A Saudi minister held talks with an Iranian delegation about the possibility of Iranian pilgrims rejoining the annual hajj despite ruptured ties between the two countries, state media reported late Thursday.

Shiite-dominated Iran and Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia have had no diplomatic ties since early last year.

Israel's parliament will retain a contentious dress code banning short skirts, but will make its enforcement and sanctions against offenders gradual, a committee of MPs and parliamentary staff ruled.

A year ago Israel offered Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and other Hollywood stars all-expenses paid luxury trips, but it seems they have chosen to miss their cues. 

Turkey's army is lifting a historic ban on female officers wearing the Islamic headscarf in the officially secular country, the state-run Anadolu news agency said Wednesday.

The conservative firebrand Milo Yiannopoulos resigned Tuesday from the right-wing U.S. news site Breitbart amid a storm triggered by comments in which he seems to condone pedophilia.

The 33-year-old Briton had already lost a book deal and a speaking engagement over a video leaked on Twitter over the weekend in which he defends men having sex with children as young as 13. 

The head of Italy's anti-discrimination office has resigned following revelations that government funds for combating sexual discrimination had been allocated to clubs offering gay prostitution services.

A thief nicknamed "Spiderman", who stole five masterpieces from a top Paris museum, was sentenced to eight years in prison on Monday for one of the most daring art heists in recent years.

The culture clash in "Bar Bahar" starts off when Nur, a veiled and conservative Muslim, moves into a flat with two other Arab Israeli women and sees their drug-taking, party-going lives.

Have you needed to use your high school chemistry recently? Anyone asked you lately who won the U.S.-British war of 1812? Probably not. 

But have you taken out a loan to purchase a car or a house or go to college? Looked for a job? Got a credit card? Seen your paycheck disappear more quickly as prices rise? 

Equipped with an inexpensive camera and a big red balloon, Firas Ismail -- a 20-year-old Palestinian refugee in southern Lebanon -- is not your typical urban planner.