MAKKAH: Over 1.5 million pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia from outside the kingdom for the upcoming hajj, according to a Saudi official, exceeding the number of international visitors last year despite the war in the Middle East.

The conflict triggered by the US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February saw Tehran order waves of strikes on targets in Saudi Arabia and across the Gulf, prompting widespread air traffic disruptions and causing travel costs to surge.

Major Gulf airlines in the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain have worked to quickly restore much of their operational capacity after weeks of airspace closures and flight cancellations.

Despite the complications, pilgrims have continued to flock to Saudi Arabia to participate in this year’s hajj.

“The total number of pilgrims arriving from abroad has reached 1,518,153,” Saleh Al-Murabba, the commander of Saudi Arabia’s Hajj Passport Forces, told a press conference late Friday.

These figures are expected to rise further over the next two days as pilgrims continue to arrive from abroad ahead of the formal rituals that mark the beginning of the hajj on Monday.

Last year, the total number of pilgrims at the hajj reached 1,673,320, including 1,506,576 from outside Saudi Arabia.

The hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, must be performed at least once by all Muslims with the means.

• 247 workers were underground.
• 201 brought to surface safely.
• President Xi orders full investigation.

BEIJING: At least eight people have died and dozens are trapped underground after a gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China, state media reported on Saturday.

The blast occurred at 7:29 pm (1129 GMT) on Friday at the Liushenyu coal mine in Shanxi province, according to state news agency Xinhua.

A total of 247 workers were underground at the time, of whom 201 had been brought to the surface safely as of 6:00 am on Saturday, Xinhua said.

Eight people have been confirmed dead, while 38 remain trapped underground, the agency reported, citing local emergency management authorities.

President Xi Jinping urged “all-out efforts” to treat the injured and called for thorough investigations into the incident, Xinhua said.

He “emphasised that all regions and departments must draw lessons from this accident, remain constantly vigilant regarding workplace safety… and resolutely prevent and curb the occurrence of major and catastrophic accidents”.

Rescue efforts were ongoing, Xinhua said.

Xinhua reported earlier that levels of carbon monoxide — a highly toxic, odourless gas — had “exceeded limits” at the mine.

Some of those trapped underground were in “critical condition”, the earlier report said.

Shanxi, one of China’s poorer provinces, is the country’s coal-mining capital.

Mine safety in the country has improved in recent decades, but accidents still occur frequently in an industry where safety protocols are often lax.

China is the world’s top consumer of coal and the largest greenhouse gas emitter, despite installing renewable energy capacity at record speed.

• Experts say repeated failure weakens treaty credibility.
• Campaigners blame nuclear-armed states for blocking progress.
• Treaty remains in force but divisions persist among member states.
  

Talks at the UN to reaffirm nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament goals failed on Friday, according to the leader of the talks, after four weeks of negotiations held amid low expectations.

Vietnam’s Do Hung Viet, the president of the conference, said that “despite our best efforts… it is my understanding that the conference is not in a position to achieve agreement on its substantive work.”

“I do not intend to put the document forward for adoption,” he added.

Negotiators were reviewing the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the cornerstone of nuclear weapons control, amid fears of a renewed arms race. Previous reviews in 2015 and 2022 were also unsuccessful.

With expectations low, participants negotiated over a repeatedly reviewed and watered-down text, which they ultimately failed to adopt.

Experts pointed out that even in the absence of a review agreement for the third time in a row, the treaty continues to exist, but with diminished legitimacy.

“The text keeps on becoming less and less anchored in the realities of current conflicts and proliferation risks,” including North Korea and Iran, analyst Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group said before the outcome was announced.

The latest version of the text seen by AFP on Friday merely stated that Tehran must “never” develop nuclear weapons.

The paragraph was in brackets, signalling persistent disagreement, despite the removal of the reference to Iran’s “non-compliance” with its obligations that appeared in the first draft.

Also gone were expressions of concern about North Korea’s nuclear programme, or even any mention of the “denuclearisation” of the Korean Peninsula.

Gone as well was the direct call on the United States and Russia to begin negotiations on a successor to the New START treaty limiting Russian and American arsenals, which expired in February.

The diluted text still covered “the risk of a resumption of nuclear testing by Russia, China and the United States, the growth of arsenals, and attacks on nuclear infrastructure,” Heloise Fayet of the French Institute of International Relations said earlier on Friday.

Exactly why the review failed isn’t yet known.

“The majority of countries are indeed working in good faith for disarmament,” said Seth Shelden of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), commenting on the failure of the talks.

“But the small handful of nuclear-armed states, and certain of their allies, are undermining the NPT, frustrating disarmament efforts, expanding arsenals and provoking proliferation, and pointing the world toward catastrophe,” he added.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the nine nuclear-armed states — Russia, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea — possessed 12,241 nuclear warheads in January 2025, 90% of which were in American and Russian hands.

Some countries are modernising their arsenals or even increasing their stockpiles.

The NPT, which entered into force in 1970 and has been signed by almost all states — with notable exceptions including Israel, India, and Pakistan — aims to prevent proliferation, promote complete disarmament and encourage cooperation for the peaceful use of nuclear energy.