Saudi Arabia has barred more than 269,000 people without permits for the annual Hajj pilgrimage from entering Mecca this week, authorities said, as the world's largest annual gathering of people has officially begun.

Nearly 1.7 million pilgrims have begun the final phase of the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, performing the symbolic stoning of the devil in Mina before concluding with the farewell circumambulation in Mecca.

The annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia has begun. It’s required once in a lifetime by every Muslim who can afford it and is physically able to make it. The Hajj, one