On behalf of King Salman, the deputy governor of Makkah region Prince Badr bin Sultan led the traditional washing ceremony of the Kaaba on Wednesday morning.
The ceremony was followed by Sunnah prayers.
Last year, the washing ceremony was led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also on behalf of King Salman.
The Crown Prince was accompanied by a number of government officials and dignitaries for the ceremony.
The kiswa - a large, embroidered cloth that covers the Kaaba - was lowered in preparation for the washing ceremony on Tuesday, in line with the Sunnah (traditions) of the Prophet.
Head of the Presidency for the Two Holy Mosques Sheikh Abdulrahman Al Sudais, along with a number of royals, government officials and citizens, participated in the washing ceremony, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Saudi Arabia’s General Presidency for the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque undertook the task of raising the lower part of the kiswa.
Earlier this month the Kaaba was adorned with a new kiswa, in black silk with gold embroidered details, which will cover the holy site for the rest of the year.
Two hundred technicians from the King Abdulaziz Complex for Holy Kaaba Kiswa helped replace the new kiswa.
The kiswa is made of 850kg of raw silk, 120kg of gold thread and 100kg of silver thread, and is used to cover the four sides of the Kaaba.
Saudi Arabia's General Presidency for the Affairs of the Grand Mosque also held a virtual exhibition to display tools used to wash the Kaaba.
After the washing of the Kabaa, the holy structure will be sprayed with the finest oud oils, roses and incense, Spa reported.
The Department of Tayeb and Incense said that it had intensified its efforts to fumigate the Grand Mosque, with more than 60 incense burners.
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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