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Photos show Muslim pilgrims in Mecca as annual Hajj pilgrimage ends

MECCA (AP) — Muslim pilgrims have concluded the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia on Saturday by circling around the holy site of the black cube-shaped Kaaba, Islam’s holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.

This year, over 1.5 million Muslim pilgrims undertook the Hajj pilgrimage in temperatures that sometimes exceeded 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

The Hajj, one of the Five Pillars of Islam, is required once in a lifetime of every Muslim who can afford it and is physically able.

This year’s Hajj pilgrimage took place as heightened regional tensions linked to the war involving Iran cast a shadow over the gathering at Islam’s holiest sites in Saudi Arabia.

Inside Obama’s presidential museum opening this month: The cost, the books and a beehive

CHICAGO (AP) — The Obama Presidential Center will open June 19 more than a decade after the former president chose his hometown of Chicago for the project. The museum displays campaign memorabilia and presidential artifacts, while its campus showcases a new community basketball court, public library and playground. A look at the numbers behind the former President Barack Obama's presidential museum. $850 million The approximate cost to build the 225-foot museum tower and nearly 20-acre campus, which the Obama Foundation is paying for with private donations. The cost ballooned from the initial estimates of $350 million.
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