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Saudi Arabia has banned Muslims from outside the kingdom from performing the annual hajj pilgrimage this year in an attempt to control the spread of coronavirus. The nation has seen 161,005 cases of COVID-19, with 1,307 confirmed deaths, the biggest outbreak in the Gulf region. But the pilgrimage ban marks the first time in Saudi Arabia's recent history that Muslims outside the kingdom have been barred from performing the hajj, which last year drew 2.5 million people.

Discovered mainly through satellite images, a few of the gates are actually located on the side of a volcanic dome that once spewed basaltic lava, researchers found. The gates "are stone-built, the walls roughly made and low," David Kennedy, a professor at the University of Western Australia, wrote in a paper set to be published in the November issue of the journal Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy. The gates "appear to be the oldest man-made structures in the landscape," Kennedy noted, adding that "no obvious explanation of their purpose can be discerned." The smallest of the gates extends about 43 feet...

JEDDAH: On a lonely exposed hillside a few kilometers outside the capital of Al-Jouf province, Sakkaka, stand clusters of three-meter high fingers of stone. Etched with ancient Thamudic graffiti, these monuments to a long extinct culture have maintained their lonely vigil for six millennia. Many have fallen over and others lean at bizarre random angles. Al-Rajajil ("the men"), the sandstone stele weighing up to five tons each, is popularly called Saudi Arabia's Stonehenge. They are possibly the oldest human monuments on the peninsula. Some time in the Chalcolithic, or Copper Age, people living in the area where Al-Jouf is today...

They stretch from Syria to Saudi Arabia, can be seen from the air but not the ground, and are virtually unknown to the public. They are the Middle East's own version of the Nazca Lines — ancient "geolyphs," or drawings, that span deserts in southern Peru — and now, thanks to new satellite-mapping technologies, and an aerial photography program in Jordan, researchers are discovering more of them than ever before. They number well into the thousands. Referred to by archaeologists as "wheels," these stone structures have a wide variety of designs, with a common one being a circle with spokes...

In contrast to the prehistoric remains of the Near East, the megalithic monuments of Arabia remain largely unknown. These monumental structures, made of dry stone walls, still hold many secrets in terms of their construction, function and chronology. An international collaboration (1) of scientists from France, Saudi Arabia and Italy (2), led by Olivia Munoz, a researcher at the CNRS, have discovered a 35-metre long triangular platform in the oasis of Dûmat al-Jandal (northern Saudi Arabia). Built in several phases from the 6th millennium BC, this exceptional monument was probably dedicated to ritual practices, some of which were probably funerary...

'All Muslims' intending to travel to Islam's holiest sites to perform the hajj should delay making plans this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, a senior Saudi official has said. In February, the kingdom took the extraordinary decision to close off the holy cities of Mecca and Medina to foreigners, a step which was not taken even during the 1918 flu epidemic that killed tens of millions worldwide. Restrictions have tightened in the kingdom as it grapples with 1,563 confirmed cases of Covid-19, and 10 reported deaths so far. Every year, as many as two million Muslims perform the hajj...

“It saddens me”, he says,” to see the white man beating his breast over and over, too emasculated to put up any resistance to people who’ve come to threaten him on his own doorstep”. He believes that a toxic mix of guilt, “human rightsism”, political naivety and crass ignorance of History have a debilitating effect on Europeans’ capacity to fight the invasion. He accuses the corrupt African leaders of destroying the lives of hundreds of millions of human beings in all impunity, but is equally critical of the ideologues who are paving the way for them. They should stop blaming...

Saudi Arabia is moving forward with an initial public offering of its huge state oil producer that could shatter records and give investors the chance to own a piece of the world's most profitable company. Following approval from the country's regulators, Saudi Aramco on Sunday formally announced its intention to float shares on the Tadawul exchange in Riyadh. Aramco executives will now embark on an international roadshow to court investors, and a prospectus outlining the company's financial details is expected later this month.

Key members of Donald Trump's inner circle will attend the Saudi economic forum known as "Davos in the Desert" one year after shunning it in the aftermath of Jamal Khashoggi's murder. US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will fly to Riyadh for the Future Investment Initiative (FII,) Quartz reported Monday. In October 2018, Mnuchin abandoned plans to attend the conference after talks with Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He never specified why he didn't attend, but the conference took place just weeks after Khashoggi's killing. The conference in Riyadh, which takes place from October...

Medical examiners in New York have ruled that the mysterious deaths of two sisters found dead and duct taped together on the banks of the Hudson River was a double suicide. The cause of death was drowning. The bodies of Rotana Ferea, 23 and Tala Farea, 16 were discovered on October, 24 2018 near the George Washington Bridge. They were quickly identified as Saudi citizens who had gone missing from a shelter-like facility, possibly for abused women, in Fairfax, Virginia in August. "Today, my office determined that the death of the Farea sisters was the result of suicide, in which...

A new study... suggests that early hominin dispersals beyond Africa did not involve adaptations to environmental extremes, such as to arid and harsh deserts. The discovery of stone tools and cut-marks on fossil animal remains at the site of Ti's al Ghadah provides definitive evidence for hominins in Saudi Arabia at least 100,000 years earlier than previously known. Stable isotope analysis of the fossil fauna indicates a dominance of grassland vegetation, with aridity levels similar to those found in open savanna settings in eastern Africa today. The stable isotope data indicates that early dispersals of our archaic ancestors were part...

Without evidence, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), a member of the House intelligence committee, said Jared Kushner might have passed a “hit list” to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman resulting in the apparent brutal slaying of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Castro, during a CNN appearance Friday morning, cited unspecified “reporting that Jared Kushner may have, with U.S. intelligence, delivered a hit list, an enemies list, to the crown prince, to MBS, in Saudi Arabia and that the prince may have acted on that, and one of the people he took action against is Mr. Khashoggi.”

Sen. Marco Rubio said Sunday that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin should not attend an upcoming investment conference in Saudi Arabia amid an ongoing investigation into the country's possible involvement in the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who went missing earlier this month in Turkey. "I don't think he should go," Rubio told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union," adding that he doesn't think any US officials should continue with their usual business in Saudi Arabia until Washington gets to the bottom of Khashoggi's disappearance. "I don't think any of our government officials should be going and pretending...

Construction, which began with the ground-breaking ceremony, is set to last until 2021. Once completed, it will be the reference point for the community of northern Arabia. In addition to the church, it will have a residential area for the episcopal curia, a guest house and educational facilities. A time capsule was placed in its foundations with the history of the local Church and Christians.Manama (AsiaNews) – The Church of Bahrain and the Gulf recently celebrated the formal start of the construction of the new cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia, patron saint of the Arabian Peninsula. The new place...

The Saudisation policy of Crown Prince Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) has coincided with an "expat exodus" and a drop in foreign investment. •Saudi businesses are complaining that locals don't want to do "low-status" jobs that many expats worked — creating a real problem for the economy. •In November, a paper by the Institute of International Finance projected capital outflows in 2017 at $101 billion, 15% of GDP. •Fortunately, a recent rebound in oil prices has temporarily rescued the ailing Saudi Arabian economy, but it will not be a long-term solution....

Three Saudi-based female influencers have visited Korea as part of Hyundai’s outreach to women drivers in the Kingdom, and as brand ambassadors for the carmaker. The three women include entrepreneur and lifestyle influencer Bayan Linjawi; radio presenter, travel blogger, and fashion lover, Shadia Abdul Aziz; and business-owner and fashion career coach, Reem Faisal. During their tour of Korea they received detailed briefings about Hyundai and its products, and toured production, design and research facilities. The program gave them an understanding of the innovative and advanced thinking that underpins today’s Hyundai models, and also included opportunities to experience Korean culture and...

Saudi Arabia's crown prince affirmed Israel's right to exist...pointedly bucking other leaders in the Arab world and signaling support for President Trump's Middle East agenda...the crown prince told The Atlantic. "Hitler tried to conquer Europe. This is bad. But the supreme leader is trying to conquer the world...He is the Hitler of the Middle East. In the 1920s and 1930s, no one saw Hitler as a danger. Only a few people. Until it happened."

The King of Saudi Arabia plans to step down and announce his son as his successor next week, a source close to the country's royal family has exclusively told DailyMail.com. The move is seen as the final step in 32-year-old Prince Mohammed bin Salman's power grab, which began earlier this month with the arrests of more than 40 princes and government ministers in a corruption probe. The source said King Salman will continue only as a ceremonial figurehead, handing over official leadership of the country to his son - often referred to as MBS.

It can be hard to keep up with the headlines flying out of Saudi Arabia. Several members of the royal family and important Saudi businessmen were suddenly and unexpectedly arrested in a broad roundup over the weekend. And the president of the United States is dashing off late-night tweets, trying to get the Kingdom to bestow a tremendous, highly anticipated stock offering to Wall Street. Here's the background: Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal is one of the most internationally famous members of the Saudi royal family — but that doesn't necessarily make him popular at home. In...

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a bitter and vocal rival of U.S. President Donald J. Trump, has been arrested in the royal family’s sweeping anti-corruption crackdown. Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz has arrested and removed a slew of corrupt and prominent officials, including dozens of princes and former ministers. Al Arabiya, a Saudi state-run news outlet, reported bin Talal was among those arrested. People’s Pundit Daily (PPD) confirmed he was one of at least 11 princes arrested. The billionaire chairman of Kingdom Holding Co. was once a business associate of President Trump. But his “America First” platform was a direct threat...