Italy's upcoming parliamentary battle over gay civil unions has opened with a group of senators proposing prison terms for couples who use overseas surrogate mothers to have a child.

In a move branded "indecent" by Italy's biggest gay rights group, Catholic senators from Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's Democratic Party have tabled an amendment to draft legislation legalizing same sex unions which would require gay couples to prove they had not used a surrogate.

Argentina will stop printing banknotes with pictures of populist heroine "Evita" Peron and the disputed Falkland Islands, in a move away from the symbols favored by its former leftist government.

The politically charged image of Eva Peron -- played by Madonna in a film of the popular stage musical "Evita" -- on the 100-peso note will be replaced with a picture of an endangered deer.

Zimbabwe's top court on Wednesday outlawed marriage for anyone under the age of 18 in a ruling hailed by activists as major progress towards ending child marriage.

The Constitutional Court in Harare issued its decision after a case was brought by two women who suffered poverty and a lack of education after being forced into child marriages.

Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano on Tuesday established a council for relations with the country's Muslims, an advisory body the government hopes will help the minority to better integrate.

The council, made up of academics and experts in Islamic culture and religion, will be tasked with coming up with proposals and recommendations on integration issues based on "respect and cooperation", the ministry said in a statement.

An estimated two million Russians plunged into icy waters on Monday night and Tuesday to mark the Christian holiday of the Epiphany, when Orthodox believers take part in an outdoor purification ritual.

People throughout the country stripped down to their swimsuits and took dips in cross-shaped holes cut into frozen rivers, lakes and ponds, a ritual that commemorates the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist.

"She kissed him -- it's an invitation to have sex." The asylum seeker's answer hangs in the air. The instructor's smile falters, and an explanation is required.

In Norway, migrants are being given courses to prevent violence against women, especially rape, and to teach them how to interpret customs in a country that may seem surprisingly liberal to them.

The Eiffel Tower, one of the world's top tourist draws, saw visitor numbers drop after the devastating terror attack on the French capital in November, figures showed Tuesday.

The Iron Lady of Paris received 6.91 million visitors in 2015 compared with 7.1 million in 2014, according to the company that runs the 126-year-old monument.

Taxi drivers in Brazil's biggest city have been banned from wearing shorts -- or trying to engage their fares in banter about football.

The rules that took effect in Sao Paulo on Monday aim to whip the city's cabbies into shape. In addition to outlawing shorts and flipflops, the rules slap fines of about $9 for drivers who show up unshaved or with untidy hair.

The first black leader of South Africa's main opposition party vowed Tuesday to root out racist members, saying the country was "being torn apart" by renewed racial tension 22 years after apartheid.

Mmusi Maimane last year took over leadership of the Democratic Alliance (DA), which has long been seen as a "white" party, and will face his first major test at municipal elections due between May and August.

Three faces from afar -- a man in a headdress and a veiled girl and woman -- greet patrons at a Yemeni restaurant in the U.S. city of Hamtramck, gazing into the distance from a mural outside the eatery.

The colorful painting is just another piece of the ever-changing backdrop in this industrial Michigan town, which made history in November when it became the first in America to elect a Muslim majority to its city council.