President Bush has sent holiday greetings to all Muslims as they celebrate the Eid al-Adha religious festival.

The annual season of Hajj is now under way. Every Muslim who is financially capable is required by the Koran, the holy Muslim scripture, to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at the annual season of Hajj at least once in the lifetime. The culmination of the Hajj is the "Id-Al Adha," the festival of sacrifice, which this year falls on Saturday, December 30 in Saudi Arabia and Sunday, December 31 elsewhere. VOA's Amin Fekrat reports.

Authorities in Saudi Arabia say more than 1.5 million Muslims have arrived so far to take part in the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, which starts in a few days.

An opera containing a scene in which the severed head of the Prophet Muhammad is depicted has opened under heavy security in Germany's capital, Berlin.

Muslims in Europe, amid a worsening climate of "Islamophobia," face discrimination in education, housing, and employment.