Source : Mark S. Luckie | The Washington Post
14 Jun 2011

Want to know the difference between hajj and halal? Here is a short glossary of some of the most commonly used words and phrases in Islamic religion and culture.

Allah
The Arabic word for God.

Hadith
A traditional account of things said or done by Muhammad recorded by his followers, commonly taught as a part of Islamic theology.

hajj

Source : Badea Anu Al-Naja | Arab News
Makkah | 14 Jun 2011

Municipal and Rural Affairs Minister Prince Mansour bin Miteb on Tuesday inspected the final phase of the Mashair Railway project that links the holy sites of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah. The project will bring about dramatic improvement in Haj transportation.

Source | Reuters
ANKARA | 14 Jun 2011

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his Cabinet formally resigned on Tuesday as expected, starting the process of forming a new government after winning a third consecutive term in office.

Erdogan’s AK Party won 49.9 percent of the vote, 326 seats, in Sunday’s election, short of the 330 seats it needs to write a new constitution without the support of other parties in the 550-seat parliament.

Sorce : Ahmed Al-Haj | AP
SANAA | 15 Jun 2011

Militants emboldened by months of turmoil in Yemen launched a surprise dawn attack Wednesday on a southern city, seizing entire neighborhoods after gunfights with government forces, security officials said.

The militants, believed to include Al-Qaeda members, were in control of several neighborhoods of Houta, the provincial capital of Lahj province, the officials said.

Source : Bassem Mroue and Selcan Hacaoglu | AP
BEIRUT | 13 Jun 2011

Jeffrey Heller | Reuters
JERUSALEM | 13 Jun 2011

Source : Agencies
MOSCOW | 13 Jun 2011

Mohammed Ghobari | Reuters
SANAA | 13 Jun 2011

<cite>Source : Agencies</cite>

Ankara : 13 Jun 2011

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party has scored a resounding third consecutive election victory, but he will need to seek consensus to push ahead with a planned new constitution.

Erdogan, whose AK has transformed Muslim Turkey into one of the world's fastest-growing economies and ended a cycle of military coups, won some 50 percent of the vote in Sunday's election.