In late February, Saudi Arabia abruptly suspended all visas for umrah, the year-round pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest city in Islam. Umrah is less important than the hajj, a pilgrimage that happens in the last month of the lunar year and is required of all able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lives, but it still draws nearly eight million annual visitors.Today, the kingdom’s two holy cities, Mecca and Medina—which give the Saudi king his royal title, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques—are on total lockdown. Even Saudi citizens are banned from visiting as pilgrims. Saudi authorities...…In late February, Saudi Arabia abruptly suspended all visas for umrah, the year-round pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest city in Islam. Umrah is less important than the hajj, a pilgrimage that happens in the last month of the lunar year and is required of all able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lives, but it still draws nearly eight million annual visitors.Today, the kingdom’s two holy cities, Mecca and Medina—which give the Saudi king his royal title, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques—are on total lockdown. Even Saudi citizens are banned from visiting as pilgrims. Saudi authorities...WW…

Skip to Main ContentThis copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed byour Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contactDow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-resurrection-of-the-office-phone-call-11606496400ShareBy Nov. 27, 2020 12:00 pm ETListen to article(7 minutes)Call it the Goldilocks theory of the pandemic workplace.Nonstop Zooms and video meetings are too taxing. Emails and Slack hold companies together,...…Skip to Main ContentThis copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed byour Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contactDow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-resurrection-of-the-office-phone-call-11606496400ShareBy Nov. 27, 2020 12:00 pm ETListen to article(7 minutes)Call it the Goldilocks theory of the pandemic workplace.Nonstop Zooms and video meetings are too taxing. Emails and Slack hold companies together,...WW…

ByShare this storyast December, Hollywood actor Armie Hammer arrived in Saudi Arabia for a music festival in Riyadh, the gulf kingdom’s capital. A day after the event, in a breathless Instagram post, he compared the festival to “ in the 1960’s,” his desert surroundings notwithstanding.Joining him were a mix of A–C-list celebrities like model Sofia Richie and actor Ryan Phillippe, along with a large group of Western travel bloggers. They had been flown out and, in some instances, paid to attend the festival, called . The event, put on by the country’s General Entertainment Authority, a body...…ByShare this storyast December, Hollywood actor Armie Hammer arrived in Saudi Arabia for a music festival in Riyadh, the gulf kingdom’s capital. A day after the event, in a breathless Instagram post, he compared the festival to “ in the 1960’s,” his desert surroundings notwithstanding.Joining him were a mix of A–C-list celebrities like model Sofia Richie and actor Ryan Phillippe, along with a large group of Western travel bloggers. They had been flown out and, in some instances, paid to attend the festival, called . The event, put on by the country’s General Entertainment Authority, a body...WW…

The world’s largest Muslim-majority country was long considered a tolerant place. But thanks to Saudi money and influence, it has taken a sharply conservative turn. By Krithika Varagurby Last modified on Mon 20 Apr 2020 09.20 EDT“We came to the palace to enforce the law,” said the cleric Rizieq Shihab, to rapt silence. “Desecrators of the Qur’an must be punished. We must reject the leaders of infidels,” he said, referring to Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the Chinese-Christian governor of Indonesia’s capital city, who is known as Ahok. “If our demands are not heard, are you ready to turn this into...…The world’s largest Muslim-majority country was long considered a tolerant place. But thanks to Saudi money and influence, it has taken a sharply conservative turn. By Krithika Varagurby Last modified on Mon 20 Apr 2020 09.20 EDT“We came to the palace to enforce the law,” said the cleric Rizieq Shihab, to rapt silence. “Desecrators of the Qur’an must be punished. We must reject the leaders of infidels,” he said, referring to Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the Chinese-Christian governor of Indonesia’s capital city, who is known as Ahok. “If our demands are not heard, are you ready to turn this into...WW…