Pope Francis was "not complicit" with Argentina's brutal military dictatorship and pursued a "silent diplomacy" , Nobel peace laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel said on Thursday, following criticism the pontiff had failed to speak out.

Celebrated Romanian novelist Mircea Cartarescu has told AFP, in an exclusive interview, of a "war" against intellectuals in his country.

Pope Francis was "not complicit" with Argentina's brutal military dictatorship and pursued "silent diplomacy", Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel said on Thursday after meeting with Latin America's first pontiff.

The Bank of Japan's new governor Haruhiko Kuroda on Thursday pledged "all-out efforts" to rid Japan of growth-sapping deflation as gloomy new trade data underlined the scale of the task ahead.

Author Tan Twan Eng became the first Malaysian author to win Asia's top literary prize on Thursday for his novel set during the aftermath of the Japanese occupation of Malaya.

The remains of Chilean Nobel prize winning poet Pablo Neruda will be exhumed on April 8 to determine if he died of cancer or was poisoned, a judicial source told AFP.

The remains of Chilean Nobel prize winning poet Pablo Neruda will be exhumed on April 8 to determine if he died of cancer or was poisoned, a judicial source told AFP.

A vibrant city of poets, artists and thinkers in the early 1900s, it went down in a sea of swastikas after Hitler's triumphant return: Vienna after the Anschluss lost not only many of its people, but a great deal of its talent.

Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Saturday called for her once-banned party to unify amid concerns that internal squabbles could undermine its push for power at historic polls in 2015.

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi called for her once-banned party to unify amid concerns that internal squabbles could undermine its push for power at historic polls in 2015.

It is a testament to Yukiya Amano's success as head of the UN atomic agency that unlike his appointment in 2009, securing a second term was a formality.

It is a testament to Yukiya Amano's success as head of the UN atomic agency that unlike his appointment in 2009, securing a second term was a formality.

Pakistani schoolgirl-turned-icon of Taliban resistance Malala Yousafzai, ex-Eastern bloc activists and former US president Bill Clinton are in the running for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, as the Nobel Institute announced a record 259 nominations on Monday.

A record 259 nominees are in the running for this year's Nobel Peace Prize -- 209 individuals and 50 organisations -- with the laureate to be announced in October, the Nobel Institute said on Monday.

As a week of mind-bending TED Conference talks ranging from animal necrophilia to fighting poverty ended Friday, inspiring presentations from the renowned gathering were spreading.

Sugata Mitra has been awarded a million-dollar TED Prize to pursue the promise of building schools in the Internet cloud where young minds can learn unfettered by grown-ups.

Italian leftist leader Pier Luigi Bersani faced weeks of tough talks after admitting he had "come first but not won" key elections, as the markets reacted nervously to the political stalemate.

Italian leftist leader Pier Luigi Bersani admitted Tuesday he had "come first but not won" key elections and asked parties to help him push through reforms amid a political deadlock that sent markets tumbling.

Italian left leader Pier Luigi Bersani admitted Tuesday he had "come first but not won" crucial elections and asked parties to join him in key reforms to respond to Italians' most urgent needs.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu said Tuesday he hoped to see a "truly free" Myanmar as he met fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi during a visit to the former junta-ruled nation.