Saudi to allow around 1,000 pilgrims to perform hajj: minister

Saudi Arabia will allow around 1,000 pilgrims residing in the kingdom to perform the hajj this year, a minister said Tuesday, after it announced the ritual would be scaled back due to coronavirus. “The number of pilgrims will be around 1,000, maybe less, maybe a little more,” Hajj Minister Mohammad Benten told reporters. “The number won’t be in tens or hundreds of thousands” this year, he added. The pilgrimage, scheduled for the end of July,…