Three millions of faithful, wearing white robes, converged on the plains of Arafat on Sunday, marking the climax of this year's Hajj.
Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and is an obligation on every able-bodied Muslim at least once in their lifetime. The pilgrimage is a spiritual journey that Muslims believe will absolve them of their sins and cleanse their souls, meaning they return home with a clean state.
Many pilgrims have described hajj as a life-changing experience.
Professor Asma Ismail, deputy vice chancellor of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and director of the Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM) at the university, received the IDB award from Finance Minister, Ibrahim Al Assaf.
The devastating landslide at Bukit Antarabangsa that struck at about 3.30 am on 6 December, 2008, claims four lives and destroys 14 bungalows when residents were mostly fast asleep.
Dubai experienced rain and thunderstorm on Saturday and residents in some part of Dubai reported seeing a hail storm.
Shah Rukh Khan, Bollywood superstar received his award which carries the title Datuk at a ceremony in the state of Malacca, today December 6, 2008, by the Governor of Malacca. He was honoured by Malacca state goverment for his contribution to help develop local film industry and scout for movie location especially in Malacca.
Shah has voiced excitement about accepting a Malaysian honorary title equivalent to a British knighthood.
Funeral procession of the six Jews killed in a murder spree in the Indian city of Mumbai during an attack at the Mumbai Jewish center, Tuesday, last week.
Anti-government protesters stormed Bangkok's main international airport and gunfire broke out on the streets of the Thai capital on Tuesday as a campaign to oust Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat turned violent.
More than 100 people, including Anti-Terror Squad chief Hemant Karkare, were killed and 900 wounded in a series of shootings around India's financial capital Mumbai last night, with two five-star hotels among the targets in a terror attack.
These terrorists strikes in at least seven places and their targets included the luxury Taj and Oberoi hotels.
A Saudi supertanker sized by pirates with a $100 million oil cargo in the world's biggest ship hijacking by Somalia pirates. The tanker, Sirius Star, was seized 450 nautical miles southeast of Kenya at the weekend in the boldest strike to date by Somali pirates.
Two Malaysians have been appointed members of the United Nations high-level task force to examine possible reforms of the global financial system. They are Dr.Zeti Aktar Aziz, Governor Bank Negara and economist Jomo Kwane Sundaram.
The task force was formed as a result of the current global economic turnmoil. The Commission of Experts on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System would also look into the possible reform of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The commission would also suggest measures to secure a more stable global economic order.
Former World Bank chief economist Joseph Stiglitz, who won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001, will chair the commission.
Crowds of more than 100,000 mourned and paid their last respects to the sister of His Majesty the King of Thailand as preparations for the cremation of HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana got under way Saturday evening.
Former Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, 59, had divorced his wife of 32 years Khunying Potjaman, 51, Friday, 14, at the Thai consulate in Hong Kong.
The divorce took place less than a month after the Supreme Court sentenced Thaksin to two years in jail and acquitted Khunying Potjaman over conflict of interest charges in the Ratchadiphisek land deal case. The prison sentence prompted the UK to cancel entry visas for Thaksin and his wife.
They were married in 1976 and have three children.
Dozens of world leaders, including King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, US President George Bush, King Juan Carlos of Spain, President Asif Zardari from Pakistan and President Arroyo of the Philippines are attending the UN Interfaith Conference on Dialogue of Civilizations was held on November 12 to 13.
Karla Paula Ginteroy Henry or better known as Karla Henry was crowned as Miss Earth 2008, which was held in Pampanga, Philippines. She replaced Jessica Nicole Trisco, former Miss Earth 2007. Henry, 22, is from the Philippines and the first from Asia to win the contest, also the first from host country.
Two men risk life by playing scrabble in the presence of wild animals as enthusiasts so to speak. These daredevils extreme scrabble is the only game to play. I wonder if at all they can concentrate on the game.
The quin babies, three girls and two boys weighing between 2.6 kg.- 2.2 kg. were born by Caesarean section in Neihuang county, central China's Henan Province on October 14, 2008. The mother, Jian Xiaojing, is a 27-year-old farmer from the county, both mother and babies are all doing fine.
Food-shaped accessories made into the shape of food are popular among youngsters in Beijing and available at the Tianyi Market.
The fifth king of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyl Wangchuck was adorned with crown, Thursday at a coronation ceremony. The Oxford educated 28-year-old king is the oldest son of the former Bhutanese king. He became the world's youngest reigning monarch and head of the newest democracy after the coronation.
The three Bali bombers, Imam Samudra, 38, Amrozi, 47, and Mukhlas, 48, were executed at midnight Saturday (local time) by firing squad in an orange grove near their island prison off southern Java.
On Tuesday, Americans elected their first black president. Barack Obama has won the 2008 U.S. presidential election, defeating John McCain by a clear margin and made history by becoming the country's first African-American president. He will be sworn in as U.S. president on January 20, 2009.
Barack Obama, 47, wept last night over the death of his beloved grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, 86. She died peacefully in her sleep with his sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng at her side.
Madelyn lost a long battle with cancer. She and Obama's late granddad Stanley, who were both white, raised him from the age of ten in their tiny apartment in Hawaii after his mother moved to Indonesia.
Aquarium at the Dubai Mall scoops world record. The aquarium at Dubai's latest shopping center, Dubai Aquarium and Discovery Center has clinched the Guinness World Record for the World's Largest Acrylic Panel, measuring 32.88 meters wide x 8.3 meters high x 750 mm thick and weighing 245,614 kg.
At 750 mm thick, the acrylic viewing panel is built to withstand the enormous pressure of 10 million liters of water used in the aquarium, but transparent enough to give visitors clear views of more than 33,000 marine species on display.
North Korea release pictures of leader Kim Jong Il on Saturday October, 11, for the first time in nearly two months. The latest photos showed the reclusive leader looking generally well despite reports that he recently underwent brain surgery. However, it is not clear when the photos were taken. The photos were taken during a visit to a military unit.
US multi-millionaire Ritchard Garriott blasted of into space aboard a Russian rocket on Sunday, October, 12. He paid $35 million to fly into space alongside US astronaut and Russian cosmonaut.
A car bombing in a crowed residential street in the Syrian capital killed 17 people on Saturday.The blast smashed car windshields and shattered windows in nearby residential buildings and a large crater filled with water at the blast site.
He Pingping, the world's smallest man, 74.61 cm tall ( 2 ft. 5.37 in.) is from Mongolia and 20 years old. At the time of birth he was no bigger than his father's palm.
Russian Svetiana Pankratova has the longgest legs measuring at 132 cm. ( 4 ft. 3.9 in.).
The first US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, to visit tripoli on September 6 in 55 years was a historic visit to Libya.
Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, swept to victory in a presidential election on Saturday September 9. Zardari, 53, will succeed Pervez Musharaf as president of Pakistan.
