The governor of an Indian state has resigned after dozens of his staff signed a petition calling for his removal, alleging that he is a serial womanizer.

A French law condemning the smacking of children has been struck down by the Constitutional Council, dismaying opponents of a practice for which France has been rapped by the U.N.

Four men in traditional yellow costumes bang large drums to announce the start of the New Year's banquet in Liuminying village. Inside the village's meeting hall, 100 tables are set with a dozen plates, bearing sausages, nuts and fruit.

Sitting in a storage shed outside are thousands of half-moon shaped dumplings, made by hand the day before, ready to be boiled and served.

A Syrian family of pastry chefs, the Sakkas, once delighted the people of Homs with their sugar-soaked Levantine delicacies, until a rain of bombs turned them into refugees.

Now, after a four-year odyssey, they have reopened the family's sweet-tooth haven in Berlin, a baklava shop called the "Damaskus Konditorei".

REFILES to add graphic tag // This story accompanies video by Etienne Lamy-Smith and photo production filed in the lead-up to the holidays by photographers including Nicolas Asfouri and Fred Dufour

US president Donald Trump will strut through the Year of the Rooster, thriving as Hong Kong geomancers predict 2017 will be marked by the arguments and aggression that are characteristic of the animal. 

With Trump at the top of the pecking order, the volatile traits of the rooster -- combined with the year's signature element of fire -- mean rocky times ahead, particularly in the western world, feng shui masters say. 

Pope Francis on Monday blasted the "money stained with blood" and "evil power" wielded by Italian organized crime as he met the heads of the country's anti-mafia squad.

Pope Francis on Saturday warned against populism, saying it could lead to the election of "saviors" like Hitler.

Saudi Arabia's government should end the kingdom's ban on women driving and reform the male guardianship system, a United Nations independent expert said on Thursday.

Tunisia is facing mounting calls, from rights groups all the way up to the head of state, to reform a law that jails youths for a year for smoking a joint.