Historians will begin combing the archives of the world's most contentious pope on Monday, hoping to glean why Pius XII stayed silent during the Nazi extermination of Jews in the Holocaust.

A coughing Pope Francis told pilgrims gathered for the traditional Sunday blessing that he is canceling his participation at a week-long spiritual retreat in the Roman countryside because of a cold.

It is the first time in his seven-year papacy that he has missed the spiritual exercises that he initiated early in his pontificate to mark the start of each Lenten season. Such retreats are typical Jesuits, an order to which he belongs.

The African Union chief on Thursday highlighted "differences" over topics such as international justice and gay rights at a meeting with the European Union intended to deepen the partnership between the two continents.

Official calls to arrest a Saudi female rapper who appeared in a music video have sparked an online backlash with many calling the move hypocritical as the kingdom invites Western women to perform.

Justin Fashanu, who in 1990 became the first English professional footballer to reveal he was gay, was honored on Wednesday by being inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame.

"Be yourself" is the advice former British prime minister Theresa May gave to the Global Women's Forum in Dubai on Monday, explaining how she had risen to the top job despite refusing to conform to masculine traditions in politics.

Rima settles in a chair at an upscale Riyadh cafe, looks around carefully and, seeing no one she recognizes, drags on her electronic cigarette before exhaling a cloud of smoke.

A Turkish court on Friday acquitted renowned novelist Asli Erdogan on charges of membership of an armed terror organisation.

It was supposed to be a whirlwind tour of China for Jiang Lanyi's boyfriend: classical gardens in Suzhou, modern art in Shanghai, ice-skating in central Beijing.

Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan has been charged with raping two women besides two others he was already facing accusations over, his lawyer told AFP Thursday.