A group of Buddhist monks arrived in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, completing a 15-week peace pilgrimage from Texas marked by quiet, single-file walks, a growing social media following and crowds gathering along their route.

Escorted across the Chain Bridge into the capital, the saffron-robed monks and their rescue dog, Aloka, have drawn national attention with their message of mindfulness, healing and unity.

What's in a surname? For many people from Spain and Latin America, it's about who your father is and who your mother is.

The tradition of using two surnames helps clearly identify familial relationships in much of the Spanish-speaking world. But in the United States, having two surnames can be a bureaucratic headache, or worse.

Architect Buse Ceren Gul is on a mission: restore a 166-year-old Greek Orthodox church that was long a beacon of her hometown's multicultural past. She believes restoring the church left mostly in ruins by the earthquakes in southern Turkey three years ago will help locals reconnect to their city.

The magnitude 7.8 earthquake on Feb. 6, 2023, and another hours later were among Turkey's worst disasters. In Antakya, the quakes destroyed much of the historical town center.

An unlikely love story blossoming in the thick of war provides the backdrop to a new documentary that raises questions about how modern media cover conflict.

"Birds of War" traces the growing relationship between Syrian activist-cameraman Abd Alkader Habak and Lebanese journalist Janay Boulos, who was working for the BBC in London as Syria's civil war unfurled.

They perch gently on concrete ledges. They nestle into peeling stucco. Occasionally, they soar across a stone house's rooftop.

A flock has landed in Wang Tong Village, a peaceful corner of Lantau Island on Hong Kong's southwestern edge. But this flock is unlike others: Its birds are made of paint.

Dr. Fadlo Khuri, president of the American University of Beirut (AUB) and an internationally recognized oncologist, has been named among the 100 most influential people in oncology in 2025 by OncoDaily, the leading global media platform dedicated to cancer research, clinical practice, innovation, and oncology leadership.

"The 100 Most Influential People in Oncology in 2025 recognizes the changemakers in cancer care who have helped shape current practice in oncology and continue to drive innovation and research towards better outcomes, advocacy, philanthropy, leadership, and education," the announcement stated.

Handprints on cave walls in a largely unexplored area of Indonesia may be the oldest rock art studied so far, dating back to at least 67,800 years ago.

The tan-colored prints analyzed by Indonesian and Australian researchers on the island of Sulawesi were made by blowing pigment over hands placed against the cave walls, leaving an outline. Some of the fingertips were also tweaked to look more pointed.

China's one-child policy, one of the harshest attempts at population control the world has seen, forced abortions on women, made sterilization widespread and led to baby daughters being sold or even killed, because parents wanted their only child to be a male.

Now, experts say, the question is whether it was all necessary. China's birth rate fell to record lows last year and its population has fallen for four years in a row, official statistics showed this week. Authorities, alarmed by the prospect of a shrinking workforce and an aging population, scrapped the policy in 2015.

Scientists have uncovered the mummified remains of cheetahs from caves in northern Saudi Arabia.

The remains range from 130 years old to over 1,800 years old. Researchers excavated seven mummies along with the bones of 54 other cheetahs from a site near the city of Arar.

The Refugee and Migrant Health Program at the American University of Beirut (AUB), in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters, convened a national stakeholder engagement workshop at AUB, bringing together key actors, including representatives from government, nongovernmental organizations, and the research community to strengthen evidence-informed approaches to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) for refugee and migrant populations in Lebanon.

The workshop served as a strategic platform to review current research and programming, including findings from the SEEK trial, and to facilitate cross-sector dialogue on priority gaps, coordination challenges, and opportunities for integration. Participants engaged in structured discussions aimed at aligning research efforts with national health strategies and policy needs, while identifying pathways to enhance the relevance, inclusivity, and sustainability of interventions targeting refugee and migrant populations.