Greetings from Saudi Arabia, where this week's Divine Dispatches comes from. I'm sitting in a Ministry of Culture and Information compound on the King Abdul Aziz Road, overlooking Jamarat watching the staff lay the floor for lunch. It will probably be mutton with rice. That's what they serve most days, although yesterday it was hammour with rice and small bowls of freedom fries, a combination that sent torrents of excitement through the press corps. As a treat, the person with the best comment below the line wins a special pilgrims prize – a random hajj gift.
✤ Al Arabiya reports on a gold rush during the hajj season, saying it represents the busiest season of the year for merchants in Mecca, in spite of high prices. According to the paper spot gold was bid at $1,365.95 an ounce on Monday, against $1,366.35 late in New York on Friday. Last November levels were around $1,100. Abdullah al-Maliki, a gold trader opposite the Grand Mosque, told the paper: "Despite the increase in the price of gold every year, we thought sales would decrease, but there are increases in sales with the increase of pilgrims, and there are good purchases, thank God." No worries, mate, it's what he's there for.
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