Israeli settlers unleash violence in Palestinian towns; scores injured; homes, shops, vehicles set ablaze

Saudi Arabia said Sunday that more than 1,300 faithful died during the hajj pilgrimage which took place during intense heat and that most of them who died did not have official permits.

"Regrettably, the number of mortalities reached 1,301, with 83 percent being unauthorised to perform hajj and having walked long distances under direct sunlight, without adequate shelter or comfort," the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

An AFP tally last week, based on official statements and reports from diplomats involved in their countries' responses, put the count at more than 1,100.

The dead came from more than 10 countries stretching from the United States to Indonesia, and some governments are continuing to update their totals.

Arab diplomats told AFP last week that Egyptians accounted for 658 deaths -- 630 of them unregistered pilgrims. 

The diplomats said the cause of death in most cases was heat-related. 

Temperatures in Mecca this year climbed as high as 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit), according to Saudi Arabia's national meteorological centre. 

Riyadh had not publicly commented on the deaths or provided its own count until Sunday. 

On Friday, however, a senior Saudi official gave AFP a partial count of 577 deaths for the two busiest days of hajj: June 15, when pilgrims gathered for hours of prayers in the blazing sun on Mount Arafat, and June 16, when they participated in the "stoning of the devil" ritual in Mina.

The official also defended Riyadh's response, saying: "The state did not fail, but there was a misjudgement on the part of people who did not appreciate the risks."

'Heat stress'

The Saudi health minister, Fahd Al-Jalajel, on Sunday described management of the hajj this year as "successful", SPA reported. 

He said the health system "provided more than 465,000 specialised treatment services, including 141,000 services to those who didn't obtain official authorisation to perform hajj," according to SPA, which summarised an interview he gave to the state-affiliated Al-Ekhbariya channel.

Jalajel did not specify how many deaths Saudi officials attributed to heat.

"The health system addressed numerous cases of heat stress this year, with some individuals still under care," SPA reported. 

"Among the deceased were several elderly and chronically ill individuals."

The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam that all Muslims with the means must complete at least once in their lives.

Saudi officials have said 1.8 million pilgrims took part this year, a similar number to last year, and that 1.6 million came from abroad.

For the past several years the mainly outdoor rituals have fallen during the sweltering Saudi summer.

The timing of the hajj moves forward about 11 days each year in the Gregorian calendar, meaning that next year it will take place earlier in June, potentially in cooler conditions.

A 2019 study by the journal Geophysical Research Letters said because of climate change, heat stress for hajj pilgrims will exceed the "extreme danger threshold" from 2047 to 2052 and 2079 to 2086, "with increasing frequency and intensity as the century progresses".

Off-the-books hajj

Hajj permits are allocated to countries on a quota system and distributed to individuals by lottery.

Even for those who can obtain them, the steep costs spur many to attempt the hajj without a permit, though they risk arrest and deportation if caught.

Saudi authorities said before the hajj that they had cleared hundreds of thousands of unregistered pilgrims from Mecca.

But the Saudi official who spoke to AFP on Friday said around 400,000 unregistered pilgrims took part, and that "almost all of them (were) from one nationality", an apparent reference to Egypt. 

On Saturday, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly ordered 16 tourism companies stripped of their licences and referred their managers to the public prosecutor over illegal pilgrimages to Mecca, Egypt's cabinet said.

It said the rise in the number of deaths of unregistered Egyptian pilgrims stemmed from some companies which "organised the hajj programmes using a personal visit visa, which prevents its holders from entering Mecca" via official channels.

Unregistered pilgrims in many cases did not have access to amenities meant to make the pilgrimage more bearable, including air-conditioned tents.

Unregistered Egyptian pilgrims told AFP last week that in some cases they struggled to access hospitals or hail ambulances for loved ones, some of whom ended up dying.

New Delhi: The people of India have given a clear and stable mandate to the Modi government for a third time, President Droupadi Murmu said on Thursday as she addressed a joint sitting of Parliament.

The President also congratulated the people of Jammu and Kashmir for the high voter turnout recorded in the union territory in the recent Lok Sabha elections and lauded the Election Commission for holding the world's biggest democratic exercise.

Congratulating the new MPs in her first address to the joint sitting of Parliament after the constitution of the 18th Lok Sabha, Murmu said she hoped they would act as the medium for fulfilling the aspirations of the people of India.

"A very good outcome has emerged from Jammu and Kashmir in this election. Voting records of decades have been broken," she said.

"In the last four decades, we only saw low voter turnout in Kashmir amid strikes and shutdowns. Enemies of India used to project it as the opinion of Jammu and Kashmir on the global stage. This time, the people of Jammu and Kashmir gave a befitting reply to such forces," she said.

Murmu said the whole world is talking about the 2024 elections.

"The world can see Indians have for the third time formed a government with a stable and full mandate," she said.

"This has happened after six decades. People have shown trust in my government for the third time. People of India are confident that only my government can fulfil their aspirations," she said.

"This is a stamp of approval for the mission of service and good governance that my government has run for the last 10 years," the President said.

The President added that many historic and major economic decisions will be taken in the upcoming budget.

The budget that will be presented by the government in the next Parliament session will be a document of its futuristic vision, the President said in her first address to the joint sitting of Parliament after the constitution of the 18th Lok Sabha.

"The budget will have major economic and social decisions and many historic steps will be taken. The speed of reforms will be increased to fulfil the aspirations of people," she said.

She said her government believes there should be healthy competition between states for investment. "This is in the spirit of competitive-cooperative federalism," she added.

AAP boycotts President Murmu's address to Parliament over Arvind Kejriwal's arrest

Murmu further said, "India has become the world's fifth-largest economy. There has been an average 8 per cent growth in the last 10 years, even though these were not normal times."

"This growth rate has been achieved despite a global pandemic and conflicts in different parts of the world. This is the result of the reforms of the last 10 years. India alone is contributing 15 per cent to global growth. My government is working to make India the world's third-largest economy," she said.

Amid the NEET row, President Murmu assured during her address that the government is fully committed to investigating the recent incidents of paper leaks and ensure that the guilty are punished.

Addressing the 18th Lok Sabha for the first time, the president said her government is working to create an environment to enable youth of the country dream big and achieve them.

As she mentioned steps taken by the government on the education front, some opposition members were heard shouting "NEET".

"If due to any reason there is obstruction in examinations it is not appropriate. Sanctity, transparency are a must in government recruitments and examinations," she said.

"The government is committed to conduct fair investigation and ensure the most stringent punishment to those guilty in the recent incidents of paper leak," she said.

There were incidents of paper leaks in some states earlier as well, the president said, stressing that there is need to rise above partisan politics and take strong steps at the national level.

The president added that Parliament has also made a strong law against paper leaks.

She added that the government is working to bring reforms in the examination process.

Bengaluru: Karnataka BJP on Thursday held "Cycle Jatha" here, as part of its state-wide protest against the Congress government's decision to hike petrol and diesel prices.

BJP workers and leaders led by its state President B Y Vijayendra sought to mark their protest by riding bicycles from the party's state office 'Jagannath Bhavan' to 'Vidhana Soudha'.

However, the police stopped the protesters mid-way, detained Vijayendra and others and whisked them away in a bus.

Former Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwathnarayan and MLC C T Ravi were among the leaders who participated in the protest shouting slogans against the state government, which last week hiked sales tax on fuel making petrol and diesel costlier by Rs 3 and Rs 3.5 per litre, respectively.

Speaking to reporters, Vijayendra said BJP is holding protests across the state in all the district and talk centres by blocking roads, against the government's decision to increase the prices, and urged the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to roll it back.

"In Bengaluru by organising Cycle Jatha, the party has tried to warn the state government, but this adamant government is not even thinking about rolling back price hike. The Chief Minister is citing higher prices in neighboring states, but our state is in distress, farmers are in distress due to drought, in such a situation the decision to put more burden on the common man is an unpardonable sin," he said.

"I urge the Chief Minister to rollback the hike immediately and no decision should be taken that causes burden to farmers and common man," Vijayendra said, noting that Ministers have also said that bus fare will also be hiked, and water tariffs increased in Bengaluru in the future.

"This government has become a curse to the people of the state," he added.

Reacting to Home Minister G Parameshwara's reported indirect caution to the BJP that the police may resort to caning to disperse anyone who tries to cause inconvenience to the public in the name of protests, the state BJP chief called it "height of foolishness."

"BJP and its workers will not fear for lathis and will raise their voice for the sake of people and farmers of the state. The Home Minister is speaking out of arrogance of power, we will not fear such things, our fight will continue until the government withdraws its decision," he said.

Similar protests have been reported from Belagavi, Mysuru, Mandya, Shivamogga, Hubballi and Haveri among other places. Belagavi MP Jagadish Shettar and Haveri MP Basavaraj Bommai, both former Chief Ministers, too participated in protests in Belagavi and Davangere, respectively.