to create a center for housing the handicapped.