Croatia's female ex-president on Friday became the latest woman to give the middle finger to several conversative politicians for their anti-abortion statements during campaigning for next month's parliamentary election.

Saudi Arabia is expected to scale back or call off this year's hajj pilgrimage for the first time in its modern history, observers say, a perilous decision as coronavirus cases spike.

The novel coronavirus pandemic briefly gave Syrians a sense of belonging to the rest of the world after years of isolating war, Syrian author Khaled Khalifa said.

The American reference dictionary Merriam-Webster will change its definition of the word racism at the suggestion of a young black woman, who wanted it to better reflect the oppression of people of color. 

The UK government said Sunday it will reopen places of worship for individual prayer on June 15 as it reportedly looks to speed up easing measures in order to save jobs.

Lebanese novelist Jabbour Douaihy says the coronavirus pandemic, like past epidemics and wars, will feed the imagination of novelists.

Rome's famed Colosseum reopened Monday after a three-month coronavirus lockdown but only a few hundred people were expected at Italy's top tourism site.

Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam's third holiest site, reopened on Sunday after being closed for over two months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The killing of an Iranian teen by her father after she eloped with an older man sparked outrage on Wednesday, with local media denouncing "institutionalized violence" in "patriarchal" Iran.

Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, built on the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born, reopened on Tuesday more than two months after closing in the face of the coronavirus.