PUSHING and shoving Muslim pilgrims, eager to get close to a pillar symbolising the devil, have triggered the latest in a string of tragedies to have befallen the annual Haj pilgrimage in recent years. As hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from 160 countries surged forward on a bridge at Jamarat, near the holy city of Mecca, to hurl pebbles at the pillar, at least 35 people, including 23 women, were killed in the ensuing stampede. – Reuters