Mandela's health improving: S.Africa presidency
Nelson Mandela's condition has improved and he continues to receive treatment for a recurrence of pneumonia, as the anti-apartheid icon spent a fifth night in hospital.
Paris's landmark Crillon hotel closes for makeover
The Hotel de Crillon in Paris, one of the world's oldest luxury hotels, is closing this weekend for a two-year-long makeover that includes a new spa and sweeping renovations.
Pope to celebrate first Easter vigil
Pope Francis is to celebrate his first Easter vigil on Saturday after praying for peace in the Middle East and stronger Christian-Muslim dialogue at a torch-lit ceremony for Good Friday.
31 March 2013
New quest to study 'living fossil' coelacanth
French and South African biologists will dive to deep-sea caves in the Indian Ocean next month in a bid to locate the coelacanth, the "living fossil" fish whose history predates the dinosaurs.
30 March 2013
Pope marks first Good Friday with torch-lit ceremony
Pope Francis marked his first Good Friday with a traditional torch-lit ceremony around the Colosseum in Rome and prayers for a Middle East "torn apart by injustice and conflicts".
30 March 2013
'I love Paris' may soon be passe for Chinese tourists
Mass muggings and attacks on Chinese tourists in Paris have spawned alarm and warnings of a decline in the number of free-spending visitors from the Asian giant who swarm to France.
Kazakhstan citizens don't trust policeOnly one fifth of the polled Kazakhstan residents hope for any help from the police in case they are attached by criminals.
29 March 2013
Philippines marks Easter with bloody mock crucifixions Catholic zealots in the Philippines re-enacted the last hours of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, whipping their backs and nailing themselves to crosses in a grisly Easter ritual that persists despite Church disapproval.
29 March 2013
After Mexico court ruling, gay couple weds in Oaxaca Two women became the first same-sex couple to marry in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca after the Supreme Court found the state's definition of marriage unconstitutional.
US regulators under fire over bee-toxic pesticides US environmental regulators are under fire from beekeepers and conservationists who say they are failing to vet risky pesticides that put people and valuable crop pollinators like bees in peril.
29 March 2013
Rare British royal's signature up for auction in USA document signed by Britain's King Richard III will be auctioned in Los Angeles next week, two months after scientists found the ancient royal's remains under a modern-day car park.
29 March 2013
Sea lion pup waddles into California hotel A sea lion pup startled guests after waddling from a California beach into a nearby luxury hotel, where it pitched up at the patio bar.