Reza from Iran is torn between the joy of taking part in this year's annual hajj pilgrimage to Islam's holiest sites and bitter memories of the 2015 stampede that killed hundreds of his compatriots.

More than two million Muslims from around the world began the hajj pilgrimage at Islam's holiest sites Wednesday, a religious duty and an epic multi-stage journey.

Palestinian officials are embarking on a project to transform a presidential palace into a national library near the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, the culture minister said Sunday.

Canada's top military official on Sunday for the first time took part in the Gay Pride parade in Ottawa, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also on hand.

Army General Jonathan Vance, the chief of the  defence staff of the Canadian Armed Forces, became the highest ranking military official to join people celebrating in Canada's federal capital. 

India's Supreme Court ruled Thursday that citizens have a constitutional right to privacy, a landmark decision that could jeopardize a government with biometric data on over a billion people.

Iran's new communications minister said Tuesday that negotiations were underway with Twitter to unblock the service, which has been banned for years despite being used even by the country's supreme leader.

India's top court on Tuesday banned a controversial Islamic practice that allows men to divorce their wives instantly, ending a long tradition that many Muslim women had fiercely opposed.

London landmark Big Ben fell silent for four years in front of a reverential crowd on Monday amid an outcry over the temporary loss of a cherished symbol of stability at a time of national uncertainty.

A sweeping crackdown by U.S. internet and social media companies on neo-Nazi and white supremacist material has sparked warnings in America that the web's grand promise of free speech is on the rocks.

Over the past week, Vanguard America, Daily Stormer and other such ultra-right racist groups and their members known for extremely violent and offensive postings and websites were essentially scrubbed from the public web.

Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by the Taliban for advocating education for girls in her native Pakistan, announced Thursday she has won a place to study at Oxford University.