Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke with Pope Francis on Thursday about the "immoral display" at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics and called for a unified stance against acts that ridicule sacred values, according to a statement from Erdogan's office.

The Turkish leader told the pontiff in a telephone call that "human dignity was being trampled on, religious and moral values were being mocked, offending Muslims as much as the Christian world," the statement said.

As a gay youth growing up in central France, Hugo Bardin never felt he lived in a world that represented who he was — a world in which he had a place.

And that is why Bardin, who performs as the drag queen Paloma, felt it was meaningful and important to be part of a Paris Olympics opening ceremony that presented a multifaceted, multiethnic France with people of different ethnicities and orientations.

Following the release of the Technique Superieur (TS) vocational and technical exam results and the first round of the Baccalaureate II examination results, UNRWA congratulated Tuesday all students who passed. "Their hard work leading to excellent accomplishments is truly commendable," UNRWA said in a statement.

Siblin Training Center students scored a 100 per cent pass rate, with 60 per cent of students passing with distinction, the statement said.

A storm of outrage about the Paris Olympics' opening ceremony took a legal turn Tuesday, with a DJ who performed at the show saying her lawyer is filing complaints over a torrent of threats and other abuse that the LGBTQ+ icon has suffered online in the ceremony's wake.

Barbara Butch's lawyer said in a letter posted to the DJ's Instagram that Butch "has been threatened with death, torture and rape, and has also been the target of numerous anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist and grossophobic insults." Butch's agent confirmed to The Associated Press that the Instagram account is the DJ's.

A pair of Syrians have created a community that provides support to migrants and vulnerable people in Rome, by sharing the flavors of a homeland torn by civil war.

Founded in 2018 as a "humanitarian catering service," HummusTown was originally aimed at raising funds for families and friends in Syria.

The majority of Venezuelans are religious — just like parts of the country's political history.

But as they prepare for the upcoming presidential election, it's hard to say exactly how religious Venezuelans are and what specifically they believe. The government has not released official figures in more than a decade. Most estimates provided by researchers and academics are reached through projections and field work.

The support being provided at the Paris Olympics for athletes who are also parents is just part of a larger trend as the rise of women's sports puts greater emphasis on maternity and parental needs.

In France, a nursery is available for athletes' children in the Olympic village for the first time and private rooms will be provided by organizers for nursing mothers. But the Olympics aren't alone.

The Vatican released on Friday the program for Pope Francis' trip to Belgium and Luxembourg in late September, where he will celebrate Mass for the faithful, as well as meeting with religious and political authorities.

During the four-day visit, on Sept. 26-29, he will also hold private talks with his brethren in the Jesuit order.

A Turkish parliamentary commission has begun a tense debate on a bill to manage the country's large stray dog population that animal advocates fear could result in the widespread killing of the animals.

The legislation, submitted to parliament Wednesday by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party, is pitting groups advocating for safer streets free of the feral dogs against animal rights activists who are demanding the withdrawal of the bill.

Shiite Muslims Wednesday in Lebanon and Iraq commemorated Ashoura, marking the 7th-century death of Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Hussein, that gave birth to their faith, while paying tribute to Palestinians as the Israel-Hamas war entered its 10th month and tensions heightened between Hezbollah and the Israeli military.

The rift between Islam's two main sects deepened after Sunnis killed Imam Hussein in battle in the Iraqi city of Karbala, south of Baghdad. It continues to this day to play a key role in shaping the identity of Shiites, who represent over 10% of the world's 1.8 billion Muslims.