Latest updates from top global and Saudi news sources
Last updated: 23 Sep 2026, 10:20 AM (Saudi time)
Saudi Arabia has launched a website-based digital platform for the Prophet's Mosque offering an interactive map, live crowd tracking and real-time prayer-area occupancy to help visitors plan ahead.
The General Authority for the Two Holy Mosques has opened a summer enrichment exhibition at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, using virtual reality headsets to showcase the Kiswa, Zamzam water and the care of the holy sites.
Egypt's Ministry of Interior has opened registration for the 2027 Hajj lottery, accepting applications from August 12 to 27, 2026 for the 1448 AH season.
Saudi authorities have urged Umrah pilgrims to time their visits to the Grand Mosque around periods of lower crowd density, identifying the quietest and busiest hours of the day.
Saudi Arabia has introduced updated accommodation regulations and a two-tier classification system for facilities hosting Hajj pilgrims in Makkah and Madinah ahead of the 2027 season.
Iran has resumed sending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for Umrah after a six-month suspension, with 18,000 people scheduled in the first phase and about five million voucher holders still waiting.
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Taraneh Rahimi was told prison guards would rape her sister, Romina, if she did not sign a confessionThe twins were 19 and still in high school when they were taken from their beds in the dead of night by masked men later identified as being sent by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
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