(VATICAN CITY) — The Vatican spokesman, Greg Burke, and his deputy resigned abruptly Monday amid an overhaul of the Vatican’s communications operations and a crisis period in Pope Francis’ papacy.

The departures of Burke and his deputy, Paloma Garcia Ovejero, signaled that the problems associated with Francis’ reform of the Vatican bureaucracy had come to a head, and at a very bad time: The pope is struggling to address a global sex abuse and cover-up scandal that threatens his own legacy.

Francis nevertheless accepted the resignations, which take effect Tuesday, the Vatican said in a statement. He named a longtime member of the Vatican’s communications operations, Alessandro Gisotti, as an interim replacement for Burke.

“At this time of transition in Vatican communications, we think it’s best the Holy Father is completely free to assemble a new team,” Burke tweeted. “New Year, New Adventures.”

Burke stressed that he and Garcia prayed about the decision “for months and we’re very m..

Fireworks, concerts, spiritual services and political addresses abounded to mark the transition to 2019 as revelers around the globe bid farewell Monday to a year filled with challenges to many of the world’s most basic institutions, including political, trade and religious ones.

A look at how people in the U.S. and around the world ushered in 2019:

New York City
Snoop Dogg, Sting and Christina Aguilera welcomed 2019 in a packed Times Square along with revelers from around the world who came to see the traditional crystal ball drop.

A drenching rain didn’t stop crowds from packing the area ahead of the made-for-TV extravaganza.

The celebration took place under tight security, with party-goers checked for weapons and then herded into pens, ringed by metal barricades, where they waited for the stroke of midnight.

But the weather forced police to scrap plans to fly a drone to help keep watch over the crowd.

Partygoers were paying up to $10 for plastic ponchos trying to stay dry. Umb..

On Sunday, about a dozen people stood patiently outside a small school courtyard in the historic old city of Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital. It was election day, but the gates were closed.

“Lunch break,” a poll worker explained through a small window through the entrance of the Goyal Ghat Government Primary School, smiling politely. But by 3.10pm in the afternoon, the explanation had changed. “We’ve already started to count,” a policeman said. The polls had been supposed to close at 4.

On Monday morning, an election official declared that the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had won Sunday’s vote in a landslide, paving the way for her Awami League party to stay in power and ensuring her a third term as head of government.

But the result has been clouded by pre-election violence and allegations of a crackdown on the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), as well as widespread reports of vote-rigging and intimidation on election day, some of which was obse..

As we await the ball to drop in Times Square to bring in the New Year in the eastern United States, countries around the world have already celebrated the start to 2019.

One of the first countries to welcome the New Year is Samoa. Some of the U.S. territories in the Pacific, including Midway Island, are among the last places where the clock will strike midnight.

The fireworks have already gone off in places like Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Bangkok.

Here are some photos from New Year’s celebrations across the globe.

James D. Morgan—Getty ImagesThe Sydney Harbour Bridge is bathed in fireworks and lighting effects during New Year’s Eve celebrations on January 1, 2019 in Sydney, Australia.

Phil Walter—Getty Images for ATEEDFireworks are seen exploding from the Sky Tower with the Auckland Harbour Bridge in the foreground during the Auckland New Year’s Eve celebrations on January 01, 2019 in Auckland, New Zealand.Phil Walter—Getty Images for ATEEDFireworks are seen exploding from the S..

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has confessed to sexually abusing a maid while he was a teenager, according to a report.

In a speech on December 29, Duterte said that he had confessed to a priest going into a maid’s room while she slept and placing his fingers on her genitals, the BBC reported.

The remarks were not unusual for Duterte, who has frequently come under fire for making statements that demean or encourage violence against women. Last June and July, women’s rights activists gathered in Manila to protest Duterte’s treatment of women, including his remarks that communist rebels should be “shot in the vagina.”

The new remarks stand out, however, because Duterte admitted to sexually assaulting a woman himself.

Duterte said that when he was a teenager, he walked into the maid’s room while she was asleep.

“I lifted the blanket… I tried to touch what was inside the panty,” he said, according to the BBC. “I was touching. She woke up so I left the room.”

He later came back ..