Saudi Arabia’s Kaaba adorned with new cover as annual Haj commences

Mecca, SA: Saudi Arabia’s holy Kaaba in Mecca was adorned on Wednesday, July 29 with a new cover, also known as ‘Kiswah’, marking the beginning of the annual Haj amid tight restrictions and reduced pilgrim numbers due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Normally costing almost 24 million Saudi riyals ($6.4 million), the cover is externally made of 675 kilogrammes of pure black silk, and green silk internally. Tens of kilogrammes of gold and silver-plated threads are used to stitch verses of the holy Quran on the cloth. Muslim worshippers started the annual haj pilgrimage on Wednesday (July 29), which has been dramatically scaled back due to the coronavirus pandemic.

For the first time in the modern era, amidst efforts to curb COVID-19, Muslims from abroad will be unable to attend the pilgrimage. This year's event has been limited to about 1,000 people from within Saudi Arabia, 70% of whom will be foreign residents of the kingdom. The remaining 30% will be drawn from Saudi healthcare workers and security personnel who have recovered from the coronavirus, as a gesture of thanks for their sacrifice.

Some 2.5 million Muslims typically visit the holiest sites of Islam in Mecca and Medina for the week-long pilgrimage. A once-in-a-lifetime duty for able-bodied Muslims who can afford the cost, it is usually extremely crowded.

Saudi Arabian Military Industries and Spain’s state-owned Navantia hold ceremony to launch new warship

Riyadh, SA: Saudi Royal Naval Forces celebrated the launch of its new warship on Wednesday, July 22 as part of a joint venture with Spain. The new Avante 2200 Corvette ship, named Al Jubail, was the first of five launched from the shipyard of the Spanish state-held shipbuilder Navantia in San Fernando, Spain.

Saudi officials and navy officers watched the ceremony remotely from the naval headquarters in Riyadh. Al Jubail has the latest combat systems to deal with air, surface and sub-surface threats, as well as electronic warfare. In April 2018, Spain and Saudi Arabia signed a framework agreement to sell the Gulf Arab state warships under a deal worth 1.8 billion euros ($2.2 billion).

A second agreement, the Sarawat project, was signed between state-owned Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) Company and Navantia, a 900 million euros ($991 million) deal to adapt Navantia's combat management systems for Saudi navy corvette ships.

The Sarawat project, in addition to the manufacturing of five military ships, will include the training of crew members, logistical services, long-term technical and logistical support.

SAMI was established in May 2017 with the aim to localise 50 percent of military spending by 2030, as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plan to diversify the kingdom's economy away from oil revenue.

The Sovereign Wealth Fund-backed SAMI spearheads a drive to localise military spending and aims to generate $10 billion in revenue over the next five years.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz, 84, admitted to hospital

Saudi Arabia's 84-year-old ruler, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, has been admitted to hospital in the capital Riyadh, suffering from inflammation of the gall bladder, state news agency SPA said on Monday, July 20.

The king, who has ruled the world's largest oil exporter and close U.S. ally since 2015, was undergoing medical checks, the agency added, without giving details. King Salman, the custodian of Islam's holiest sites, spent more than 2-1/2 years as the Saudi crown prince and deputy premier from June 2012 before becoming king. He also served as governor of the Riyadh region for more than 50 years.

The defacto ruler and next in line to the throne is the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, widely known by his initials MBS, who has launched reforms to transform the kingdom's economy and end its "addiction" to oil. The 34-year-old prince, who is popular among young Saudis, has won praise at home for easing social restrictions in the conservative Muslim kingdom, giving more rights to women and pledging to diversify the economy.

To the king's supporters, this boldness at home and abroad was a welcome change after decades of caution, stagnation and dithering. But state control of the media and a crackdown on dissent in the kingdom make it difficult to gauge the extent of domestic enthusiasm.