President Joe Biden on Thursday named Karine Jean-Pierre to be the next White House press secretary, the first Black woman and openly LGBTQ person to serve in the role. Incumbent Jen Psaki is set to leave the post next week.

Jean-Pierre takes on the role as the White House faces an uphill battle to help Democrats hold onto the House and Senate in this fall's midterm elections, and as the administration struggles to address Americans' concerns about soaring inflation and the state of the economy. She also comes into the job as Biden faces a daunting array of foreign policy challenges, including the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and North Korea's escalating nuclear testing program. Biden is set to visit South Korea and Japan later this month and Europe in June.

A refugee held for eight years in Australia's hardline immigration system earned a finalist spot in the nation's top art prize on Thursday -- for a self-portrait he painted with a toothbrush.

Due to high prices, Mona Abubakr, an Egyptian housewife this year made smaller quantities of Eid al-Fitr sweet treats.

The mother of three has also tweaked another tradition this Eid, which began Monday in Egypt and many countries and marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. She bought fewer outfits for her sons to wear during the three-day feast.

As women in the United States find themselves on the verge of possibly losing the constitutional right to abortion, courts in many other parts of the world have been moving in the opposite direction.

That includes in a number of traditionally conservative societies — such as recently in Colombia, where the Constitutional Court in February legalized the procedure until the 24th week of pregnancy, part of a broader trend seen in parts of heavily Catholic Latin America.

The Iraqi Communist Party may have seen its red star fade but it hopes to come back by advocating what remain radical ideas in the country: women's rights and secular politics.

The Office of the U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon (UNSCOL) is organizing digital consultations with Lebanese youth on Thursday, May 5 at 5:00 pm Beirut Time.

Egyptian archaeologists unearthed the ruins of a temple for the ancient Greek god Zeus in the Sinai Peninsula, antiquities authorities said.

The Tourism and Antiquities Ministry said in a statement the temple ruins were found in the Tell el-Farma archaeological site in northwestern Sinai.

Afghanistan should join a list of the "worst of the worst" violators of religious freedom in the wake of the Taliban's return to power, a U.S. advisory body is recommending to the State Department.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, in its annual report, says religious minorities have "faced harassment, detention and even death due to their faith or beliefs" since the Taliban re-imposed its harsh interpretation of Sunni Islam on Afghanistan. It also cited attacks on religious minorities by an Islamic State affiliate that is an enemy of the Taliban.

France on Tuesday condemned the life sentence handed by a Turkish court to leading civil society activist Osman Kavala, saying his detention violated Turkey's international obligations.

"France strongly condemns the life sentence," the foreign ministry said in a statement, calling for Kavala's "immediate release" and the dropping of all charges against him. He had been detained for more than four-and a-half years "in violation of Turkey's international obligations," the French ministry added.

The longtime leader of Human Rights Watch announced Tuesday he will step down this summer as executive director after nearly three decades at the helm of one of the world's leading advocacy organizations.

Kenneth Roth ran the New York-based group as it shared a Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for its efforts to ban anti-personnel land mines. The group also pushed to establish the International Criminal Court for prosecuting war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.