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Muslim Hajj Pilgrimage Ends Without Incident

Muslim pilgrims completed their final hajj rituals in the Saudi city of Mecca on Monday as the annual pilgrimage came to a close without any major incidents.

The Saudi authorities congratulated the pilgrims, who officially numbered 3.1 million, on a "successful" hajj season, despite a large number having entered holy sites without proper permits.

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Muslim Pilgrims Rush to Complete Final Hajj Rituals

Muslim pilgrims rushed to complete the final rituals of the annual hajj on Sunday as they thronged the devil-stoning site in Saudi Arabia's Mina valley on the penultimate day of the pilgrimage.

Most pilgrims hurled stones at three pillars representing Satan as they must leave the holy city of Mina before sunset. Others, however, will stay until Monday when they will perform the ritual one last time.

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German Composer Hans Werner Henze Dead at 86

Hans Werner Henze, one of Germany's foremost composers, has died at the age of 86, his publisher Schott Music announced on Saturday.

"With the death of Hans Werner Henze we have lost one of the most versatile, important and influential composers of our time," Schott said in a statement on its website, saying the composer died in Dresden on Saturday.

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Hajj Enters Final Stages with Stoning Ritual

Hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims from all over the world, grouped by nationality, stoned the devil in Saudi Arabia's Mina valley on Saturday, as the hajj reached its final stages.

Men, women and children from 189 countries, many of whom had saved for years to make the trip, hurled pebbles at three vast stone pillars representing Satan, shouting "Allahu akbar (God is Greatest)."

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Black Rice and Tea in Italy as China Shows its Green Side

As economic giant China ploughs ahead with modernization and industrialization, small-scale farmers and producers are creating pockets of resistance by going back to their roots.

"China has made incredible steps forward but we're paying the price in terms of our health and are losing traditional ways of farming and eating," Zhou Jinzhang told Agence France Presse at the world's biggest food fair in Turin in northern Italy.

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From Krump to Contemporary, Dancers Channel Africa

Blending jaw-dropping breakdance moves with everyday scenes, six dancers from different African nations are painting a portrait of their continent through a new show that pulses with energy and combines politics and tradition with street and contemporary dance.

The 90-minute piece leaps between depictions of a street fight, a cockfight, meetings between friends, Congo's "sapeurs" -- dandies who dress up in spectacular suits -- and an enthroned dictator surrounded by common folk.

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Saudi king Urges U.N. Action against Religious Insults

Saudi King Abdullah on Saturday demanded a U.N. resolution condemning insults on monotheistic religions after a low-budget film produced in the U.S. sparked deadly protests last month.

"I demand a U.N. resolution that condemns any country or group that insults religions and prophets," he said during a meeting at his palace with religious figures and heads of hajj delegations in the Mina valley where pilgrims were performing final rituals of hajj.

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Cultural Historian, Author Jacques Barzun Dies

Jacques Barzun, a pioneering cultural historian, reigning public intellectual and longtime Ivy League professor who became a best-selling author in his 90s with the acclaimed "From Dawn to Decadence," has died. He was 104.

Barzun, who taught for nearly 50 years at Columbia University, passed away Thursday evening in San Antonio, where he had lived in recent years, his son-in-law Gavin Parfit said.

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U.S Returns Thousands of Artifacts to Mexico

The United States has returned more than 4,000 artifacts to Mexico, some more than 1,500 years old, that were brought across the border illegally, U.S. customs officials said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Thursday that the artifacts had been seized at the border and inside the United States in more than a dozen operations in recent years.

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Soundtrack to History: 1878 Edison Audio Unveiled

It's scratchy, lasts only 78 seconds and features the world's first recorded blooper.

The modern masses can now listen to what experts say is the oldest playable recording of an American voice and the first-ever capturing of a musical performance, thanks to digital advances that allowed the sound to be transferred from flimsy tinfoil to computer.

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