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.

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.

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...

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...

"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...

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,...

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 Saudi Ministry of Interior and the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) have announced a strategic partnership for the purpose.

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

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...

Makkah Route Initiative aims to complete procedures in pilgrims countries with ease including issuing visa electronically, taking biometrics, completion of passport procedures, health requirements

Saudi Arabia's crown prince and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have vowed to reset relations, to end a conflict between the two regional heavyweights. The pair "reviewed the Saudi-Turkish relations and ways to develop them in all fields", SPA reported.

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...

Saudi Arabia has cancelled the maximum age limit of 50 years for all foreign pilgrims, as per local sources.

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

New airport would serve as base for new airline planned by country’s sovereign wealth fund Kingdom’s goal is to attract 100m tourists a year by 2030   Saudi Arabia is considering building a new airport that would serve as a base for a new airline the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund...

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...