Saudi Arabia said Tuesday that because of the coronavirus only "very limited numbers" of people will be allowed to perform the annual hajj pilgrimage that traditionally draws around 2 million Muslims from around the world.

The decision comes after weeks of speculation over whether Saudi Arabia would cancel the pilgrimage altogether or allow the hajj to be held in symbolic numbers. It's unclear why the government waited until just five weeks before the hajj to announce its decision, but the timing indicates the sensitivity around major decisions concerning the hajj that affect Muslims around the world.

Former pope Benedict XVI will return to the Vatican on Monday from Germany, where he is visiting his sick brother, the Regensburg bishopric said.

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.