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AUB among the world’s top in medicine

The American University of Beirut has achieved its highest-ever rank in the subject of medicine, tying for 135 in the QS World University Ranking by Subject 2024.

"This placement is notable among 720 published institutions and 1,398 analyzed institutions," AUB said in a statement.

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Salman Rushdie to release 'Knife' memoir recounting stabbing

British-American author Salman Rushdie releases his memoir "Knife" on Tuesday, recounting the harrowing experience of being stabbed at a public event in 2022 and how he overcame the near-fatal ordeal.

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Vatican's top diplomat begins 6-day visit to Vietnam

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.

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What is Eid al-Fitr and how do Muslims celebrate the Islamic holiday?

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.

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Vatican blasts gender-affirming surgery, surrogacy as threats to human dignity

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.

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Right to children or children's rights? Surrogacy debate comes to head in Rome

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.

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How religions have responded to total solar eclipses over the centuries

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.

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UN rights council takes a stand against intersex discrimination

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.

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A blend of Lebanese creativity and Brazilian inspiration at Tripoli's Fair

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.

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Morocco hosts one of Africa's first exhibitions of Cuban art

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.

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