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Proposal urges FIFA to compensate World Cup labor in Qatar

At an upcoming meeting of national soccer federations, FIFA will be urged to compensate migrant workers and families of those who died or were injured on World Cup projects in Qatar.

The issue will be raised by Norwegian soccer officials at the FIFA Congress meeting on March 16 in Rwanda, human rights group Amnesty International said Wednesday. It will be the first post-tournament meeting of more than 200 federations.

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'A time bomb': India's sinking holy town faces grim future

Inside a shrine overlooking snow-capped mountains, Hindu priests heaped spoonfuls of puffed rice and ghee into a crackling fire. They closed their eyes and chanted, hoping their prayers would somehow turn back time and save their holy — and sinking — town.

For months, the roughly 20,000 residents in Joshimath, burrowed in the Himalayas and revered by Hindu and Sikh pilgrims, have watched the earth slowly swallow their community. They pleaded for help that never arrived, and in January their desperate plight made it into the international spotlight.

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Pope to visit Hungary in April, migration and war on agenda

Pope Francis will visit Hungary at the end of April, the Vatican said Monday, in a trip expected to focus on migration to Europe and Russia's war in Ukraine.

The April 28-30 trip to Budapest represents a proper state visit after Francis made a brief, hours-long stopover in 2021 to close out a church conference. That visit was visibly awkward, given that Prime Minister Viktor Orban's hard-line views on migration and Francis' call for countries to welcome those fleeing war, hardship and poverty.

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Pope nationalizes Vatican assets, property in new reform

Pope Francis has essentially nationalized all assets and property owned by Vatican departments and affiliated institutions, declaring them to be sovereign patrimony owned by the Holy See and not any individual or office.

The action outlined in a new law published Thursday marks Francis' latest initiative to centralize Vatican assets so they can be managed properly, following years of mismanagement that led to huge losses and, prosecutors allege, criminal wrongdoing.

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Ruins of Turkish city of Antakya tell story of a rich past

For nearly two weeks, Mehmet Ismet has lived in the ruins of Antakya's most beloved historic mosque, a landmark in a now-devastated city that was famed for thousands of years as a meeting place of civilizations and revered by Christians, Muslims and Jews.

The 74-year-old took refuge in the Habib Najjar mosque after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake killed tens of thousands in Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6. He has slept and prayed under the few arches still standing, mourning the future of a city renowned for its past.

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Pope cancels an appointment, some speeches due to bad cold

Pope Francis canceled one audience and skipped speeches he was set to deliver Thursday because of a bad cold, the Vatican said.

Francis, 86, did meet with young Orthodox priests and monks and members of the Max Planck Society, the German research organization that is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. But because of a "bad cold," Francis merely had printed copies of his remarks handed out and didn't read them aloud, the Vatican said in a note.

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'Imperfect' models in Italy redefine beauty

A project on Instagram to highlight ordinary women and their imperfections has transformed into a modeling agency that aims to redefine notions of beauty in Italy.

The Imperfetta (Imperfect) modeling agency, started in 2020 by Carlotta Giancane, has a casting book full of models who defy the industry's pre-established standards of beauty. They are of all sizes and ages, spanning the gender spectrum, some with disabilities or medical conditions like alopecia or vitiligo, visible scarring or who have lost limbs.

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Finalists announced for the Lukas Prize Project book awards

Beverly Gage's J. Edgar Hoover biography "G-Man," Robert Samuels' and Toluse Olorunnipa's "His Name is George Floyd" and Linda Villarosa's study of racism and its effects, "Under the Skin," are among the finalists for awards handed out by the Lukas Prize Project.

The project was established in 1998 and named for the late author and investigative journalist J. Anthony Lukas. The finalists were announced Wednesday by the Columbia Journalism School and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Winners will be announced March 21.

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Egypt unveils renovated wing of oldest museum, new papyrus

Egypt's ministry of tourism and antiquities unveiled a renovated wing of its oldest museum Monday, home to a 16-meter (52-foot) -long scroll unearthed last year.

The refurbishment marks the first stage of broader renovations for the 120-year-old salmon-colored palatial complex in downtown Cairo, opposite the capital's famed Tahrir Square.

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HRW: Tech giants 'not doing enough' to protect LGBTQ people in Lebanon, region

Human Rights Watch called Tuesday on tech companies to better protect LGBTQ communities from "digital targeting" by authorities in Iraq, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.

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