Mecca

The Great Bulgarian Summit, brought into existence by both NGOs and public figures, is set to take place on September 16-17 at the alleged mount of Khan Kubrat (605-665 AD) near the village of Mala Pereshchepina, central Ukraine.

Two million Muslims from across the globe are converging on Mecca in Saudi Arabia for the hajj pilgrimage, a religious duty and for some pilgrims the journey of a lifetime.

QATAR'S latest act of defiance is likely to cause anger as its damaging dispute with Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries continues.

Qatar restored full diplomatic relations with Iran early on Thursday and promised to send its ambassador back to Tehran — a move that flies in the face of the demands issued by neighbouring Arab nations.

A 14-year-old boy has been arrested after a video of him dancing the Macarena on a busy street in Jeddah was posted online and went viral. His insouciant dance moves apparently didn’t please Saudi authorities, who described them as “improper public behaviour.”

Saudi Arabia and Iraq plan to open the Arar border crossing for trade for the first time since 1990, when it was closed after the countries cut ties following Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, Saudi local media reported on Aug. 15.

A photo exhibition opened in Madinah on Aug. 2 with the help of one of Istanbul's main tourist attractions, the historic Topkapı Palace.

Turkey has condemned a terrorist attack in the Qatif region of Saudi Arabia carried out on July 31, reiterating its solidarity with the kingdom in the fight against terrorism. 

The Qatari authorities have accused Saudi Arabia of jeopardizing the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca of Qatari pilgrims by refusing to guarantee their safety.

Saudi Arabia and its allies have been boycotting Qatar since June 5, accusing it of backing extremist groups and of ties to Shiite Iran, in the region's worst diplomatic crisis in years.

The executive committee of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is scheduled to have an emergency meeting in Istanbul on Aug. 1 at the foreign ministers level. They are due to discuss the recent al-Aksa Mosque tension with Israel, following a call by Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a recent escalation at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem in a phone call on July 20. 

Erdoğan stressed that it was unacceptable that there were restrictions at the entrance of the mosque, also known as Haram al-Sharif, state-run Anadolu Agency quoted anonymous presidential sources as saying.