Saudi Arabia

Muslim Pilgrims Pray on Mount Arafat in Hajj Climax

More than 1.5 million Muslims will pray on Mount Arafat in soaring temperatures on Saturday, in the high-point and most gruelling day of the annual hajj pilgrimage. Worshippers from all over the world will climb the rocky, 70-metre (230-feet) hill, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Mecca, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his ...

Million-Plus Begin Hajj Pilgrimage Under Shadow of Gaza War

More than a million Muslim pilgrims were in Mecca Friday for the start of a hajj pilgrimage held against the grim backdrop of the Gaza war and in exhausting summer heat. Crowds of robed worshipers will circle the Kaaba, the black cubic structure at Mecca's Grand Mosque, with many expressing sadness eight months into the Israel-Hamas war. "Our ...

A Hotter Hajj as Climate Change May Outpace Mitigation Efforts

From misting systems to heat-reflective road coverings, Saudi officials are trying to aid hajj pilgrims in coping with heat, but scientists caution that climate change may outpace these efforts. The annual pilgrimage, one of the world's largest religious gatherings, coincides again this year with the hot Saudi summer, with officials predicting ...

Gaza War Hangs Over Hajj as Pilgrims Flock to Mecca

Hundreds of thousands of Muslims have flocked to the Saudi holy city of Mecca for the hajj pilgrimage unfolding this year in the shadow of the Gaza war. One of the world's largest annual religious gatherings officially begins on Friday, and Saudi officials are trying to keep the focus on prayers. The Gulf kingdom's minister in charge of ...

Saudi Arabia Appoints First Ambassador to Syria in Over Decade

Saudi Arabia named a new ambassador to Damascus Sunday, state media said, more than a year after the two Arab nations resumed ties following a prolonged rift over Syria's war. The official Saudi Press Agency said the government had appointed Faisal bin Saud Al-Mejfel as its ambassador to Syria. The newly appointed envoy, according to the report, ...

Palestinian State Recognition Sparks Praise, Evasion and Fury

The decision by Ireland, Norway and Spain, announced on Wednesday, to recognize the State of Palestine has sparked a mixture of praise, evasion and fury internationally. The Palestine Liberation Organization and Islamist group Hamas welcomed the decision to recognize a Palestinian state as a boost for their cause. "We consider this an important ...

Saudi Prince MBS ‘Reassures’ Cabinet on King’s Health

Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler offered reassuring words on Tuesday about the health of the Gulf kingdom's aging monarch, who has a lung infection, state media said. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, first in line to the throne, "reassures everyone about the health of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques," the official Saudi Press Agency said on ...

US Envoy Briefs Netanyahu on Potential Saudi Normalization Deal

US President Joe Biden's national security advisor briefed Benjamin Netanyahu on the "potential" of a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia after holding talks in the region, the White House said Sunday. Jake Sullivan also called on the Israeli prime minister to link the military operation against Hamas in Gaza with a "political ...

Saudi Crown Prince Postpones Visit Due to King Salman's Health

Japan's top government spokesman said on Monday that a planned visit this week by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been postponed "due to the health condition of King Salman." The announcement came hours after the Royal Court in Riyadh said Prince Mohammed's 88-year-old father had a lung infection and was undergoing treatment ...

The American Peace Proposal and the Intricacies of an Ongoing War

  US President Joe Biden has seized on the ongoing war to offer a peace deal that dovetails with a finalized regional strategic understanding between the United States and Saudi Arabia. The settlement of the current conflict should be part of a new strategic vision that aims at extracting the Middle East from the Iranian stranglehold, ...

Heavy Storms Hit the Gulf, as Oman Death Toll Reaches 18

Torrential rains and high winds lashed parts of the Gulf on Tuesday as the death toll from storms in Oman rose to 18, many of them children. Flights were cancelled in Dubai, the region's financial hub, while schools were shut in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Flooding hit many areas of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, and cut off ...