68 pilgrims from India die due to heat in Makkah, state reports
Riyadh: At least 550 people, including 68 pilgrims from India, have died due to scorching heat during the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Makkah, as reported by international media.
The news agencies, citing two Arab diplomats’ statements, reported on Tuesday that several pilgrims developed health issues and died on account of the heat. The Saudi Arabian authorities are yet to officially release the number of deaths of the pilgrims, although an official read out the names of the pilgrims who had died as well as their nationalities, including Indians, Egyptians and Algerians. Several countries too have reported cases of their pilgrims dying due to the heat in Makkah as well as Jordan and Tunisia. The media has reported that 323 Egyptians had died in the heat in Makkah.
The temperature in the shade at the Grand Mosque, Makkah, went up to 51.8 degrees Celsius on Monday, as reported by the Saudi Arabian media. Prior to the news of pilgrims’ deaths, the local authorities had reportedly not found cases of unnatural death among the Muslim pilgrims, in spite of the high temperature. Onlookers, however, are learned to have mentioned cases of the pilgrims fainting during the symbolic stoning of the devil.
The medical complex in Makkah was found to have been provided strict security and only people claiming to be relatives of the dead were permitted to enter the complex.
The Hajj pilgrimage commenced on Friday this year, with millions of Muslims visiting Makkah annually, and ended on Wednesday. More than 1.83 million Muslims visited Makkah this year, including 1.6 million pilgrims from 22 countries, as per the figures provided by the Saudi Hajj authorities.
Hussein Al-Qahtani, spokesperson for the Saudi National Meteorological Center (NMC) reportedly stated that, following the Saudi Gazette, next year's Hajj will be the last Hajj in the summer season. The Hajj season will enter a new phase of climate change during the year 2026 and summer Hajj would not be held until after 17 years, Qahtani is learned to have declared.
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President Trump in 'freefall', says fan-turned-critic podcaster Alex Jones
'Advises' Republicans to stay away from Trump while campaigning for midterm polls
Washington DC: Podcaster Alex Jones has reportedly claimed in his programme, 'The Alex Jones Show', that US President Donald Trump was in 'freefall', suggesting that it was best for Republican candidates to distance themselves from the President while campaigning for the upcoming midterm polls.
According to US media agencies, Jones, who was identified as a strong supporter of the President during his first term but a major critic of Trump in the recent months. He has reportedly criticized all of Trump's moves, from the attacks on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to the President's health, not to mention the government's handling of the documents relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
On the Tuesday edition of his show, Jones was found to be all the more vehement in his criticism of Trump, and was heard opining that the President looked sick. “When your ankles swell up three times the size they were before, that means heart failure. And he does look sick. And he does babble and, you know, sound like the brain’s not doing too hot,” said Jones. “And so we just cut bait on Trump, and we just mobilize against the Democrats.”
The podcaster also spoke about his father’s decline due to dementia, adding that Trump too was deteriorating in a similar manner and advising the President to take a holiday.
“Not the man he was that last year. And that– we need to be sad about Trump. This is not funny. This is not good. But he’s gone. And that’s it,” said Jones. “And all the people rallied around him, you can see, [Pete] Hegseth’s freaked out. You can see, the press secretary’s freaked out. They’re being loyal. They think it’s a lesser of two evils. And I, okay, but I just– Trump needs intervention. He needs to take some time off.”
Referring to the approval rate of merely 33 per cent for the President during the new election from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the podcaster pointed out that Trump's popularity had fallen from 56 per cent and advised Republicans to keep away from Trump.
As reported by The Independent, the White House firmly denied in an official statement that Jones' claim that the President's health condition was waning.
“This is a complete b****t story that’s being desperately told to boost podcast views,” spokesperson Davis Ingle said. “The truth is that President Trump is the sharpest and most accessible President in American history who is working nonstop to solve problems and deliver on his promises, and he remains in excellent health.”
The post Alex Jones Says It’s Time to ‘Cut Bait on Trump’ Because the President ‘Is in Free Fall’ is reported to have first appeared on Mediaite.
