A relatively few number of Muslims pray around the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, March 5, 2020. Saudi Arabia's Deputy Health Minister Abdel-Fattah Mashat was quoted on the state-linked news site Al-Yaum saying that groups of visitors to Mecca from inside the country would now also be barred from performing the pilgrimage, known as the umrah. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
March 5, 2020
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Bethlehem's storied Nativity Church closes amid virus fears
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian officials announced Thursday the storied Church of the Nativity in the biblical city of Bethlehem was closing indefinitely over fears of the new coronavirus, weeks ahead of the Easter holiday that draws tens of thousands of visitors and worshipers.