The road to the Baba Nagri forest shrine in India-controlled Kashmir was a colorful spectacle. Tens of thousands of men in vibrant attires, henna-dyed beards and bright headgears thronged the Muslim shrine nestled at the base of a mountain to pay their obeisance last week.

Worshippers raised their hands and cried their wishes. Some also tied multicolored threads around the trees at the shrine, which represented their prayers.

Muslim pilgrims have been streaming into Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca ahead of the start of the Hajj later this week, as the annual pilgrimage returns to its monumental scale.

Saudi officials say more than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims have arrived in the country by Tuesday, the vast majority by air, from across the world. More are expected, and hundreds of thousands of Saudis and others living in Saudi Arabia will also join them when the pilgrimage officially begins on Friday.

After the roar of Israeli warplanes terrified her baby grandson, Umm Hassan's family sought solace on a south Lebanon beach, hoping to escape the escalating cross-border violence.

Life goes on but "the children are frightened," the 60-year-old told AFP from the beach in Tyre, about 20 kilometers from the Israel-Lebanon frontier.

Across the Chinese diaspora, racing in dragon boats has been a tradition reaching back thousands of years.

But change is afoot, most recently in central Taiwan where the races were switched to the evening to take advantage of cooler temperatures, a refreshing breeze and the sight of the boats lit up with LED lights running the length of the low-lying watercraft.

Oxford University has agreed to return a 500-year-old bronze sculpture of a Hindu poet and saint to India, the university's Ashmolean Museum said.

The Indian High Commission in the U.K. made a claim four years ago for the bronze figure of Tirumankai Alvar that was allegedly looted from a temple.

Pope Francis has called for humanitarian aid to urgently reach Palestinians in Gaza and for Israel and Hamas to immediately accept proposals for a cease-fire and release of hostages.

During his Sunday noon blessing, Francis also thanked Jordan, which this week will host an international humanitarian aid conference for Palestinians.

Once a year, Muslim pilgrims flowing into Saudi Arabia unite in a series of religious rituals and acts of worship as they perform the Hajj, one of the pillars of Islam. As they fulfill 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 of past sins.

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

The Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon and the Samir Kassir Foundation have announced the results of the 19th 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.

The struggling Washington Post found itself in some turmoil following the abrupt departure of the newspaper's executive editor and a hastily announced restructuring plan aimed at stopping an exodus of readers over the past few years.

Post publisher Will Lewis and Matt Murray, a former Wall Street Journal editor named to temporarily replace Sally Buzbee, met with reporters and editors at the Post on Monday to explain changes that had been outlined in a Sunday night email.

Romania's minister of culture says she will ask French luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton to acknowledge that a traditional Romanian blouse directly inspired items in one of its 2024 collections.

"We will request that Louis Vuitton recognize the heritage and cultural value of the traditional blouse model with ribbons," Raluca Turcan wrote on Facebook late Monday, adding it's an opportunity for international recognition of the "inestimable value" of Romanian tradition.