Pope Francis is being urged by experts to take greater care when referring to "hypocritical" Pharisees, a stereotype that fuelled centuries of bad blood between Catholics and Jews.

At his shop in Jerusalem's Old City, Palestinian craftsman Issam Zughair makes traditional lanterns for Muslims marking the holy month of Ramadan, battling competition from cheap Chinese imports.

French lawmakers on Friday approved a controversial law for restoring Notre-Dame within five years, after the famous Paris cathedral sustained major fire damage last month. 

A Coptic priest's comments about women's clothing being too revealing in churches has sparked a heated debate this week among Egyptian Christians, the largest religious minority in the Middle East.

As the black-clad rapper spat lyrics into the microphone on stage, the Iraqi boys below beat their chests in mourning. He was, after all, paying homage to slain Shiite figurehead Hussein.

Black-and-white pictures were projected onto the wall of a South African classroom and gospel music played evocatively in the background.

The pictures told a chilling tale: Angry protesters. Policemen beating crowds. Corpses lying scattered on the road. Coffins piled up.

Lebanese author Hoda Barakat has won the Booker international prize for Arabic fiction for her novel "The Night Mail".

Athens on Friday installed its first Alexander the Great statue, a project mired in bureaucratic delays for nearly three decades.

Hundreds of barefoot men beat themselves with flails and at least 10 were to be nailed onto crosses throughout Good Friday in a blood-soaked display of religious fervour in the Philippines.

Two weeks into Mariam's forced marriage to her cousin according to Iraqi tribal custom, she desperately doused herself in fuel, flicked on a lighter and attempted suicide by self-immolation.