India's Jain community scored a legal victory Monday when the Supreme Court temporarily lifted a ban on the traditional ritual of Santhara, or fasting to death.

Thousands of Jains protested across India last week after a court in the western state of Rajasthan ruled that Santhara was a form of suicide, which is illegal in India.

London's Notting Hill Carnival kicked off with a riot of color despite grey skies on Sunday, in a celebration of Caribbean culture reputed as Europe's biggest street party.

Performers on stilts and wearing bright pink wigs, and dancers in feathered headdresses and rainbow outfits entertained the crowds that packed the streets of west London.

Leaders of the Philippines' dominant Catholic church have called on individuals and politicians to actively oppose same-sex marriage, after new efforts by activists to have same-sex unions legalized in the conservative nation.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued a statement Sunday saying individuals should refuse to take part in ceremonies celebrating same-sex relationships and politicians should resist legalizing marriages of homosexual couples.

Pointing to a television in her recently built mud and brick home, Indian villager Munia Murmu proudly shows off her new-found wealth, thanks to hundreds of squirming green silkworms.

Like thousands of other tribal villagers in India, Murmu lives in extreme poverty, and until recently could not afford enough food for her and her family.

Academics have criticized the British government for creating a "climate of fear" after the national library declined to store the world's biggest collection of Taliban-related documents over concerns it could be prosecuted under terrorism laws.

A group of international researchers spent years putting together a trove of documents related to the Afghan Taliban, including official newspapers from their time in power, poems, maps, radio broadcasts, and several volumes of laws and edicts -- digitizing the estimated two-three million words and translating everything into English.

A rare grey pearl necklace that once belonged to a British aristocrat is expected to fetch up to $7 million when it goes under the hammer in Hong Kong, Sotheby's said Friday.

The string of pearls was part of the collection of Viscountess Cowdray, Lady Pearson -- a renowned collector in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

It's just water, and far from the cleanest you could find. Raw sewage often flows in the Godavari River, bringing with it high bacteria levels. Residue from sand mining can cloud the water. Farm pesticides leech through the soil.

But to the millions of Hindus expected at the Kumbh Mela festival, held this year along the Godavari, touching that water is reverential. It's a way to cleanse themselves of sin, to come close to God, to immerse themselves in a tradition that reaches back into antiquity. They have come to this city from across India and around the world. Entire villages arrive together, and their parties often last through the nights. Thousands of mystics gather.

A world-renowned collection of avant-garde Russian art housed in a remote museum in Uzbekistan may be at risk after the director was abruptly fired on allegedly trumped-up charges of theft, staff say. 

The alarm was raised by staff working at the Savitsky Karakalpkstan Museum who claim the director, Marinika Babanazarova, was forced to resign over allegations she had stolen works of art.

Iran's most expensive movie, "Muhammad", which chronicles the childhood of the Muslim prophet, opened nationwide on Thursday, winning praise from early audiences.

Directed by Majid Majidi, the 171-minute, visually stunning film cost around $40 million (36 million euros), partly funded by the state, and took more than seven years to complete.

The eagerly-awaited sequel to Stieg Larsson's best-selling Millennium crime trilogy hit store shelves in 25 countries on Thursday, as the author admitted he wrote the book in a manic depressive state.

Speaking to reporters just hours ahead of the launch, David Lagercrantz said he was "terrified" as he wrote "The Girl in the Spider's Web".