Read the latest updates on the Hajj pilgrimage here.
One million Hajj pilgrims from around the world are heading to Muzdalifah after gathering at Mount Arafat on Friday, where they stood in prayer from noon until sunset on one of the most important days of the Islamic calendar.
The rocky areas of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah are a few kilometres east of Makkah where pilgrims have been gathering to perform the sacred rite of the Hajj pilgrimage, which culminates with Saturday’s Eid Al Adha holiday.
In Muzdalifah pilgrims will gather pebbles for the symbolic stoning of the devil ritual that begins on Saturday, which is also the start of the Eid Al Adha feast of sacrifice marked by more than 1.5 billion Muslims globally.
At Arafat, pilgrims combined their noon and afternoon prayers at Masjid Nimrah. At sunset, they combined both the maghrib and night prayers before making the 13-kilometre walk to Muzdalifah.
Throughout Friday, all pilgrims stood in vigil from noon to sunset to offer supplications, seek repentance, from where it is believed Islam’s Prophet Mohammed delivered his final sermon. The ritual at Arafat is the most sacred day of Hajj and is considered compulsory for a successful pilgrimage.
“I am so happy to be here, like everyone else. This is the biggest Hajj in the coronavirus era, but it isn't big enough yet,” Egyptian pilgrim Saad Farhat Khalil, 49, told AFP.
“There are one million here today, but if the Saudis allowed more, 10 million would have come,” he said.
The Hajj, usually one of the world's largest annual religious gatherings, is among the five pillars of Islam and all Muslims able to do so are required to make the Hajj pilgrimage to Makkah at least once in their lifetime.
In 2019, as in previous years, about 2.5 million Muslims from around the world took part, a figure that dropped to a few thousand in 2020 and 60,000 in 2021.
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
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Specs
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Price: On request
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
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Price: From Dh650,000
EXPATS
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The specs: 2019 Lincoln MKC
Price, base / as tested: Dh169,995 / Dh192,045
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Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
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Ibrahim's play list
Completed an electrical diploma at the Adnoc Technical Institute
Works as a public relations officer with Adnoc
Apart from the piano, he plays the accordion, oud and guitar
His favourite composer is Johann Sebastian Bach
Also enjoys listening to Mozart
Likes all genres of music including Arabic music and jazz
Enjoys rock groups Scorpions and Metallica
Other musicians he likes are Syrian-American pianist Malek Jandali and Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou Khalil
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AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
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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.
Red flags
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- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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Paris Can Wait
Dir: Eleanor Coppola
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Diane Lane, Arnaud Viard
Two stars
EPL's youngest
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16 years, 68 days old
BRIEF SCORES:
Toss: Nepal, chose to field
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David Haye record
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About Tenderd
Started: May 2018
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Sheer grandeur
The Owo building is 14 storeys high, seven of which are below ground, with the 30,000 square feet of amenities located subterranean, including a 16-seat private cinema, seven lounges, a gym, games room, treatment suites and bicycle storage.
A clear distinction between the residences and the Raffles hotel with the amenities operated separately.
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Lexus LX700h specs
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Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
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Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
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GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
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