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Pope Leo XIV wraps up a four-day trip to Turkey on Sunday after a warm welcome by its tiny Christian community, before heading to Lebanon with a message of peace for the crisis-mired nation. On the last day of his visit, his first trip overseas since being elected leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, Leo participated in several Sunday services in another demonstration of his desire for greater unity among different branches of the Church. At the Armenian Cathedral, Leo said had words of encouragement for the largest of Turkey’s Christian communities that counts some 50,000 members, thanking God “for the courageous Christian witness of the Armenian people throughout history, often amid tragic circumstances”.It was an apparent nod to the massacres the Armenians suffered at the hands of the Ottoman troops in 1915-1916 which has been qualified as genocide by around 30 countries, although Turkey firmly rejects the term. “The Armenian people do not forget the popes who raised their voice in our times of suffering, who stood with Christian communities in danger and who upheld truth when the world hesitated,” Armenian Patriarch Sahak Mashalian said.And he prayed Leo’s influence would help ensure the safety of “vulnerable Christian communities” in the Middle East, saying: “May the good Lord make you an angel of peace in those bleeding lands to herald glad tidings of enduring peace among war-worn peoples.”The American pope then went to take part in a divine liturgy — the Orthodox equivalent of mass — at the Patriarchal Church of St. George, its glittering interior echoing with chants and ancient liturgy, the air filled with incense. But before all his public duties, Leo met privately with a bereaved father whose 14-year-old Italian-Turkish son died in February after being stabbed at a market in Istanbul. – ‘My greatest dream’ -“Today I cried, but I cried tears of joy, I came for Mattia Ahmet,” Italian chef Andrea Minguzzi said of his son in remarks to reporters afterwards, thanking the pope for meeting him and “fulfilling one of the greatest dreams of my life”. “I wrote a letter two weeks ago and he received us today. I asked him for his support for our mission of peace and brotherhood. He is praying. This may be the best thing for us,” he said, fighting back tears. Leo was to have lunch with Patriarch Bartholomew I, the leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, a day after they signed a joint declaration pledging to take “new and courageous steps on the path towards unity”.Despite doctrinal differences that led to the Great Schism of 1054 which divided Christians between the Roman Catholic Church in the West and the Eastern Orthodox Church, the two sides maintain dialogue and hold joint celebrations.Pope Leo — the fifth pontiff to visit Turkey after Paul VI in 1967, John Paul II in 1979, Benedict XVI in 2006 and Francis in 2014 — began his trip by holding talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Then he travelled to Iznik for an ecumenical celebration marking 1,700 years since the First Council of Nicaea, one of the early Church’s most important gatherings. In Istanbul on Saturday, thousands of worshippers braved heavy rain to celebrate mass with him, with many travelling across Turkey to join the multilingual service that left participants and observers deeply moved by its beautiful and haunting choral interludes. He was expected to leave Istanbul at 1145 GMT and fly to Beirut for a visit lasting until Tuesday.The six-day two-nation trip is the first major international test for the first pope from the United States, who was elected head of the Catholic Church in May and whose understated style contrasts with that of his charismatic and impulsive predecessor, Francis.Although Leo’s visit drew little attention in Turkey, a Muslim-majority nation of 86 million whose Christian community numbers only around 100,000, it is eagerly awaited in Lebanon, a religiously diverse country of 5.8 million inhabitants.Since 2019, Lebanon has been ravaged by crises, including an economic collapse, a devastating port blast in Beirut in 2020 and the recent war with Israel.

A Dubai restaurant has opened that prides itself on having the world’s “first AI chef”, the latest ostentatious dive into new technology in a city obsessed with being on the cutting edge of the future.The Emirati city has become increasingly known for its growing culinary scene, with thousands of restaurants on offer from luxurious Michelin-starred eateries to greasy spoons serving up bona fide street food from across the Middle East and Asia.But at Woohoo, the brains behind the menu is not a person but an AI programme — known as chef Aiman — trained on thousands of recipes and decades of culinary research and molecular gastronomy.Chef Aiman can also optimise menus and balance flavours, according to the establishment.The real work of preparing and serving the food, however, remains in human hands, for now.”AI is going to create better dishes than humans maybe in the future,” said the restaurant’s Turkish co-founder Ahmet Oytun Cakir.While Woohoo’s menu is mostly comprised of international fusion dishes, some AI creations stand out. This includes a “dinosaur tartare” meant to recreate the taste of extinct reptiles.The restaurant did not reveal the dinosaur tartare recipe, which was created using DNA mapping.Priced at roughly 50 euros ($58), the dish tastes like a combination of raw meats and is served on a pulsating plate to appear as if it were breathing.”It was a total surprise. It was so delicious,” said customer Efe Urgunlu.Along with AI-generated holograms and sci-fi animation, the heart of the neon-lit venue features a giant cylindrical computer — presented as the digital mainframe powering the restaurant’s lights and smoke shows.- ‘I don’t believe in it’ -Woohoo’s Turkish chef Serhat Karanfiloversees the cooking and the final presentation and admits that he does not always agree with the AI chef’s choices and selections.”If I taste it, for example, and it is too spicy, I talk to chef Aiman again. After we discuss, we find the right balance,” he said.Cakir has high hopes that chef Aiman will one day become “the next Gordon Ramsay — but AI”.Not everyone in Dubai’s vibrant food scene is convinced.For Michelin-starred chef Mohamad Orfali, “there is no such thing as an AI chef”.”I don’t believe in it,” the Syrian Dubai-based chef told AFP.His Orfali Bros restaurant snatched a Michelin star last year, after Dubai became the first Middle Eastern city to join the prestigious guide in 2022.Cooking requires “nafas”, or soul, Orfali explained, using the Arabic term that describes a cook’s personal flair for food and their ability to conjure up exceptional meals.”Artificial intelligence lacks feelings and memories; in short, it has no nafas… It can’t imbue it into food.”- Dubai ideas -Orfali said he limited the use of AI in his own establishment to administrative tasks like setting the kitchen schedule and providing additional research.”We use it as a kitchen assistant, but ultimately, it won’t cook,” he said.Nonetheless, Woohoo has resonated with customers accustomed to the lavish offerings of Dubai, a tech-forward megalopolis with a proclivity for extravagance where AI has its own minister.”Everyone is supporting these ideas here in Dubai,” said Cakir.The restaurant has also created a social media buzz, with an Instagram account dedicated to the AI Chef that features chef Aiman’s avatar in videos sharing tips and recipes.Dio, a customer who didn’t give her last name, said she visited the restaurant after seeing the craze around it.”It is such a creative concept, so I thought I must experience it myself,” she said.”The dishes were extraordinary.”