More than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims are in Saudi Arabia for the Hajj
ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia — More than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims are in Saudi Arabia for this year's Hajj , a government spokesperson said Wednesday.
Hajj is one of the Five Pillars of Islam , a religious obligation involving rituals and acts of worship that every Muslim must fulfil if they have the money and are physically able to do it.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNN
34 minutes ago
- CNN
From Denver to Mecca: A CNN producer's personal pilgrimage to Islam's holiest site
Millions of Muslims around the world celebrate Eid as the annual pilgrimage of Hajj reaches its end. Among the 2 million worshippers is one of CNN's producers, Kareem El Damanhoury, who shares his journey with you.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Iran condemns ‘racist mentality' behind US travel ban
Iran has sharply criticised United States President Donald Trump's travel ban on its nationals and those of several countries, calling it 'racist' and a sign of deep-rooted hostility towards Iranians and Muslims. Trump earlier this week signed an executive order that bars and restricts travellers from 19 countries, including several African and Middle Eastern nations. The policy, set to take effect on Monday, echoes measures introduced during Trump's previous term in office from 2017-2021. In the executive order, Trump said he 'must act to protect the national security' of the US. Alireza Hashemi-Raja, who heads the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' department for Iranians abroad, said on Saturday that the decision reveals 'the dominance of a supremacist and racist mentality among American policymakers'. 'This measure indicates the deep hostility of American decision-makers towards the Iranian and Muslim people,' he said in a statement. The latest restrictions cover nationals from Iran, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. A limited ban has also been applied to travellers from seven other argued that the policy breaches international legal norms and denies millions the basic right to travel, based solely on nationality or faith. He said the ban would 'entail international responsibility for the US government', without elaborating. The US and Iran have had no formal diplomatic relations since 1980, following the Islamic Revolution. Despite decades of strained ties, the US remains home to the world's largest Iranian diaspora, with about 1.5 million Iranians living there as of 2020, according to Tehran's Foreign Ministry.
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
Parents in Gaza Are Running Out of Ways to Feed Their Children: ‘All We Want Is a Loaf of Bread'
It had made sense to Nour Barda and Heba al-Arqan in November 2023 to try for another baby when a temporary truce had just taken hold in Gaza. Mr. Barda's father, who had only sons, kept asking when he might have a granddaughter at last. Back then, the war seemed like it might end. Back then, there was food, even if it was not enough. By the time Ms. al-Arqan found out she was pregnant last year, things in Gaza were much worse. When she gave birth to Shadia this April, there was so little to eat that Ms. al-Arqan, 25, had almost no milk to give. Now she holds Shadia at her breast just to calm her down, Mr. Barda said, knowing that nothing is likely to come. It had been like this with Jihad, their son, who was born in 2023, two weeks after the war began. Their increasingly desperate efforts to find food when Jihad was six months old were described in a New York Times article about malnourished children in Gaza in April 2024. But now she and her husband had two babies to keep alive at a time when Israel had blocked almost all aid from entering Gaza for nearly three months — 80 days of total siege beginning in March. Israel began to ease the blockade in May, but only a thin trickle of supplies has arrived. The traditional United Nations-run system for delivering aid has faltered as looters and fighting have cut off safe routes for aid trucks, and a new, Israeli-backed aid distribution system has descended into controversy, chaos and violence. Though the group behind it says it has delivered nearly nine million meals so far, the United Nations says the assistance falls far short of what is needed for a population of two million people. Security at the new distribution sites is being provided by private American contractors, but the Israeli military is stationing forces nearby, outside the perimeter. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
