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.

Muslim women who fail to learn English to a high enough standard could face deportation from Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron announced Monday.

He also suggested that poor English skills can leave people "more susceptible" to the messages of groups like Islamic State (IS).

Pope Francis made his first visit on Sunday to a synagogue as pontiff, citing an "unbreakable" bond between Jews and Christians as hundreds of armed security personnel were deployed for the Rome visit.

Francis is the third pope to visit the Great Synagogue in Italy's capital after John-Paul II in 1986 and Benedict XVI in 2010.

Experts revealed Sunday new findings at two of Egypt's famed pyramids, boosting efforts to unravel whether the ancient world's iconic monuments contain secret chambers.

For the past three months a team of researchers from Egypt, France, Canada and Japan have been scanning four pyramids with thermal cameras to see if they contain unknown structures or cavities.

Police in Pakistan have arrested an imam for inciting violence after a 15-year-old boy who was reported to have been mistakenly accused of blasphemy cut off his own hand.

The cleric, Shabbir Ahmed, last Monday told worshipers at a village mosque that those who love the Prophet Mohammad always say their prayers, before asking who among the crowd had stopped praying, according to local police chief Nausher Ahmed.