To celebrate International Women’s Day, the British Embassy in Beirut launched its ‘Ambassador For A Day’ (AFAD) competition, now jointly with the Embassy of Canada to Lebanon. AFAD winners will get to shadow an Ambassador in Lebanon for one day, to see first-hand how girls can become leaders and advocates for change.

Each winner will be paired with an Ambassador or head of a U.N. Agency in Lebanon to spend a day with them and their team, and be invited as Guests of Honour to a ceremony hosted by the British and Canadian embassies. "This promises to be an unforgettable opportunity to build skills in diplomacy, confidence, and leadership," the British Embassy in Beirut said in a statement.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday led tributes to former culture minister Frederic Mitterrand, who died at the age of 76, and was celebrated for beaming the arts into French homes through accessible television shows.

A nephew of former Socialist president Francois Mitterrand, Frederic Mitterrand nonetheless attracted controversy over a 2005 book seen as a work of autofiction whose narrator boasted of paying for sex with young males in southeast Asia.

Holi, widely known as the Hindu festival of colors, is a joyful annual celebration at the advent of spring with cultural and religious significance.

Typically observed in March in India, Nepal, other South Asian countries and across the diaspora, the festival celebrates love and signifies a time of rebirth and rejuvenation — a time to embrace the positive and let go of negative energy.

Russia's financial watchdog said Friday it had added what it calls the "international LGBT movement" to its list of terrorists and extremists.

The implication of its listing was not immediately clear.

Purim is widely depicted as the most thoroughly joyful of Jewish holidays — highlighted by celebrations that include costumes, skits, noisemakers and varying degrees of rowdiness.

It celebrates the biblical story of how a plot to exterminate Jews in Persia was thwarted, and thus is embraced as an affirmation of Jewish survival throughout history. For many Jews, it will have extra significance this year during a war in Gaza triggered by the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel in which Hamas killed 1,200 people and took about 250 others hostage.

The restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris following a tragic blaze in April 2019 is a story of dedication and recovery.

The iconic medieval monument immortalized in history, film and literature has been gradually rebuilt over the past five years, through challenges that have included delays during the pandemic and the loss of the project's leader.

A new Banksy mural drew crowds to a London street on Monday, even before the elusive graffiti artist confirmed that the work was his.

The artwork in the Finsbury Park neighborhood covers the wall of a four-story building and shows a small figure holding a pressure hose beside a large cherry tree. Green paint has been sprayed across the wall, replicating the absent leaves of the tree, which has been severely cropped.

The British government published a new official definition of "extremism" on Thursday, and said groups that get the label will be barred from receiving government funding.

The move is in response to a surge in reports of antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate speech and what authorities call an increase in radicalization in Britain since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which triggered the war and Israel's invasion of Gaza.

One religious icon unites Cubans: The Virgin of Charity of Cobre.

Cuba's patron saint is venerated by observant Catholics and followers of Afro-Cuban Santeria traditions as well as Cubans in exile and back on the island. The wooden statue of the Virgin Mary is kept at the Basilica of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre nestled in the shadow of the lush Sierra Maestra mountains. An identical replica is worshipped by Cuban-Americans at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity in Miami.

The "Youth Political Participation in Elections" project, implemented by Rashad Center for Cultural Governance within Adyan Foundation and in partnership with the United Nations Development Program, celebrated the conclusion of its activities with an exceptional closing ceremony and exhibition on Wednesday at the Beirut Metropolitan Hotel in Sin El Fil.

Lebanese youths from all over Lebanon were invited to join a virtual journey through a social media campaign and competition supported by several regional influencers. This event brought together young men and women, representatives from international non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and activists on this journey across Lebanese regions.