Riyadh - Saudi security forces foiled an alleged suicide bomb plot by the Islamic State group targeting the defence ministry and arrested four suspects, authorities said Tuesday.

Jeddah - Saudi Arabia said Sunday it would keep pressuring Qatar until demands by a bloc of Arab states are met, dampening hopes for a US-mediated resolution to a diplomatic crisis.

Riyadh - Saudi Arabia on Saturday suspended any dialogue with Qatar, accusing it of distorting facts soon after a phone call between the rulers of both countries offered hope of a breakthrough in the three-month-old Gulf crisis.

Riyadh - A Saudi-led bloc of Arab states hostile to Qatar on Friday took aim at Kuwaiti mediation and maintained a tough line even after US President Donald Trump offered to help resolve the crisis.

Riyadh - Fizzing with boyish exuberance, Saudi programmer Zainalabdin Tawfiq could be mistaken for a college freshman, but the popularity of his "honesty" app has shone a spotlight on the conservative kingdom's nascent tech scene.

- In stifling heat, a Saudi security guard sprayed Muslim pilgrims with water as they advanced through Mina for the final rite of the hajj, the "Stoning of the Devil" that has proved lethal in past years.

Mecca - Reza from Iran is torn between the joy of taking part in this year's annual hajj pilgrimage to Islam's holiest sites and bitter memories of the 2015 stampede that killed hundreds of his compatriots.

Mecca - Arm outstretched, Abdul Rahman sweeps his mobile phone across the vista of Mecca, the Great Mosque dazzling in the sun, so his son in Tanzania can experience the pilgrimage to Islam's holiest sites.

Mena - More than two million Muslims from around the world began the hajj pilgrimage at Islam's holiest sites Wednesday, a religious duty and a multi-stage spiritual journey.

Mecca - More than two million Muslims from around the world will start the hajj pilgrimage at Islam's holiest sites Wednesday, a religious duty and an epic multi-stage journey.

Jeddah - Two million Muslims from across the globe are converging on Mecca in Saudi Arabia for the hajj pilgrimage, a religious duty and for some pilgrims the journey of a lifetime.

Riyadh - A hotel in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca, where two million Muslims will perform the annual hajj pilgrimage, was evacuated Monday after a fire broke out, the civil defence service said.

Riyadh - Qatar has blocked Saudi planes from transporting hajj pilgrims, Saudi state media said Sunday, after Riyadh reopened the border despite a major diplomatic crisis roiling the Gulf.

Riyadh - Saudi Arabia on Sunday said Qatar had refused to allow its planes to land in Doha to transport Qatari Muslims to Mecca for the annual hajj pilgrimage.

Riyadh - Saudi Arabia's King Salman has ordered the reopening of the border with Qatar to facilitate the annual hajj pilgrimage, state media said Thursday, in the first signs of a thaw after the region's worst diplomatic crisis in years.

Riyadh - A ballistic missile fired by Yemeni rebels was shot down late Thursday close to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, a month before the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Islam's holiest site, the Arab military coalition fighting in Yemen said.

Riyadh - Saudi Arabia and its allies unveiled a "terrorist" blacklist on Tuesday of 18 organisations and individuals suspected of links with Islamist extremism that they said had ties with regional rival Qatar.

Jeddah - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday began a key visit to the Gulf region aimed at defusing the standoff around Turkey's ally Qatar, saying no one had an interest in prolonging the crisis.

Riyadh - A Saudi prince was arrested Thursday on King Salman's order, a state-run broadcaster reported, as outrage grew on social media over videos appearing to show him abusing members of the public.Salman issued a warrant for "the immediate arrest ...

Riyadh - Saudi police said Tuesday they were questioning a woman who appeared in an online video in a miniskirt and crop top walking through a historic site in the ultraconservative kingdom.