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Pope Accepts Resignation of Archbishop who Slammed Belarus Govt.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of the Catholic Archbishop of Minsk, the Vatican said on Sunday, after he spoke out against the Belarus government and violence against protestors. 

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Rights Groups Demand Release of Arrested Palestinian DJ

Rights groups on Tuesday demanded that Palestinian authorities free a woman disc jockey arrested after a dance event at a Muslim religious site near the West Bank city of Jericho.

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Egypt Sentences Man to 3 Years in Prison for Sexual Harassment

An Egyptian court on Tuesday sentenced a former student to three years in prison for sexually harassing two young women, in a case that sparked outrage on social media under the #MeToo hashtag.

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RestArt Beirut Strikes Out Its First Ambitious Project: Saving Sursock Palace

The RestART Beirut Fund, an ambitious international initiative launched by a group of young friends from five different countries under the aegis of the King Baudouin Foundation, is launching its first project – saving the badly damaged Sursock Palace in Beirut and helping open it to the public as a museum and cultural center.

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Statue of Confederate General Lee Removed from U.S. Capitol

A statue of Robert E. Lee, a commander for the pro-slavery South during the U.S. Civil War, was removed from the Capitol building early Monday, officials said, part of a reckoning with the country's history of racism.

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MPs Pass Sexual Harassment Law, Amend Domestic Violence Law

Lebanon's parliament on Monday passed a landmark bill criminalizing sexual harassment and amended a controversial domestic violence law, in a move rights groups criticized as incomplete.

The new law "criminalizes sexual harassment, especially in the workplace," the official National News Agency reported.

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'Like Xanax': In Lebanon, Crisis Comedy Combats Trauma

Lebanese comedians are bringing relief and defying taboos with jokes about dating, partying during the pandemic -- and how even drug dealers are considering leaving the crisis-hit country.

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Tunisia Works to Preserve its Jewish Heritage

Tunisia is struggling to protect North Africa's Jewish heritage, threatened by vandalism, looting and the smuggling of valuable artefacts bearing witness to the long history of the region's Jews.

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Israel Condemns EU Ritual Slaughter Ruling

The European Court of Justice ruled Thursday that authorities can order that animals be stunned before slaughter in a move decried by Israel and religious groups as attacking their traditions.

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Biden Names America's First Openly Gay Cabinet Member

Joe Biden boasted of a "cabinet of barrier breakers" Wednesday as the U.S. President-elect introduced his transportation secretary pick Pete Buttigieg, who if confirmed would become the first openly gay head of a cabinet-level department.

Buttigieg, whom Biden called "a policy wonk with a big heart," is one of several trailblazing picks by the veteran Democrat who appears to be following through on his pledge to name the most diverse U.S. cabinet ever.

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