A draft media law in Kuwait that threatens to outlaw criticism of top officials is causing anger in the country long considered to have the highest level of free expression in the Gulf.

The bill, proposed by the information ministry, has been condemned by lawmakers as a "violation of democracy" and an attempt to "silence and intimidate" the public.

It began with a dinner invitation. How it ends could affect more than a billion people.

State-issued invites sent to guests of this week's G20 meeting referred to India's president, Droupadi Murmu, as "President of Bharat." Suddenly, in many circles, the question was everywhere: Would the country of more than 1.4 billion now be called by its ancient Sanskrit name?

Four Roman-era swords, their wooden and leather hilts and scabbards and steel blades exquisitely preserved after 1,900 years in a desert cave, surfaced in a recent excavation by Israeli archaeologists near the Dead Sea, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Wednesday.

The cache of exceptionally intact artifacts was found about two months ago and tells a story of empire and rebellion, of long-distance conquest and local insurrection.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has replaced the name India with a Sanskrit word in dinner invitations sent to guests attending this week's Group of 20 summit, in a move that reflects his Hindu nationalist party's efforts to eliminate what it sees as colonial-era names.

Indian President Droupadi Murmu is referred to as "President of Bharat" instead of "President of India" in the invitation sent to G20 attendees. The nation of more than 1.4 billion people is officially known by two names, India and Bharat, but the former is most commonly used, both domestically and internationally.

French authorities were on Monday imposing a newly-announced ban on the abaya Muslim dress for women in schools, with over 500 establishments under scrutiny as children across the country returned to class.

Pope Francis arrived in Mongolia on Friday morning to encourage one of the world's smallest and newest Catholic communities.

It's the first time a pope has visited the landlocked Asian country and comes at a time when the Vatican's relations with Mongolia's two powerful neighbors, Russia and China, are once again strained.

The Nobel Foundation that administers the prestigious awards, has reversed its invitation policy and invited Russia, Belarus and Iran, as well as the leader of a far-right Swedish party, who had previously been banned.

Vidar Helgesen, the executive director of the private foundation said in a statement that there was a global trend in which "dialogue between those with differing views is being reduced."

On August 1, 2023, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded a contract to RTI International, a nonprofit research institute and leading international development organization, to implement the new five-year $96.9M Quality Instruction Towards Access and Basic Education Improvement (QITABI) 3 to support Lebanon’s education system.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) and the Center for Educational Research and Development (CRDP), USAID’s QITABI 3 will improve literacy, numeracy, social and emotional learning (SEL), and inclusive education outcomes for students nationwide. The project will also provide life skills and career guidance to students at the intermediate and secondary levels.

Rainbows, school books, movies and drag shows have all been targeted in Lebanon in recent weeks as politicians, religious leaders and vigilante groups step up a campaign against the LGBTQ+ community in a country that has long shown relative tolerance.

At a time when Lebanon is in the grips of one of the world's worst economic meltdowns in more than a century, the country and its leaders have been deeply split on how to deal with the crisis. Political factions have been so divided they haven't been able to choose a new president for 10 months.

France's education minister has announced a ban on long robes in classrooms starting with the new school year, saying the garments worn mainly by Muslims are testing secularism in the nation's schools.

Critics say that abayas, worn by women, and khamis, the male garb, are no more than a fashion statement. They say the garments do not constitute an ostentatious sign of religion and should not be banned from classrooms under a 2004 law.