Once a year, large numbers of Muslim pilgrims converge in Saudi Arabia, uniting in religious rituals and acts of worship as they perform the Hajj. While fulfilling a religious obligation, they immerse themselves in what can be a spiritual experience of a lifetime for them and a chance to seek God's forgiveness and the erasure…

(MENAFN) Authorities in Lebanon say tens of thousands of residential units have been damaged or destroyed since a ceasefire agreement linked to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict came into effect, ...

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio made a fence-mending visit to the Vatican on Thursday to underscore strong bilateral ties, after U.S. President Donald Trump's broadsides against Pope Leo XIV for his opposition to the Iran war angered the Holy See and sparked ongoing sparring between them.

(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) An official said that this is the impact of preventive actions and signifies how successful field and analytical efforts have been By: Meher Dhanjal Dubai Police ...

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio opened a fence-mending visit to the Vatican on Thursday after President Donald Trump's broadsides against Pope Leo XIV and the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran angered the Holy See and sparked ongoing sparring between the two American leaders.

(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) Parents have even begun receiving circulars from schools informing them that synchronous lessons will no longer be offered By: Nandini Sircar Across the UAE, a ...

Trump is renewing his criticism of Pope Leo XIV even as Rubio prepares to visit Vatican City, ostensibly to ease tensions between Washington and the Holy See.

First came the racist abuse against Vinícius Júnior. Then the unwanted kiss by the nation's top soccer official. And now Spain is dealing with the fallout of anti-Muslim chants during a friendly match against Egypt.

Pope Leo XIV urged the United States and Iran to return to talks to end the war Thursday, in a wide-ranging press conference en route home from his trip to Africa.

Pope Leo XIV is visiting one of Equatorial Guinea's notorious prisons Wednesday, drawing attention to human rights abuses that campaigners have denounced for years and especially after the U.S. began deporting third-country migrants here.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, on Monday expressed “profound indignation and unreserved condemnation” of the defacing of a statue of Jesus Christ by an Israeli soldier in Lebanon, saying the act “constitutes a grave affront to the Christian faith.”

Pope Leo said Tuesday threats to inflict widespread damage on civilian targets in Iran were "unacceptable" and could breach international law .

Lebanese Christians marked Easter Sunday by turning their prayers to the south, where villages remain trapped by fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

In the usually lively alleyways of Jerusalem's Old City, silence reigned on Easter Sunday, with the holiday overshadowed by war and restrictions on access to the Holy Sepulcher, where the faithful commemorate Christ's crucifixion and resurrection.

UNESCO convened Wednesday an extraordinary meeting to strengthen the protection of cultural heritage in Lebanon, following the country’s request.

As Christians packed churches across Lebanon this Palm Sunday to commemorate their belief in Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the renewed war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah weighed on parishioners.

The American University of Beirut on Sunday said it would operate remotely over the next two days, following the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' threat to target U.S. universities in the region.

Israel's parliament has given preliminary approval to a bill that would put the country's Orthodox chief rabbinate in charge of the entire Western Wall in Jerusalem, raising fears among liberal Jews that mixed-gender prayer at the site will soon be outlawed.

The Vatican on Wednesday announced a busy and lengthy foreign travel schedule for Pope Leo XIV in the first half of 2026, confirming the pontiff will visit Monaco, Spain and four African nations — Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.

Rob Jetten has become the youngest and first openly gay prime minister of the Netherlands.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians gathered under heavy Israeli restrictions at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, including some who were allowed to enter from the occupied West Bank.

Pope Leo XIV on Monday began a landmark visit to Algeria in the first trip to the Muslim-majority country by a pontiff.

Pope Leo XIV on Monday said he had "no intention to debate" with Donald Trump, after the U.S. president criticized him over his comments on the U.S.-Iran war.

Pope Leo XIV is following in the footsteps of his spiritual father, St. Augustine, making a pilgrimage to the archaeological ruins of eastern Algeria where the fifth-century titan of early Christianity lived, died and wrote some of the most important works in Western thought.