The Vatican's top diplomat began a six-day visit to Vietnam on Tuesday as part of ongoing efforts to normalize relations between the two sides.

Richard Gallagher, the Holy See's foreign minister, will meet with his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and visit a children's hospital in the capital, Hanoi, state media Vietnam News Agency reported.

Muslims around the world will soon bid farewell to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and start celebrating the holiday of Eid al-Fitr. Eid is marked with congregational prayers and festivities that typically include family visits, gatherings and new clothes.

This year, Eid will come just after the Israel-Hamas war crosses the somber milestone of having stretched on for half a year. During Ramadan, as Muslims around the world savored the traditions of their diverse communities, advocacy, prayers and charity for Palestinians in Gaza were high on the minds of many.

The Vatican on Monday declared gender-affirming surgery and surrogacy as grave threats to human dignity, putting them on par with abortion and euthanasia as practices that violate God's plan for human life.

The Vatican's doctrine office issued "Infinite Dignity," a 20-page declaration that has been in the works for five years. After substantial revision in recent months, it was approved March 25 by Pope Francis, who ordered its publication.

An international campaign to ban surrogacy received a strong endorsement Friday from the Vatican, with a top official calling for a broad-based alliance to stop the "commercialization of life" catering to wealthy would-be parents.

A Vatican-affiliated university hosted a two-day conference promoting an international treaty to outlaw surrogacy, based on the campaigners' argument that the practice violates U.N. conventions protecting the rights of the child and surrogate mother.

Throughout history, solar eclipses have had profound impact on adherents of various religions around the world. They were viewed as messages from God or spiritual forces, inducing emotions ranging from dread to wonder.

Ahead of the total solar eclipse that will follow a long path over North America on Monday, here's a look at how several of the world's major religions have responded to such eclipses over the centuries and in modern times.

The U.N. Human Rights Council passed a resolution Thursday on tackling discrimination against intersex persons, despite opposition from several countries to the terminology used.

In the context of the designation of Tripoli as the Arab Capital of Culture in 2024, and the enlisting of the Tripoli Fair as World Heritage in Danger by UNESCO in 2023, the Embassy of Brazil in Beirut, Instituto Guimarães Rosa Beirut and Marsah invite you to the opening of the exhibition "Tripoli Fair: The Way I See It" Art Prize - Selected Works on April 12 from 6 to 9 pm at the Marsah space located behind the Municipality of El Mina in Tripoli.

The exhibition brings the 20 best artworks selected by the "Tripoli Fair: The Way I See It" Art Prize, promoted by the Embassy of Brazil in 2023 to raise awareness about the importance of conserving and thinking about the future of the fair, one of the most important modernist projects in the Arab World, designed by renowned Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer.

When Morocco 's King Mohamed VI visited Havana in 2017, Cuban-American gallery owner Alberto Magnan impressed him with a "full immersion" in the Caribbean island's art and culture, drawing a line between the cultural and historical themes tackled by Cuban artists and those from across Africa.

Seven years after that encounter, one of the first exhibitions of Cuban art at an African museum is showing at Morocco's Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.

Pope Francis led thousands of people in a moment of silence Wednesday to pray for the aid workers killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza and a young Ukrainian soldier named Oleksandre who was killed in "this madness of war."

Francis appealed anew for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hostages taken from Israel on Oct. 7 by Hamas. Praying for the families of the seven World Central Kitchen workers killed, he called for humanitarian aid to reach Gaza's people and for all efforts to prevent the conflict from spreading.

In a significant stride towards advancing sustainable practices in Lebanon's food industry, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the American University of Beirut (AUB) embarked on a pioneering collaboration, marked by the launch of the Private Sector Transition to Green and Circular Economy in Lebanon project.

"This underscores a shared commitment to fostering resource efficiency, cleaner production, and ultimately, a circular economy in Lebanon," the American University of Beirut said in a statement.