A four-day visit by Pope Leo XIV beginning Friday that will feature large public gatherings, popemobile parades and an open-air Mass in Paris presents France with a balancing act under its strict approach to secularism, known as laïcité.

"France is an indivisible, secular, democratic and social Republic," the country's Constitution states.

The Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon and the Samir Kassir Foundation have announced the results of the 21st edition of the Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press, at a ceremony held at the Sursock Palace Gardens in Beirut.

Established with funding from the European Union, the Award is internationally recognized as a flagship prize for press freedom and the most prestigious journalism award in the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf region. Since 2006, the ceremony has been held annually to commemorate the assassination of Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir on 2 June 2005 in Beirut, and to celebrate his life, values, and intellectual and professional struggle.

Pope Leo XIV will retrace his steps as a missionary priest when he returns home to Peru in November in his longest trip to date that will also take him to Uruguay and Argentina, where his Argentine predecessor Pope Francis never returned.

The Vatican on Monday published the detailed itinerary for Leo's first visit to Latin America as pope. The Nov. 6-17 trip will be a homecoming for the U.S.-born pontiff who also has Peruvian citizenship and spent two decades there as a priest and bishop.

China and the United States are divided on many issues, from tariffs and technology to Taiwan. But there is one thing tying them together: fast food.

American restaurant and beverage chains are expanding rapidly in China, drawn by the potential customer pool in a country with four times the U.S. population. China's languishing economy and cutthroat industry competition, meanwhile, have Chinese chains trying their luck in the U.S., turning crumbs and straws into a two-way cultural bridge between the two superpowers.

Beneath the Mediterranean waters off the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, divers swim past stone walls, ancient structures and a submerged road — remnants of parts of a city that once stood above the water.

With a shaky ceasefire in place after the latest Israel-Hezbollah war, visitors are returning to Tyre, a city known for its Roman ruins and its much older Phoenician history. Diving operators say interest in the underwater archaeological sites is increasing, though the number of visitors remains below prewar levels.

Lebanon on Wednesday returned to Egypt dozens of pharaonic artefacts that had been seized from the Beirut port years earlier.

"Thirty-seven antiquities... were seized from Beirut port in 2020, having arrived from an Arab port," Lebanese Culture Minister Ghassan Salameh said during a handover ceremony at the Beirut national museum.

As Paris emerges from months of oppressive heat, cooler autumn temperatures are welcomed back like a long-lost friend. But images of France's hottest summer remain etched in memories — and in the artwork of illustrator Marina Antonova.

Paris is admired worldwide for aesthetic beauty, but the city kept hitting the news for another reason in recent months as record-breaking highs climbed beyond 40 C (104 F) on the roasting streets.

Celebrations across the U.S. are expected in observance of National Hispanic Heritage Month, showcasing the vast diversity and culture of Latinos.

Marked each year from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, the month is an opportunity for many in the U.S. to learn about or be reminded of the contributions of Hispanic people. The nation's largest racial or ethnic minority, over 70 million ethnically Hispanic residents make up one-fifth of the total U.S. population, according to the census. The group includes people whose ancestors come from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.

The farmers who paid David Nabutsilili money to summon rain were angry when they received so much of it that their vegetable gardens were left flooded. They chased him up and down the hills, stopping when he fell upon a rock and broke a femur. That was his punishment.

Sixteen years later, the rainmaker still feels pain in his leg. Many of those who pursued him regularly seek his spiritual help when they need rain, especially during the planting season, but also when they seek to block it. If he fails to meet their expectations, he must temporarily flee his home for his own safety, Nabutsilili told The Associated Press during an interview in his village in eastern Uganda.

Yellow tentacles decorated with rhythmic patterns of dots swirl around a room, the patterns echoed on the floor and the walls. Reflections bounce off mirrors, blurring the boundaries of the space at Amsterdam 's Stedelijk Museum.

The installation — specially created for an exhibition of the work of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, who died Aug. 14 at age 97 — is titled "Infinity Mirrored Room — The Hope Of The Polka Dots Buried In Infinity Will Eternally Cover The Universe."