The world knew Jimmy Carter as a president and humanitarian, but he also was a woodworker, painter and poet, creating a body of artistic work that reflects deeply personal views of the global community — and himself.

His portfolio illuminates his closest relationships, his spartan sensibilities and his place in the evolution of American race relations. And it continues to improve the finances of The Carter Center, his enduring legacy.

Egypt unveiled several discoveries near the famed city of Luxor on Wednesday, including ancient rock-cut tombs and burial shafts dating back 3,600 years.

They were unearthed at the causeway of Queen Hatshepsut's funerary temple at Deir al-Bahri on the Nile's West Bank, according to a statement released by Zahi Hawass Foundation for Antiquities & Heritage. It said it worked in tandem with the Supreme Council of Antiquities on the site since September 2022.

As president, Jimmy Carter brokered the watershed peace agreement that removed Israel's most powerful enemy from the battlefield. But he incurred the Israeli government's wrath decades later when he said its military rule over the Palestinians amounted to apartheid.

The Camp David peace accords, signed by Israel and Egypt in 1978, remain the biggest achievement from decades of mostly failed U.S. peacemaking in the Middle East.

In this corner of southern Texas, the plump cacti seem to pop out of arid dust and cracked earth, like magic dumplings.

It's only here and in northern Mexico that the bluish-green peyote plant can be found growing naturally, nestled under thorny mesquite, acacia and blackbrush.

In post-Assad Syria, stand-up comedians are re-emerging to challenge taboos, mocking the former president and his regime and even testing the waters with Damascus' new rulers.

Footage of a priest with a machinegun slung over his shoulder inside a church in Lebanon’s Mazraat Yachouh has gone viral on social media and stirred controversy in the country.

Pope Francis called for a ceasefire on all war fronts in his Sunday Angelus prayer ahead of Christmas, condemning the "cruelty" of bombing schools and hospitals in Ukraine and Gaza.

"Let the weapons fall silent and let the Christmas carols ring out!" Francis said, delivering his Sunday blessing from indoors due to a cold and as a precaution ahead of a busy Christmas period.

The Nativity Store in Manger Square has sold handmade olive wood carvings and religious items to people visiting the traditional birthplace of Jesus since 1927. But as Bethlehem prepares to mark its second Christmas under the shadow of the war in Gaza, there are almost no tourists, leaving the Nativity Store and other businesses unsure of how much longer they can hold on.

For the second straight year, Bethlehem's Christmas celebrations will be somber and muted, in deference to ongoing war in Gaza. There will be no giant Christmas tree in Manger Square, no raucous scout marching bands, no public lights twinkling and very few public decorations or displays.

A Christmas tree stands among the fallen stones of what remains of St. George Melkite Catholic Church in southern Lebanon. Once a vibrant community center, the 18th-century church is in ruins after an Israeli airstrike in October.

Georges Elia, a 40-year-old municipal worker and churchgoer, took it upon himself to bring some normalcy as the holiday season approached, weeks after a fragile ceasefire with Israel.

When Pope Francis left the Vatican earlier this month for his traditional Christmastime outing downtown, he acknowledged what many Romans have been complaining about for months: That his big plans for a Holy Year had turned their city into a giant construction pit, with traffic-clogging roadworks tearing up major thoroughfares, scaffolding covering prized monuments and short-term rentals gobbling up apartment blocks.

Francis urged Romans to pray for their mayor — "He has a lot to do" — but to nevertheless welcome the upcoming Jubilee as a time of spiritual repair and renewal. "These worksites are fine, but beware: Don't forget the worksites of the soul!" Francis said.