Six months after Maha's husband was killed in Syria's bloody civil war, the mother-of-two took a decision that has become increasingly common -- she became a second wife.

Thanks to computer technology and SMS messaging, Muslims at the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca were able Monday to make their Eid al-Adha sacrifice without getting blood on their hands.

Norway hit a hairdresser with a roughly 1,000-euro fine on Monday after she was convicted of discrimination for turning away a Muslim client wearing a headscarf.

Saudi Arabia has launched Persian-language television broadcasts from this year's hajj, the information minister said on Sunday, following tensions with Iran over the annual pilgrimage.

Days after Communist China's founding father Mao Zedong died 40 years ago the problem of what to do with his corpse was becoming increasingly heated -- literally.

It was a battle of the flags on British classical music's biggest night Saturday as the Union Jacks usually brandished by the audience were joined by EU standards handed out by Brexit opponents.

Saudi Arabia's top cleric will not be delivering this year's prestigious hajj sermon on Sunday for the first time in more than three decades.

Al-Riyadh newspaper reported Saturday that Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, who has delivered the sermon since 1981, will be replaced by Sheikh Saleh bin Hamid.

From Asia, Africa and points in between, nearly 1.5 million Muslims begin the annual hajj in western Saudi Arabia Saturday, undeterred by a stampede which last year killed around 2,300.

Saudi Arabia has begun issuing hajj pilgrims with identification bracelets one year after a stampede killed around 2,300 people.

The bracelets are a reassurance to some pilgrims, though their distribution has been far from systematic ahead of the formal start of the hajj on Saturday.

Close to 1.5 million Muslims from around the world had descended Thursday on Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj pilgrimage, undeterred by last year's stampede disaster but with Iranians absent.