Clik here to view.
Travel news in brief
Arabian nightsThe dramatic landscapes of the Middle East are a great playground for families. Camping out with the Bedouin, exploring ancient castles or riding across the desert on camels will keep...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Once upon a life: Hilary Mantel
For four years, the Booker prize-winner lived in the repressive, claustrophobic kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Until one day in 1986 when she and her husband left Jeddah and rediscovered freedomAt five...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Backpacking adventures: real stories
Whether you're thinking of a year out, need a career break or just an adventurous holiday, find inspiration with these extraordinary gap-year talesCycling to IndiaWhen I was 11, during a junior school...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mecca makeover: how the hajj has become big business for Saudi Arabia
• Country's religious tourism industry booming• New luxury hotels prove huge draw for pilgrimsThe arid landscape hugging the Jeddah-Mecca highway used to hold little appeal. But now travellers can...
View ArticleClik here to view.
British Muslims join the pilgrims at a record-breaking hajj
Some 25,000 visitors from the UK join the millions pouring into Arafat to spend the day in prayerTucked away from the intensity of the crowds and traffic today, some of the 25,000 Britons who are...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Riazat Butt | Divine dispatches: hajj special
Gold rush in Mecca; voice the Grand Mufti; environmental impacts; hajj fashionGreetings from Saudi Arabia, where this week's Divine Dispatches comes from. I'm sitting in a Ministry of Culture and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Is Saudi Arabia finally taking an interest in its own heritage? | Jason Burke
For years, the country has been erasing any evidence of its polytheistic, desert-dwelling past. But now, slowly, the tide may be starting to turnTell people in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, that you are...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sars-like virus detected
UK health agency issues advice as experts try to identify virus that infected two men in Middle East, killing oneHealth experts are trying to identify a new Sars-like virus that is so far known to have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Q&A: what is the Sars-like coronavirus – and how worried should we be?
Experts are trying to identify a virus that can cause severe respiratory problems and has killed at least one personHow many cases have been reported to date?Only two have been confirmed by laboratory...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mecca's mega architecture casts shadow over hajj
Towering over Mecca, this is the world's second-tallest building – and it is just a tiny part of a voracious development that has seen historic sites bulldozed and locals forced into shantytowns. As...
View ArticleTripping over ancient obstacles
Sweltering in black nylon, Caroline Hendrie endures the religiously enforced restrictions on women to visit the heartland of IslamNever has 'my trip' been a more apt description of a holiday. Half of...
View ArticleOnly way is up for towers that touch the sky - in pictures
Skyscrapers have captured our imagination for decades with their beauty and apparently gravity-defying structures. Here are some of the most breathtakingEMPIRE STATE BUILDINGContinue reading...
View ArticleMecca: The Sacred City review – an important study of one of the great...
Ziauddin Sardar tells the story of Mecca with rare insight and passionIn the history of religion, and in the wider story of mankind’s yearning to understand its place in the universe, Mecca is almost...
View ArticleMecca: The Sacred City by Ziauddin Sardar review – ‘The pilgrimage is now an...
The House of Saud will not like this book, which argues that the holiest site in Islam has become a centre of brash consumerism and architectural follyMecca is the shrine of Islam, with the Ka’bah, a...
View ArticleCity in the sky: world's biggest hotel to open in Mecca
The holy city is fast becoming a Las Vegas for pilgrims, thanks to the new £2.3bn megahotel that has four helipads, five floors for Saudi royalty – and 10,000 bedroomsFour helipads will cluster around...
View ArticleJeddah's Kingdom Tower: how much higher can skyscrapers go? A history of...
We end our History of Cities series with a monumental tower in Saudi Arabia that, when finished in 2018, will become the world’s first kilometre-high skyscraper. So what does it say about the future of...
View ArticleMecca worshippers stream their stories live on Snapchat
#Mecca Live trends on Twitter with snaps providing insight into Saudi city closed to non-Muslims Worshippers in Mecca are streaming their stories live on Snapchat, opening up the Saudi city to...
View ArticleThe hajj pilgrimage begins - in pictures
More than 2 million people have gone to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for annual pilgrimageContinue reading...
View ArticleAyatollah Ali Khamenei says Saudi Arabia should apologise for Hajj deaths
Iranian supreme leader calls on Saudis to accept responsibility for deadly stampede where the number of pilgrims killed could exceed 1,000Iran’s supreme leader has said Saudi Arabia should apologise...
View ArticleTripping over ancient obstacles
Sweltering in black nylon, Caroline Hendrie endures the religiously enforced restrictions on women to visit the heartland of IslamNever has 'my trip' been a more apt description of a holiday. Half of...
View Article