Latest updates from top global and Saudi news sources
Last updated: 29 Jul 2026, 11:19 AM (Saudi time)
Makkah's Royal Commission has signed agreements to redevelop seven central districts across 4.4 million square meters, backed by more than SR16.3 billion in investment under the Developed Districts Program.
Saudi Arabia has approved plans for Makkah's first international airport and completed designs for a city metro, aiming to ease travel for millions of pilgrims.
Indonesia has launched a formal review of its 2026 Hajj operation, citing lower pilgrim costs, pre-departure Nusuk Cards and a 25 percent fall in deaths, while flagging healthcare and conditions in Mina as priorities for reform.
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has suspended 21 Umrah service companies for poor performance and regulatory breaches, underscoring tighter oversight of the sector.
Astronomers say the Hajj is moving out of peak summer heat into milder spring and winter seasons for roughly 25 years, easing conditions for pilgrims.
Corendon Airlines has begun direct Antalya-Jeddah Umrah flights for the 2026-2027 season and plans to add services from five more Turkish cities.
Nine Buddhist monks were killed after a truck driven by an 11-year-old boy struck a pilgrimage procession in Thailand.
Biman wraps up 2026 post-Hajj operations Somoy News
Biman wraps up 2026 post-Hajj operations successfully Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS)
Damage recorded in 30 locations across in the city from overnight attacks, with ‘most of them ordinary residential buildings’in DublinVolodymyr Zelenskyy has said he hopes not to wait too long for the results of an Irish government investigation into alumina exports to Russia thought to be feedi...
Bangladesh wraps up 2026 Hajj as 79,100 pilgrims return home The Financial Express
Hajj 2026 LIVE: Muslims Continue Pilgrimage In Saudi Arabia Nate Ament (YDyTMyozkq) Mshale