Tens of thousands of Muslim pilgrims clambered up rocks and nestled between boulders on Thursday as they embarked on a day of worship under a scorching sun at the Hajj in Saudi Arabia.

Braving the heat and uneven surfaces, they scaled Mount Arafat to perform a key ritual of the annual Islamic pilgrimage.

As I prepared to take a photograph of an anti-American mural outside of the former U.S. Embassy in Iran's capital recently, a passerby called out to me.

"Take any picture you like, they'll remove all of them later," the man said.

More than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims are in Saudi Arabia for this year's Hajj, a government spokesperson said Wednesday.

Hajj is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, a religious obligation involving rituals and acts of worship that every Muslim must fulfil if they have the money and are physically able to do it.

In April, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited a company that makes humanoid robots. There he floated an idea to fix the country's woeful men's football team.

"Can we have robots join the team?" Xi was quoted as saying on the website of Zhiyuan Robotics.

On this small island in rural Nagasaki, Japan's Hidden Christians gather to worship what they call the Closet God.

In a special room about the size of a tatami mat is a scroll painting of a kimono-clad Asian woman. She looks like a Buddhist Bodhisattva holding a baby, but for the faithful, this is a concealed version of Mary and the baby Jesus. Another scroll shows a man wearing a kimono covered with camellias, an allusion to John the Baptist's beheading and martyrdom.

Muslims from around the world are in the Saudi city of Mecca for the Hajj, one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

In the coming days, people will immerse themselves in religious rituals and acts of worship that originated more than 1,400 years ago.

The Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon and the Samir Kassir Foundation have announced the results of the 20th edition of the Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press, in a ceremony held at the Sursock Palace Gardens, in Beirut.

This Award, established and funded by the European Union, is recognized internationally as a flagship prize for press freedom and the most prestigious journalism award in the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf region. Since 2006, the Award ceremony has been held annually to commemorate the anniversary of Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir’s assassination on 2 June 2005 in Beirut, and celebrate his life, his values, and his memory.

A red Ferrari glides by as techno music blasts from fancy bars full of dressed-up revelers sipping ice-cold spritz. The party is in full swing in Moscow's posh Patriarch Ponds neighborhood.

Once a year, large numbers of Muslim pilgrims converging on Saudi Arabia unite in religious rituals and acts of worship as they perform the Hajj, one of the pillars of Islam. They fulfill a religious obligation, immersing themselves in what can be a spiritual experience of a lifetime for them and a chance to seek God's forgiveness and the erasure of past sins.

Here's a look at the pilgrimage and its significance to Muslims.

Saudi Arabia stopped more than 269,000 people without permits for the annual Hajj pilgrimage from entering Mecca, officials said Sunday, as authorities crack down on illegal journeys into the city.

The government blames overcrowding at the Hajj on unauthorized participants. It also says they made up large numbers of those who died in last year's searing summer heat.