The opening of a new hotel is posing a challenge to tribal customs in western Iraq's Anbar province, where locals traditionally welcome outsiders into their homes.

In the heart of Ramadi, the provincial capital, a tall building is lit up with neon lights. "Rose Plaza Hotel" reads a bright sign in Arabic and English.

Among the many novelties that crossed the Atlantic when the United States entered World War I in 1917, jazz was arguably the most upbeat -- and infectious.

Tucked beside one of London's busiest railway stations, a small army of archaeologists dig through clay as they clear a burial site of 40,000 bodies to make way for a new train line.

There are only 14 cemeteries in the French capital, and whether it's under an overpass next to the Sacre-Coeur basilica in Montmartre, or under shady trees in trendy Montparnasse, the graveyards are mostly full.

The Vatican said Tuesday it agreed with Spain's efforts to find an alternative to the Madrid cathedral as a place to rebury late dictator Francisco Franco, once he is exhumed from his vast mausoleum.

A nine-year-old Moroccan girl on Tuesday won $136,000 (120,000 euros) in an Arabic-language reading competition organized by the Dubai government. 

Thousands of police officers guarded the world's biggest statue ahead of its inauguration by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, anticipating protests by angry locals displaced by the enormous figure.

A 15-minute walk from the Iraqi border in the west Iranian town of Mehran, three young clerics are hard at work polishing the shoes of pilgrims. 

Millions of Shiite Muslims from around the world are making their way this week to their sect's holy shrines in the Iraqi city of Karbala, a pilgrimage that is as much about community as it is about religion.

The shrines are of two revered Shiite imams: Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, and his half-brother Abbas. The annual commemoration, called Arbaeen, draws more pilgrims each year — according to Iraqi figures — than the hajj in Saudi Arabia, a pilgrimage required once in a lifetime of every Muslim who can afford it and is physically able to make it.

Pope Francis has vowed to end clerical sexual abuse, but bishops from Asia and Africa have shown a mixed response to a scandal some have termed a "Western problem".