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Christie's to Auction Andy Warhol Works Online

Christie's auction house said Thursday it will put 125 works of art by the American pop icon Andy Warhol under the hammer in an online-only sale starting next week.

The auction, which will start Tuesday and run through March 25, will be the first time that Warhol's art is sold strictly online, Christie's said Thursday.

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Ghosts of Crimean War Return as French Cemetery Uncovered

The din of machinery mingled with the echo of the 19th century Crimean War when an excavator bucket stumbled upon the yellowed remains of long-dead French soldiers at a construction site in a southern Ukrainian port city.

The haunting find at Sebastopol's Cane Bay beach in December revealed the site of a large cemetery of French soldiers who died in the war against the Russian Empire during the 1854-1856 Crimean War.

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Indonesian Cardinal to Sit out Conclave for Next Pope

Indonesia's cardinal, one of the 117 expected to elect a new pope, will not go to Rome for the vote due to ailing health, he said in an interview with a Catholic magazine.

Cardinal Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja, 78, said his eyesight was failing and that he would not be able to handle reading the "texts, materials, rules, and so on" necessary for the event.

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Reports: Chinese Villagers Told to Flatten Tombs

Villagers in central China who secretly rebuilt tombs after they were flattened by officials to provide more farmland are being forced to pull them down again, domestic media reported Thursday.

Authorities caused uproar last year in Henan province by demolishing two million tombs, and residents re-erected hundreds of thousands of them over the Lunar New Year holiday that ended last week, the Southern Metropolis Daily said.

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U.S. Exhibition Traces History of Altered Photo Images

In this era of Photoshop software and Instagram filters, should people recoil at the notion of photo manipulation?

Not at all, said the curator of a landmark exhibition on the topic that opened in Washington this week. After all, we've been living with altered images since photography was invented in the 19th century.

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Chinese Anger over Cultural Revolution Trial

China's Internet users cried foul Thursday over the trial of an elderly man for an alleged murder decades ago during the political and social upheaval of the Cultural Revolution under Mao Zedong.

China has never publicly estimated how many died in the decade-long period, during which people turned on their neighbors. Half a million died in 1967 alone, according to British historian Roderick MacFarquhar.

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After Death Threats, Swedish Artist to Paint Mohammed

A Swedish artist who received death threats after depicting the Prophet Mohammed as a dog said Wednesday he would display new paintings of the prophet at an exhibition in the immigrant-heavy city of Malmoe later this year.

"It's important to continue because if you yield to the threats and back away, you have abandoned the democratic principle," Lars Vilks said.

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Greek Man Accused of Stealing Dali Work in NYC

A Greek man proved inept at the art of thievery by swiping a Salvador Dali painting from a New York City gallery as security cameras rolled and, in a panic, later trying to send it back anonymously, authorities said Tuesday.

Phivos Istavrioglou also left fingerprints that helped detectives track him down — another misstep in a botched fine art caper that even he found foolish, according to an account of a confession contained in court papers.

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National Pinball Museum Hits 'Tilt'

The United States' National Pinball Museum is closing its doors after failing to agree on a new lease with its landlord, but it's holding out hope for a replay.

In a statement, the non-profit museum -- which relocated from Washington to Baltimore, Maryland in 2012 -- said it would shut down on March 3 and search for a new home for its exhibits.

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Canada Launches Office of Religious Freedom

Canada's prime minister unveiled on Tuesday an office of religious freedom tasked with protecting and advocating on behalf of religious minorities under threat around the world.

Housed in Canada's foreign affairs ministry, the new office will oppose religious hatred and intolerance and promote pluralism "as a Canadian foreign policy priority," said a statement.

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