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Foreign ministers from the G8 group of rich countries failed to patch up deep divisions over Syria or come up with a plan on North Korea during a meeting in London on Thursday.

A book chronicling a Chinese tragedy under Mao has won Britain's richest nonfiction book award, the Samuel Johnson Prize. Frank Dikotter's "Mao's Great Famine" won the 20,000 pound ($32,000) award at a ceremony in London on Wednesday.

A vase that sat, little-noticed, in a modest suburban home has become one of the most expensive Asian artworks ever sold -- and underlined the rapid rise of the Chinese art market.

Urban visionaries in London and Seoul, two of the world's busiest capital cities, foresee buses gliding through their streets with speed, ease and efficiency - without emitting the exhaust fumes that scientists say are contributing to global warming. Under Mayor Boris Johnson's vision, London's iconic red double-decker Routemaster buses would be back on the streets - but powered by electricity, not gasoline.