Pope Francis on Wednesday announced the creation of a new Vatican ministry for human development in the latest move by the reforming pontiff to put his personal stamp on the Catholic church.

Eight years after the first woman in Egypt won a conviction against a man for sexual harassment, activists and lawyers see progress in transforming attitudes and more harassers being jailed.

A suspected murderer on the run for 16 years in China found refuge in Buddhist temples, eventually rising to become an abbot, state media said Wednesday.

A South African school was ordered Tuesday to suspend allegedly racist hairstyle regulations after black pupils said they had been called monkeys by teachers for wearing banned 'afros'.

The U.N. welcomed Tuesday a decision by France's highest administrative court to suspend a controversial ban on burkini swimwear, warning that the ban had fueled religious intolerance and stigmatization.

"These decrees do not improve the security situation but rather fuel religious intolerance and the stigmatization of Muslims in France, especially women," Rupert Colville, spokesman for the U.N. rights office, told reporters.

Turkey has for the first time allowed policewomen to wear the Islamic headscarf as part of their uniform, according to a ruling published in the official gazette Saturday.

The Tehran prosecutor recommended strict new rules on Saturday for concerts in the capital, the latest in a tug of war between moderates and conservatives that has already seen live music banned in Iran's second city Mashhad.

Pilgrims have been saying their farewells at Cairo airport before leaving for Saudi Arabia to perform the hajj in the tradition, they believe, of the Prophet Mohammed and Abraham before him.

France's highest administrative court on Friday suspended a controversial ban on the burkini by a French Riviera town after it was challenged by rights groups.

In a judgment expected to lead to bans being overturned in around 30 towns, the State Council ruled the measure was a "serious and clearly illegal violation of fundamental freedoms".

Brandishing beach balls, towels and inflatables, around 50 people protested against the burkini ban in France Thursday by creating a fake beach outside the country's embassy in London.