Saudi Arabia records the lowest Hajj attendance in three decades—outside the pandemic years—triggered by tighter visa restrictions; Special Envoy Zhai Jun meets Egypt’s Foreign Minister to discuss the Gaza crisis and broader Middle East peace efforts.

Starting at dawn, the more than 1.6 million Muslims took part in the pilgrimage will throw seven stones at each of three concrete walls symbolising the devil in the Mina valley, on the outskirts of the holy city of Mecca.

To make this year's pilgrimage safer, authorities have expanded infrastructure, deployed thousands of extra personnel and relied on an arsenal of high-tech tools to help better manage crowds.

Makkah, Saudi Arabia -- Working day and night in front of maps, screens and seemingly endless data, Saudi officials have harnessed artificial intelligence to help manage the million-strong sea of pilgrims during the hajj. The technology has proven pivotal to track the overwhelming amount of footage from more than 15,000...

About 1.4 million pilgrims arrived in Saudi Arabia ahead of the multi-day hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam that must be performed at least once by all Muslims with the means.

Makkah, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi authorities have asked pilgrims performing the hajj to remain in their tents for several hours during the high point of this week's pilgrimage, citing high temperatures. According to a report in Saudi media, Hajj Minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah has requested that pilgrims refrain from leaving their...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia is ramping up a crackdown on unregistered worshippers at next week's hajj pilgrimage, a year after hundreds perished in scorching conditions. Regular raids, drone surveillance and a barrage of text alerts are aimed at rooting out unauthorized visitors hoping to mingle among the crowds...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- With artificial intelligence, more shade and misting machines, Saudi authorities are preparing to welcome more than a million hajj pilgrims amid punishing summer heat that has a deadly history in the holy city of Mecca. Saudi Arabia's hajj minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah told AFP on Thursday that...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday that the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage to Mecca would begin on June 4 after astronomical observatories spotted the crescent moon, marking the start of the lunar month. The date was announced by the supreme court in a statement carried by the...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- A Saudi airline has resumed flights for Iranian hajj pilgrims to the kingdom for the first time in a decade, the latest sign of the warming ties between the countries. "Flynas resumed Iranian pilgrims flights from Imam Khomeini (airport) in Tehran on Saturday," a Saudi civil...

Cairo, Egypt - Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly ordered 16 tourism companies stripped of their licences and referred their managers to the public prosecutor Saturday over illegal pilgrimages to Mecca, the cabinet said. The order came after countries whose citizens performed this year's hajj reported more than 1,100 deaths, many attributed...

"The state did not fail, but there was a misjudgment on the part of people who did not appreciate the risks," the official told AFP in the government's first comments on the deaths. An AFP tally on Friday, compiling official statements and reports from diplomats involved in the response, put...

The new deaths reported Thursday included 58 from Egypt, according to an Arab diplomat who provided a breakdown showing that of 658 Egyptians who died, 630 were unregistered pilgrims. Around 10 countries have reported 1,081 deaths during the pilgrimage.

"All of them (the Egyptians) died because of heat" except for one who sustained fatal injuries during a minor crowd crush, one of the diplomats said, adding the total figure came from the hospital morgue in the Al-Muaisem neighbourhood of Mecca.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Sunday that Saudi officials had committed "to provide everything that will serve those who visit the Two Holy Mosques and help them perform their worship in security and reassurance". The health ministry said it would "closely follow cases of heat exhaustion."

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia has announced that domestic pilgrims will be eligible for compensation in the event of inadequate accommodation provided by Hajj service companies. According to the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, pilgrims will receive a 10 percent refund of their package value if there is a...

Makkah, Saudi Arabia -- The Presidency of Religious Affairs at the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque has deployed AI-operated robots to assist worshippers and visitors at the Grand Mosque in Makkah. The robots provide information and guidance on a variety of topics, including how to perform the Hajj and...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia on Tuesday introduced 'KSA VISA,' a unified visa platform aimed at streamlining visa application processes. The initiative is a step in the kingdom's strategy to bolster tourism in the forthcoming years. Abdul Hadi Al-Mansouri, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Executive Affairs, unveiled the...

DUBAI, UAE- As much of the world swelters in record temperatures, spare a thought for Issam Genedi, who ekes out a living washing cars in one of the planet's hottest regions, the Gulf. Pausing from his work at an outdoor carpark in Dubai, the Egyptian migrant says the UAE's furnace-like summer...

On Friday, two days after the last major ritual, tens of thousands of people packed roads and boarded buses out of Islam's holiest sites in Mecca, bringing the hajj to a close, the AFP correspondent said. They departed after performing a farewell "tawaf" - circling seven times around the Kaaba,...

Hundreds of millions of Muslims in their best dresses packed mosques in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas to mark the festive occasion.

The data showed most of the faithful came from abroad. The Kingdom's officials had predicted more than 2.5 million pilgrims, making it the largest to date. But officials figures carried by the state-run Al Ekhbariya TV showed that the total number of pilgrims for this hajj season as 1.84 million.

Luxury accommodations and air-conditioned shopping malls have not replaced the deeply ingrained culture of hospitality in Islam's holiest city.

Islam's holiest site is expected to host more than two million worshipers from 160 countries during the annual rites that could break attendance records.

Mecca, Saudi Arabia - The annual hajj pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, will start on Sunday with more than two million Muslims from around the world expected to take part this year. It will be the largest pilgrimage since the coronavirus pandemic forced Saudi authorities to dramatically...

The pilgrimage - one of five pillars of Islam, and which all able-bodied Muslims with the means are required to perform at least once - is scheduled for June. In 2019, about 2.5 million people took part in the rituals. For the next two years numbers were drastically curtailed numbers...

Riyadh, UAE---Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Investment has signed MoUs with three companies to develop and market investments in hospitality, tourism, catering services and entertainment activities besides cooperation in operating residential and commercial complexes. The MoUs were signed with Kadana Company, Lifestyle Development Company and Jusoor Al-Khaleej Company at the Hajj...

Saudi Arabia announced plans for a new airport in Riyadh while advancing the kingdom's ambitious aviation goals. The airport, set to accommodate 120 million travelers by 2030 and 185 million travelers by 2050, will be named after 86-year-old King Salman and was announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The ministry stated that those who qualify to perform Umrah also include holders of US, UK and Schengen visas

This year's Hajj, the first large-scale edition since the guardian requirement was dropped in 2021, has taken on a different hue with thousands of unaccompanied women joining the rituals.

The biggest hajj pilgrimage since the coronavirus pandemic began kicks off Wednesday, with hundreds of thousands of mostly mask less worshippers expected to circle Islam's holiest site in Saudi Arabia's Mecca.

The Haj season enhances Saudi Arabia’s political and religious prestige while contributing to its annual revenue of around $8 billion and creating thousands of jobs.

Saudi Arabia has required would-be hajj pilgrims from many Western countries to apply for visas via a government portal online, a move intended to crack down on "fake" travel agencies, officials told AFP on Monday. The new system was put in place as the kingdom prepares to welcome 850,000 Muslims...

Saudi Arabia said Saturday it will permit one million Muslims from inside and outside the country to participate in this year's hajj, a sharp uptick after pandemic restrictions forced two years of drastically pared-down pilgrimages. The hajj ministry "has authorised one million pilgrims, both foreign and domestic, to perform the...

The decision includes suspending ‘social distancing measures in all open and closed places’ including mosques.

The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced an update in the procedures for entering Saudi Arabia for Umrah, which is one of the key non-oil sources of income for the kingdom. This is done to ensure the health and safety of the Umrah Performers and visitors, the ministry said. Based...

Pictures and footage on Sunday morning showed people praying side by side, making straight rows of worshippers that are formations revered in performing Muslim prayers, for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic took hold last year. Visitors, however, need to wear masks and must be fully vaccinated.

Saudi nationals aged 12-18 can obtain Umrah permits if they have received two doses of Covid-19 vaccine, the ministry of Hajj and Umrah has said. Local media reports said the ministry’s announcement follows the inauguration of the 2021 Umrah season on August 10.

Authorities in the ministry responsible for coordinating foreign pilgrims will from Monday begin "gradually receiving Umrah requests from various countries of the world," the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The airline has made available around 15,000 seats, 25 additional flights, and 49 flights with larger seat capacity

Up to 60,000 Muslims residing in Saudi Arabia are allowed to take part in this year's hajj, evoking the envy and awe of millions of international pilgrims who have been barred for the second year due to the coronavirus pandemic

Saudi Arabia on Thursday inaugurated several projects in Jeddah worth SAR 31.32 million ($8.35 million) to help Hajj pilgrims

The kingdom seeks to repeat last year's success that saw no virus outbreak during the five-day Muslim ritual.

More than two million people converge from around the world to perform the Hajj It will be for the second consecutive year that only Saudis will go to the two holy cities     Saudi Arabia will allow no more than 60,000 people, from the kingdom alone, to perform the...

The move is to ensure that all safety measures adopted by the government to keep the virus Only Saudi pilgrims can make the Hajj this year, like last year The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has cautioned pilgrims not to travel to Mecca to perform the Hajj unless they have...

The move is designed to minimize human contact to contain Covid-19 spread Each of the 20 robots deployed loaded with three shelves of water bottles Hoping to reduce the threat of outbreak of Covid-19 at Islam’s holiest site in Mecca during the Hajj in July, the Saudi government has deployed...

Only up to 10,000 Muslims took part in last year's hajj, 70% of them foreigners   2.5 million participated in the pilgrimage in 2019  Saudi Arabia announced Saturday it will allow 60,000 residents vaccinated against Covid to perform this year's hajj, but Muslims from abroad will be barred for a second...

They have a capacity of 23.8 liters of sterilizers with a consumption rate of 2 liters per hour to eliminate bacteria over 600 square meters