MINA: More than 850,000 pilgrims had performed Tawaf Al-Ifadah by Sunday night in Makkah, the ritual marking the final days of the Hajj and the start of the Eid Al-Adha celebrations for Muslims around the world. The long day started with masses of pilgrims embarking on a symbolic stoning of the devil in Muzdalifah under the soaring summer heat. The stoning is among the final rites of the Hajj, which is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has received telephone call from the president of the European Council Charles Michel on Sunday. During the conversation, they reviewed Saudi-EU cooperation and ways to strengthen in various areas. A number of regional and international issues were also discussed as well as efforts made to achieve security and stability in the region, SPA reported.  

RIYADH: A Saudi medical team from the neurosciences center at King Abdullah Medical City performed a complex brain operation on a 70-year-old Turkish female Hajj pilgrim who had suffered a hemorrhage, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday. The team acted quickly to relieve pressure on the woman’s brain, drilling a hole in the skull and inserting a drainage tube. X-rays identified an arteriovenous malformation in a critical area of the brain, which was treated using advanced medical techniques. There were no complications.

DAMMAM: The Saudi National Center for the Prevention and Control of Plant Pests and Animal Diseases is continuing its campaign — called Weqaa Takes Care of Your Sacrifice — in the Eastern Province. This initiative is being implemented at points of sale, slaughterhouses, barns, and public roads in the region. Mubarak Al-Aridi, Weqaa’s director general in the region, said that animal health department field teams were serving citizens and residents who wished to visit points of sale and slaughterhouses.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s precise execution of security measures has been pivotal to the success of this year’s Hajj season, according to Lt. Gen. Mohammad bin Abdullah Al-Bassami, director of Public Security and chairman of the Hajj Security Committee. In an address to the military sectors involved in the Hajj season on Sunday, Al-Bassami emphasized the directives from the Kingdom’s leadership and the commitment to delivering high-quality services to the pilgrims as key elements of the success.

MAKKAH: Each Hajj season, Muslims from all over the world, representing diverse languages, cultures and traditions, gather in the holy cities. Beyond its religious significance, the pilgrimage offers a platform for cultural engagement among worshippers, displaying the rich cultural tapestry of the global Muslim community.

ARAFAT: Pilgrims have remained inventive in their quest for comfort, despite Saudi Arabia’s diligent efforts to mitigate the sweltering heat at the holy sites. Alongside the Kingdom’s measures — which include extensive cooling systems — pilgrims are using rechargeable and battery-powered neck and handheld fans in their determination to offset the challenging conditions brought by the summer.

MAKKAH: Hajj pilgrims have begun preparing for the final stages of this year’s pilgrimage, arriving in Muzdalifah after spending the entire day performing prayers and supplications in Arafat. After they arrived in Muzdalifah, pilgrims performed Maghrib and Isha prayers and collected pebbles for the stoning rituals at the Jamarat area in Mina, which begin Sunday morning.

MAKKAH: Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims used the Mashaer metro system to travel from Mina to Arafat on Saturday, as they began the most important day of the Hajj pilgrimage. The metro system consists of nine stations located across the holy sites, connected by an 18-kilometer double-track railway, and is capable of accommodating 72,000 passengers per hour in one direction. The journey from Mina to Arafat takes just 20 minutes, with the train traveling at 80 km per hour, according to a report by the Saudi Press Agency.

MAKKAH: Col. Talal bin Abdulmohsen Al-Shalhoub, security spokesperson at the Ministry of Interior, announced during a daily press conference for the 2024 Hajj season the successful completion of the first phase of security plans to lead pilgrims from Makkah to subsequent holy sites. After spending around 12 hours in Arafat on Saturday for the most important part of Hajj, the over 1.8 million worshippers officially moved to the rocky plains of Muzdalifah in preparation for the final stages of their Hajj.

ARAFAT: The Arafat sermon delivered on Saturday at Namira Mosque in Makkah was projected to reach a staggering 1 billion listeners around the world, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The sermon was translated live into 20 languages as part of the groundbreaking initiative launched by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman in 2018. There were also non-simultaneous translations into 17 other languages.

JEDDAH: Muslims from around the world congregated on Saturday at a sacred hill in Saudi Arabia for worship and reflection amid sweltering heat. The ritual at Mount Arafat, known as the hill of mercy, is considered the peak of the Hajj pilgrimage. It is often the most memorable for pilgrims, who stand together asking God for mercy, blessings, prosperity and good health.

ARAFAT, Makkah: Some 225 cases of pilgrims suffering from heat stress and fatigue had been treated at the Medical Center for Heat Exhaustion and Sunstroke in Makkah, the Saudi Press Agency said early Sunday. The cases were reported on Saturday, the second day of Hajj, when pilgrims ascended Mount Arafat to ask God for mercy, blessings, prosperity and good health. The ritual at Mount Arafat, known as the Hill of Mercy, is considered the peak of the Hajj pilgrimage. 

MINA, Saudi Arabia: Masses of pilgrims on Sunday embarked on a symbolic stoning of the devil in Saudi Arabia. The ritual marks the final days of Hajj pilgrimage and the start of the Eid Al-Adha celebrations for Muslims around the world. The stoning is among the final rites of the Hajj, which is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. It came a day after more than 1.8 million pilgrims congregated on a sacred hill in Mount Ararat outside the holy city of Makkah, which Muslim pilgrims visit to perform the annual five-day rituals of Hajj.

JEDDAH: Every year, more than 2 million people visit Saudi Arabia to perform the sacred ritual of Hajj, leading to challenges in transportation, crowd management and communication. In response, Saudi Arabia has leveraged hackathons and adopted innovative technological solutions to tackle these obstacles. A hackathon is a collaborative event, typically a multi-day challenge, in which programmers, designers and project managers work intensively on software projects.

RIYADH: The Saudi Water Authority announced on Friday that nearly 1 billion liters of water would be pumped to Makkah and the holy sites during the Day of Tarwiyah, as part of its operational plan to secure the supply for pilgrims and all beneficiaries during the Hajj season, the state news agency SPA reported. The authority said it is preparing to keep pace with the water needs for the Day of Arafah, Eid Al-Adha, and the Days of Tashreeq, after announcing its readiness to raise the supply to record levels over last year.

JEDDAH: Not so long ago, the very notion of flying cars was considered pure science fiction. However, a recent public demonstration in Saudi Arabia has shown that the technology is not only real, but could soon become a staple of the public transport and logistics network. Officials from the Kingdom’s Ministry of Transport and Logistics, the General Authority of Civil Aviation, and the Ministry of Hajj gathered in the Saudi city of Makkah on June 12 to watch what was billed as the first successful test flight of a self-driving aerial taxi.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Saturday met today with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, on the sidelines of the Ukraine Peace Summit, being held in the Swiss city of Lucerne. During the meeting, they discussed developments in the Ukrainian-Russian conflict, opportunities to enhance cooperation between the Kingdom and Ukraine, and ways to support and develop it in many fields, the Kingdom’s foreign ministry said.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Interior and chairman of the Supreme Hajj Committee Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud has inspected the special security forces participating in this year's Hajj security forces in Makkah, the Saudi Press Agency said early Sunday. As part of the visit, Prince Abdulaziz met with the commanders of the forces and discussed their preparations for their assigned tasks. Prince Abdulaziz was accompanied by several high-ranking officials and senior officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and State Security.  

ARAFAT: Amid strict security and health measures, this year’s Hajj pilgrims arrived in Arafat early Saturday morning, the ninth day of Dul Hijjah, and attended the annual Hajj sermon at Namirah Mosque. As the sun rose, pilgrims camping in the tent city of Mina performed dawn prayers, then began their journey to Arafat, where Prophet Muhammad gave his final sermon more than 144 decades ago. On Saturday, one could hear nothing louder than the crowd chanting supplications.

ARAFAT: The General Authority for the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque translated the Arafat Day sermon on Saturday into 37 international languages, including live translation into 20 and non-simultaneous translation into 17 further languages. This allowed Muslims to follow the sermon through the Al-Haramain platform, the authority’s YouTube channel, the Nusuk platform, and FM radio frequencies in the Arafat region.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Saturday received cables of congratulations from leaders of Islamic countries on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha, which begins on Monday, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The king and crown prince sent messages of thanks to the leaders for their congratulatory cables. Hajj pilgrims arrived in Arafat early Saturday morning, the ninth day of Dul Hijjah, and attended the annual Hajj sermon at Namirah Mosque.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Saturday that any credible peace talks on the war in Ukraine will need Russia’s participation and that it would involve “difficult compromise.” Prince Faisal was speaking at a conference in Switzerland aimed at engineering a peace between Russia and Ukraine and he added that Saudi Arabia was committed to helping to bring an end to the conflict.

ARAFAT: The Saudi Ministry of Interior has said that Hajj security forces have apprehended 25 individuals at the entrances to Makkah for violating Hajj regulations and instructions, including performing rituals without a permit. The individuals include seven expatriates and 18 citizens, who were transporting 103 violators.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Waste Management, or MWAN, has lunched initiatives to provide a healthy and clean environment for pilgrims throughout the Hajj period. Sultan Al-Harthi, a spokesperson at the center, told Arab News that the initiatives are part of efforts to improve and regulate waste management during the Hajj season, preserving natural resources for future generations.

JEDDAH: Some 32 children’s hospitality centers in Makkah and Madinah have been set up this year to take care of children while their parents are performing Hajj. The centers, which were established by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development in partnership with the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, can accommodate more than 1,000 children each day, targeting boys and girls between the ages of 1 and 10.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has officially received the Asian Physics Olympiad flag as it prepares to host the 2025 edition of one of the largest scientific events in Asia, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Friday. The symbolic flag was handed over to the Kingdom by Malaysia, which recently hosted the 2024 APhO edition in Kampar.  Saudi Arabia’s team of 8 students won five awards in the 2024 competition, which featured 208 students from 27 countries from June 3-10, 2024.

MOUNT ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia: Following the footsteps of prophets beneath a burning sun, Muslims from around the world congregated Saturday at a sacred hill in Saudi Arabia for intense, daylong worship and reflection. The ritual at Mount Arafat, known as the hill of mercy, is considered the peak of the Hajj pilgrimage. It is often the most memorable for pilgrims, who stand shoulder to shoulder, feet to feet, asking God for mercy, blessings, prosperity and good health. The mount is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Makkah.

MAKKAH:The security spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, Colonel Talal bin Abdulmohsen Al-Shalhoub, announced the successful implementation of the plan's first phase to smoothly transport pilgrims to the holy sites.  He made his statement on Friday during the daily press conference for the Hajj season 2024, with the participation of official spokespersons for the Ministries of Hajj and Umrah, Health, Transport and Logistics.

RIYADH: Innovative road-cooling technology is set to make pilgrims’ experience of Hajj safer and more comfortable as temperatures soar to 46 degrees Celsius in the summer heat. A spokesman for the Roads General Authority, Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi, told Arab News: “When roads are exposed to sunlight, they absorb heat, reaching up to 70 degrees Celsius of temperature retention once the sun sets.”

JEDDAH: Hajj draws about 2 million people each year. However, this monumental event places a significant strain on the environment through waste, water and energy consumption, and carbon emissions.  That is why measures have been put in place to encourage pilgrims to minimize their waste, use resources judiciously, and reduce their overall carbon footprint while fulfilling their Hajj obligations.

RIYADH: The owner of a building that collapsed in Jeddah at the end of May, killing seven people and injuring another eight, has been detained, the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority announced on Thursday. The authority found that the building owner, Firas Hani Jamal Al-Turki, the deputy minister for shared services at the Ministry of Culture, had tried to apply for a building permit. The local municipality ordered Al-Turki to stop construction on the building after it was found to have technical defects, but he failed to comply.

MAKKAH: Around 93,000 pilgrims benefited from services offered by Saudi Ministry of Health care centers during the first days of the Hajj season. The ministry said that 19 open-heart surgeries, 218 cardiac catheterizations and 676 dialysis procedures were among the operations performed. More than 2,020 pilgrims were admitted to hospitals and health centers for treatment. Health services provided to worshippers include medical and specialized clinics, pharmacies, dialysis centers, intensive care units and isolation units, the ministry said.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s drug control authority arrested a Bangladeshi national on Saturday after allegedly finding him in possession of 2.8 kilograms of methamphetamine, according to the Saudi Press Agency. According to the General Directorate of Narcotics Control, the confiscated items have been submitted to the Public Prosecution.

MINA: The Interior Ministry announced on Friday that the Hajj Security Forces apprehended 18 suspects at Makkah’s entrances for violating Hajj rules and regulations by transporting 91 persons without Hajj permits. The Saudi Press Agency reported that the suspects, a GCC national, an expatriate and 16 Saudi citizens, were detained on Thursday.