Ancient DNA has revealed the first inhabitants of Vanuatu and Tonga came from Asia, not other Oceanic populations as has long been assumed, a study published Tuesday found.

The study sheds light on the last great human migration into unpopulated lands, when a people called the Lapita fanned out into the South Pacific about 3,000 years ago.

Pope Francis and Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, will attend a special service in Rome on Wednesday to mark the 50th anniversary of the first joint prayer of a Catholic pontiff and a head of the Church of England.

Two months after its priest was murdered by teenage jihadists, parishioners of a Catholic church in northern France will gather on Sunday for a solemn re-opening ceremony to seek solace and solidarity.

Esham and her sister Esha live largely in seclusion: fears they will be mistreated because they are daughters of the accused in Pakistan's most infamous blasphemy case make them reluctant to venture into the brimming streets of Lahore.

Pope Francis' efforts to improve relations with the Georgian Orthodox Church suffered a public setback Saturday after the patriarchate decided not to send an official delegation to his Mass and repeated that Orthodox faithful cannot participate in Catholic services.

In the run-up to Francis' Caucasus visit, the Vatican spokesman had said the Orthodox Patriarchate would send a delegation to the Mass in a Tbilisi sports stadium "in a sign of the rapport between the two churches" — suggesting that the chill that had clouded the 1999 visit of St. John Paul II to Georgia had warmed slightly.

An Egyptian member of parliament is facing ridicule for saying that universities should perform virginity tests on female students.

Bulgaria's parliament approved on Friday legislation outlawing face-covering Islamic veils in public, joining a small number of EU countries as debate rages across Europe about religious freedoms.

Two Van Gogh masterpieces stolen in Amsterdam 14 years ago have been recovered by organized crime investigators in Italy, the Van Gogh Museum announced on Friday.

The model adjusts her clothing, stares at the camera with a hint of a smile, holds her head high and the photographer starts snapping.

But at this photoshoot on the Asian side of Istanbul, the models, impeccably made up, sport no body-hugging Western styles.

Norway's Rafto Prize for human rights was on Thursday awarded to Yanar Mohammed of Iraq for her efforts to help minorities and women subjected to sexual abuse in the war-torn country, the jury said.