The U.N. cultural organization UNESCO said Thursday it would launch a mission to the ancient Thai city of Ayutthaya to assess the damage to the World Heritage site from the worst floods in decades.

It said the visit to the country's former capital would be arranged shortly by the Thai government, which is also preparing to apply for emergency assistance from the World Heritage Fund.

A homage to the disappearing format of analogue film by the British artist Tacita Dean is the latest exhibition to fill the cavernous space at the Tate Modern in London.

Plunged into darkness, visitors to the former power station see a huge screen resembling a piece of film, placed vertically, up which scrolls a constantly changing series of images, such as the sun, a snail or a factory chimney.

The world's biggest book fair, due to open Tuesday, wants to put paid to fears for the survival of the book in its traditional, bound form in the face of its digital rival's growing popularity.

While electronic books and other gadgets have been all the talk of the Frankfurt Book Fair in recent years, industry movers and shakers say the future of both ebooks and printed books is safe.

Archaeologists say they've discovered the ruins of what is believed to be Peru's oldest Roman Catholic church.

The church outside the northern coastal city of Piura was built in 1534 but its mud walls deteriorated over time as Spanish conquistadors abandoned the area, said archaeologist Cesar Astuhuaman of Piura University.

Kenyans are bidding farewell to the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in a state funeral marked with prayers, praises and tree planting.

Hundreds of Kenyans, including President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, amassed at a landmark park in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, to attend prayers held for the late Wangari Maathai.

French luxury brand Hermes has launched a limited edition Indian sari range as it seeks to "connect" with Indian culture and the country's elegant traditions, it said Saturday.

Indian women may wear Western dress during the day but for weddings and other formal occasions they often prefer to wear six-yard (five and a half meter) saris, reflecting the strong pull of tradition.

"Are women allowed to do a full body wax?" Just an everyday question for the "fatwa" desk at Darululoom Deoband, a famed cradle of conservative Islamic thought in north India.

Hundreds of queries seeking guidance on every aspect of social and religious life are posted to the school each week and dutifully noted in a green leather-bound register by Habibur Rahman, a 21-year-old student.

Precious Bible manuscripts originating in the Jewish community of Damascus, Syria, were on display for several hours, offering a rare glimpse at a collection that includes books spirited to Israel in clandestine operations before the ancient community disappeared at the end of the 20th century.

The books displayed Wednesday are held at Israel's national library. Because of security and conservation concerns, most of the collection went on display just once before, also for just a few hours, more than a decade ago.

Vandals daubed swastikas on the exterior walls of Joseph's tomb in the West Bank city Nablus, a spokesman for the Israeli army said on Thursday.

"This morning, soldiers discovered swastikas painted on the walls of the building that contains the tomb. The soldiers cleaned the premises and a complaint was sent to the Palestinian Authority," the spokesman told AFP.

Swedish poet Tomas Transtromer won the 2011 Nobel Literature Prize on Thursday, the Swedish Academy said.

Transtromer, 80, was honored "because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality," the jury said.