Mount Arafat (Saudi Arabia) (AFP) – Pilgrims gather to pray next to Saudi Arabia’s Mount Arafat, a key ritual in the hajj pilgrimage. Access to climb the mountain is forbidden this year due to Covid-19, with the pilgrimage taking place in downsized form for the second year running. Just 60,000 people, all citizens or residents of Saudi Arabia, have been selected to take part in this year’s hajj, with foreign pilgrims again barred.