Riots broke out over a full-face Islamic veil. A woman may have lost her unborn baby in another confrontation over her face covering. Tensions flared over a supermarket chain's ad for the end-of-day feast for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

France's enforcement of its prized secularism is inscribed in law, most recently in a ban on wearing full-face veils in public. Meant to ensure that all faiths live in harmony, the policy instead may be fueling a rising tide of Islamophobia and driving a wedge between some Muslims and the rest of the population.

Pope Francis celebrated Sunday mass with three million pilgrims jammed onto a Brazilian beach, wrapping up a landmark trip to reignite the Catholic faith in a festive atmosphere with young believers.

Latin America's first pontiff was given a rock star's welcome on Rio de Janeiro's legendary Copacabana beach, with a sea of faithful waving flags, dancing and chanting "long live the pope!" on the crescent-shaped shoreline.

A team of archaeologists said Monday it has unearthed an unusual coffin-within-a-coffin in the central England parking lot where it found the skeleton of King Richard III, and that they hope to identify the remains within.

University of Leicester scientists have been digging at the Grey Friars site in Leicester after finding the body of Richard there in September. He died nearby in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth Field.

In the concrete jungle of New York City, where open sky can be hard to find, the latest luxury offering is a night under the stars -- or, under twinkling city lights, at least.

From terraces and high-rise balconies atop Art Deco buildings or glass-walled modern structures, this new breed of hotel offers straight-up views, with nary a window pane or curtain to impede the breeze.

The sun has barely risen and already dozens of Afghan men are swapping fistfuls of bank notes, frantically betting in one of the country's goriest pastimes: bird fighting.

In a shady patch, under a cluster of trees in a Kabul park, two partridges face off at opposite ends of a small square of dirt.

New Yorkers have been queueing in droves -- sometimes in sweltering temperatures -- for the novel experience of walking through rain without getting wet.

The chance comes courtesy of Rain Room, a novel installation by British art collective Random International, at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).

Baghdad reached an initial deal with the U.S. on the return of more than 10,000 artefacts stolen from Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, a senior official said on Friday.

"We have reached an initial agreement... on returning more than 10,000 Iraqi artefacts that are in the United States," by August 2014, senior ministry advisor Baha al-Mayahi told Agence France Presse.

Baghdad reached an initial deal with the U.S. on the return of more than 10,000 artifacts stolen from Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, a senior official said on Friday.

"We have reached an initial agreement... on returning more than 10,000 Iraqi artifacts that are in the United States," by August 2014, senior ministry adviser Baha al-Mayahi told Agence France Presse.

A huge blue cockerel descended upon London's Trafalgar Square on Thursday, but the artwork has ruffled feathers by putting the symbol of France in a site marking a famous British victory over Napoleon.

Standing 4.7 meters (15.5 feet) tall and colored a vivid ultramarine, the fibreglass rooster was sculpted by German artist Katharina Fritsch and will watch over the famous square for 18 months.

Russia's security service on Thursday released from its secret archives the manuscript of a classic World War II novel described as the "War and Peace" of the 20th century, over 50 years after it was confiscated by the Soviet authorities.

Vassily Grossman's epic novel "Life and Fate", completed in 1960, was banned in the Soviet Union until the late 1980s but is now considered to be one of the greatest of all Russian novels.