Latest updates from top global and Saudi news sources
Last updated: 13 Sep 2026, 11:08 AM (Saudi time)
Saudi Arabia's digital overhaul of the Grand Mosque has cut pilgrim transport waits from two hours to nine minutes and now manages 38 million iftar meals digitally, part of a push to make the site among the world's smartest by 2030.
Saudi Arabia's Third Expansion of the Grand Mosque is advancing as part of a wider transformation of Makkah and Madinah aimed at hosting tens of millions of pilgrims annually under Vision 2030.
Saudi Arabia's Hajj minister said more than 19 million people visited Al-Rawdah Al-Sharifah in the Prophet's Mosque over two years, as the Umrah and Ziyarah Forum opened in Madinah.
Saudi authorities have advised Umrah pilgrims that the Grand Mosque is quietest from 10pm to 4am and 9am to 4pm, and busiest from 5pm to 9pm, and encouraged the use of live crowd-density tools to plan Tawaf and Sa'i.
The second group of 250 pilgrims under King Salman's Guests Program has performed Umrah in Makkah, part of 1,000 worshippers from 23 countries hosted at the King's expense this year.
Madinah authorities have installed a new sign banning motorcycles from Quba Street, a main route to the historic Masjid Quba, as part of traffic control measures, requiring visitors to use alternative transport.
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