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By Fakir Hassen Johannesburg, Apr 25 () South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa has encouraged millions of Muslims in Africa, who are commemorating Ramzan amid the coronavirus pandemic with unprecedented bans on family gatherings and mass prayers in mosques, to take courage and strength from the message of the holy month. Muslims across Africa have lauded Ramaphosa for sharing a message of hope in his capacity as current chair of the African Union. "The crescent moon has risen over our continent, Africa. And the sacred month of Ramzan has begun. On behalf of the African Union, I wish our Muslim brothers and sisters well during this holy month," the president said. He said Ramzan is a time for reflecting on the values of humility, simplicity, sacrifice and solidarity. To stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, Muslim-majority countries have imposed widespread restrictions, with many cancelling Friday prayers and shuttering holy sites. Saudi Arabia has largely locked down Mecca and Medina and halted the year-round umrah pilgrimage. "Sadly, Ramzan this year will not be as it was last year. We are in the shadow of a global public health emergency. The coronavirus pandemic has left no area of the world untouched," he said. Ramaphosa said a number of countries have imposed measures to contain the spread of the virus. "(This) means that many of the Ramzan traditions like praying at the mosque, making the Umrah pilgrimage (to Makkah) and visiting family and friends are not taking place," he said. "If we are to prevail against this pandemic, we have to stand united and observe the provisions that are in place to safeguard our health and the health of others. "At a time where millions face hunger, destitution and misery, the charitable acts performed during Ramzan are more solely needed than ever. It will be a long and difficult road to restore our society," he said. Ramaphosa said the Ramzan spirit of giving and of charity will continue to be needed for a long time to come. "As Africans, we will emerge from this hardship with a new consciousness. We will understand, and perhaps as never before, our great duty to help and support those less fortunate than ourselves will be enhanced," he said. "May this blessed month, be a time in which we strengthen the bonds of solidarity that exist between us as Africans," Ramaphosa concluded. FH PMS

Ramaphosa asks Muslims to take courage, strength from Ramzan amid coronavirus pandemic

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="50996" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Saudi-Arabia">Saudi Arabia</keyword> on Monday barred international visitors from completing the <keyword id="109759" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="hajj">Hajj</keyword> pilgrimage in July amid the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> pandemic.</li><li>The Hajj is worth around $6 billion to the Saudi government each year, and as over 70% of visitors come from abroad, the government is set to miss out on about $4 billion.</li><li>Muslims of any nationality currently residing in Saudi Arabia are still permitted to embark on Hajj, <a href="https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&amp;newsid=2100951#21009510951">the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said</a>.</li><li>However, those going this year must be under 65 years old and will be tested upon arrival in Mecca, <a href="https://twitter.com/ahmed/status/1275351908832759808">the Financial Times reported</a>.</li><li>This is the first time since 1932 — the year of Saudi Arabia's founding — that limitations have been placed on the annual pilgrimage.</li></ul>Saudi Arabia has barred Muslims around the world from traveling to the kingdom to compete the Hajj pilgrimage this year, a decision that will see it lose billions in revenue."It has been decided that Hajj for this year will be held whereby a very limited number of pilgrims from various nationalities who already reside in Saudi Arabia, would be able to perform it," the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah <a href="https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&amp;newsid=2100951#21009510951">said in a statement released Monday</a>."This decision is taken to ensure Hajj is performed in a safe manner from a public health perspective."Those planning to go on the Hajj this year must be below 65, health minister Tawfig al-Rabia said on Tuesday, <a href="https://twitter.com/ahmed/status/1275351908832759808" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according to the Financial Times's Ahmed al-Omran</a>.Al-Rabia said that everyone will be tested for COVID-19 before arrival in Mecca and will be required to quarantine upon returning home after the pilgrimage.In 2019, 2.5 million pilgrims descended on Mecca to perform the Hajj, with 76% (1.9 million) of those coming from outside Saudi Arabia, <a href="https://www.stats.gov.sa/sites/default/files/haj_40_en.pdf">according to the General Authority for Statistics.</a><a href="https://www.stats.gov.sa/en/news/280"><div type="image" title="Muslim pilgrims perform prayer in the Muslim holy city of Mecca under the rain in Saudi Arabia on September 10, 2015. Kaaba receives rain four or five times during a year, so that the pilgrims in Mecca return thanks as they pray. Muslim pilgrimage, so called Hajj, a central pillar of Islam and one that able-bodied Muslims must make once in their lives, is a four-day spiritual cleansing of the five pillars of Islam" height="1000" width="2000" msid="76528739" hostid="261"></div></a>The Hajj is worth around $6 billion to the Saudi economy each year, meaning as much as $4.6 billion may be forfeit this year due to the curbs.Going on the Hajj can cost pilgrims many thousands of dollars each, when flights, meals, and visas are factored in.This year's Hajj is scheduled to begin on July 28 and marks the first time since 1932, the year of Saudi Arabia's founding, that limitations have been placed on the pilgrimage. As is the case with all nations, the Saudi economy has been hit hard by the impact of the coronavirus.The government has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-value-added-tax-tripled-coronavirus-savings-package-2020-5">tripled value-added tax (VAT)</a> and cut its budget by $27 billion in response.Every Muslim is expected to perform the Hajj once in their lifetime.Pilgrims visit the al-Haram mosque in Mecca to pray and circle the Kaaba. They visit Mina in the west of the city and sometimes visit the prophet's mosque in the nearby city of Medina.

Saudi Arabia banned Hajj for international visitors this year due to the coronavirus, forfeiting as much as $4 billion in revenue

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Saudi Arabia banned all pilgrims due to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-virus-everything-we-know-deadly-2019-ncov-wuhan-spread-2020-1">coronavirus</a> fears on Thursday, but seems reluctant to crack down on those using its brand-new tourist visa.</li><li>The Saudi foreign ministry banned people undertaking the Umrah pilgrimage from entering the country, regardless of their country of origin.</li><li>However, for those using a tourist visa, which was launched in September 2019, Saudi officials are only restricting travel from 26 countries hit particularly hard.</li><li>It suggests a reluctance to disrupt the nascent tourism industry, which is being championed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who hopes it will make up 10% of Saudi GDP by 2030.</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>Saudi Arabia on Thursday banned all pilgrims due to the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-virus-everything-we-know-deadly-2019-ncov-wuhan-spread-2020-1">coronavirus</a>, but did not act with the same severity to restrict those patronizing its fledgling tourist industry.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would decide which tourists to exclude on a country-by-country basis, contrasting with the <a href="https://t.co/6y7LMORv9D?amp=1">blanket ban on those wanting to complete the Umrah pilgrimage</a>."Entry to the Kingdom with a tourist visa from countries with confirmed Coronavirus outbreaks, according to criteria established by Saudi health authorities, is temporarily suspended," the statement said.It later listed 26 countries and territories, including those like China, South Korea, and Italy, which have the worst coronavirus outbreaks.Saudi officials did not explain the logic for their differing approach to pilgrimages and general tourism. However, the tourism push is a project with personal significance to the de facto Saudi ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.Visas were first rolled out in September 2019, ending a decades-long period in which coming to Saudi Arabia for the sole purpose of tourism was impossible.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Ministry of Tourism is yet to confirm the blacklisted countries, but <a href="https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2020/02/27/Saudi-Arabia-tourist-visas-now-suspended-due-to-coronavirus-Factbox.html">according to the news network al-Arabiya</a> the following countries are covered:They are China, Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong, Iran, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Philippines, Singapore, India, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Somalia, and Vietnam.Crown Prince Mohammed has invested heavily in tourism as part of Vision 2030, his ambitious plan to open up new revenue streams and ease the nation's dependence on oil. New megaprojects are in the works which play into this dream, including the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/richard-branson-virgin-group-cut-saudi-ties-after-khashoggi-disappears-2018-10">luxury Red Sea holiday resort of Amaala</a>, the <a href="https://blooloop.com/features/six-flags-qiddiya/">entertainment city of Qiddiya</a>, and the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/neom-what-we-know-saudi-arabia-500bn-mega-city-2019-9">futuristic mega-city of NEOM.</a>Crown Prince Mohammed's goal is for 100 million tourists a year to visit by 2030, and wants the industry to eventually constitute 10% of Saudi GDP. Hajj and Umrah, the two main Islamic pilgrimages, are already worth $12 billion a year to Saudi Arabia, <a href="https://qz.com/1684679/the-hajj-pilgrimage-to-saudi-arabias-mecca-is-smarter-than-ever/">according to Quartz.</a><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-24/saudi-arabia-s-granted-400-000-visas-since-opening-to-tourism">400,000 tourist visas have been issued</a> since their launch. Those wanting to come on pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia cannot use the tourist visa, and must apply for a Hajj or Umrah visa. Since the rollout, the visa has allowed tourists to spectate at the "Clash in the Dunes" <a href="https://www.insider.com/sportswashing-fears-dog-ruiz-joshua-fight-in-saudi-arabia-2019-12">between Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz</a>, in Diriyah, and attend the <a href="https://www.insider.com/influencers-criticized-for-saudi-arabian-music-festival-trips-2019-12">MDL Beast music festival</a> in Riyadh.It has so far been seen internally as a success. Saudi Arabia has high unemployment, and the industry is set to create one million new jobs, <a href="https://www.arabnews.com/node/1633681/saudi-arabia">according to officials. </a>A number of high-profile events are to take place in the coming days and could suffer from the ban restricting the number of tourists.On Thursday, Akon is headlining the JTTX music festival in Jeddah, while at the same time, the WWE Super ShowDown is happening in Riyadh. Super ShowDown is going ahead, and has not been affected, Dan Humphreys, a spokesman for the WWE Corporation, told Insider. On Friday, Lionel Richie and Craig David are to play sets at the Winter at Tantora festival in AlUla, in northern Saudi Arabia.The street artist Banksy opened a show in Riyadh last week which is open until April.The timing of the ban comes at an exciting and seminal moment for the project.On Tuesday, <a href="https://www.arabnews.com/node/1633681/saudi-arabia">a royal decree announced the creation of the official Ministry of Tourism</a>, which is replacing the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage. Saudi Arabia had previously taken some measures to stop the spread of the virus.On February 6, Saudi Arabia <a href="https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/2/8/riyadh-to-punish-residents-who-flout-china-travel-ban">banned all citizens and expats from visiting China</a>, and announced fines for those who violate it."Trips to China by citizens or (foreign) residents are suspended in accordance with the preventive health measures the kingdom has adopted against the virus," the official SPA news agency said.On Saturday, <a href="https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2143821/saudi-arabia-bans-expatriates-travelling-iran-prevent-new-coronavirus">all citizens and expats were banned from visiting Iran</a>, and on Tuesday, citizens were <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/02/25/Saudi-advises-citizens-residents-to-avoid-traveling-to-Italy-Japan-due-to-coronavirus.html">advised</a> not to go to Italy or Japan.<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dar-alreaya-brutal-saudi-women-jails-for-disowned-progress-2019-10">Saudi Arabia runs squalid, abusive jails for women disowned by their male guardians - a forgotten chapter in its rush to champion women's rights</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-lavish-trips-instagrammers-2019-8">Saudi Arabia is enlisting Instagram travel influencers to help repair its tattered reputation</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/saudi-arabia-first-female-dj-cosmicat-new-dawn-music-rights-2020-2">Meet Saudi Arabia's first female DJ, a TV host and former dentist riding the country's uneven wave of social change</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/what-its-like-vacationing-in-newly-opened-saudi-arabia-2019-11">Saudi Arabia, largely kept secret to outsiders, opened to tourists this year. This is what it's like vacationing there now</a></li></ul>

Saudi Arabia is shutting down pilgrimages because of the coronavirus - but has a less hardline approach to the new tourist visa championed by Mohammed bin Salman

Getty Images/Business Insider<ul class="summary-list"><li>Millions of people visit Mecca and Medina in Saudia Arabia every year for pilgrimages. The region is central to the faith of 1.8 billion Muslims across the world. </li><li>Saudi Arabia banned visitors amid the new coronavirus outbreak on February 27th.</li><li>The two holiest sites in Mecca and Medina were closed for cleaning on March 5th, but reopened the next day, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-saudi-mosque/saudi-arabia-reopens-mecca-medina-holy-sites-after-coronavirus-closure-state-tv-idUSKBN20T0A8">Reuters</a>.</li><li>Another holy site that's been impacted is the Hazrat Masumeh Shrine in Qom, Iran, which is central to the outbreak in the country. Millions of Shiite Muslim pilgrims visit the shrine and city every year. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-suspends-travel-to-the-country-amid-coronavirus-outbreak-2020-2">Last week</a>, Saudi Arabia temporarily suspend pilgrimage visits in order to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. On March 5, they also closed the sites for deep cleaning, but reopened them the next day, according to US News. Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca and Al-Masjid al Nabawy in Medina, the two holiest sites in Islam, and central locations to the pilgrimage were closed as a precautionary measure to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. Saudi Arabia also suspended Umrah travel, but not the mandatory Hajj which would take place in late July of this year. While Hajj is mandatory and more expensive, Umrah is a voluntary pilgrimage that millions of Muslims elect to do at any time during the year.According to the <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/umrah-islamic-religious-pilgrimage-explained-mecca-saudi-arabia">Middle East Eye,</a> the voluntary pilgrimage is like a "spiritual quick fix" for those who want to "refresh their faith, seek forgiveness and pray for their needs." The country banned visitors on February 27. Photos from that week show how quickly the attraction went from being bustling with people, to entirely empty in a matter of a few days.Another holy site impacted by the coronavirus outbreak is in Iran, which has been badly hit by the spread of the virus. While the Hazrat Masumeh Shrine in Qom, has not officially been shut down and some still visit, according to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51642926">BBC</a>, satellite images show a stark difference in how many people are visiting. Iran has had almost 5,000 COVID-19 cases and a little more than 120 deaths, including some top officials. In fact roughly 8% of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/another-senior-iranian-politician-has-died-of-coronavirus-2020-3">country's parliament</a>is infected. Other prominent religious sites in the region have also closed including the Nativity Church in Bethlehem, <a href="https://apnews.com/c57bc457c0c1c02a910c1564d8f76715">the Associated Press reported.</a>

Before and after photos show how coronavirus fears have emptied out some the busiest holy sites

New Delhi, Mar 13 () Air India Express on Friday said it will prepone three flights scheduled to fly from Kerala to Riyadh and Dammam, as Saudi Arabia has decided to suspend arrival of passengers from India and few other countries. Further, the airline would withdraw all flights to Riyadh and Dammam from March 15 till further notice. Against the backdrop of Saudi Arabia's latest decision, the carrier would prepone its flight on Saturday from Kozhikode to Riyadh by one-and-a-half hours. Besides, two flights that were to fly on March 15 would be operated on March 14. These flights are scheduled from Kannur to Riyadh and from Kozhikode to Dammam, the airline said in a statement. Air India Express said Saudi Arabia government has issued a circular suspending arrival of passengers from certain countries, including India, to the kingdom. "A time limit of 72 hours is given to citizens of the kingdom and current residents holding valid iqama to return to the kingdom," it added. Iqama is a type of resident permit in Saudi Arabia. Holders of visiting, tourist and Umrah visas would not be permitted to enter the kingdom, the statement noted. RAM RVK

Coronavirus pandemic: AI Express to prepone flights to Saudi Arabia; stop services from Mar 15

Riyadh, Apr 7 (AFP) Saudi Arabia's health minister on Tuesday warned of a huge spike in coronavirus cases of up to 200,000 within weeks, state media reported. The warning comes a day after the kingdom extended the duration of daily curfews in multiple cities, including the capital Riyadh, to 24 hours in a bid to limit the spread of the deadly virus. "Within the next few weeks, studies predict the number of infections will range from a minimum of 10,000 to a maximum of 200,000," the official Saudi Press Agency reported, citing health minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah. Rabiah, who warned the kingdom faces a "critical moment" in the fight against the virus, said the projection was based on four studies by Saudi and international experts. Saudi Arabia has so far reported a total of 2,795 infections and 41 deaths from the disease, according to the latest tally released by the health ministry on Tuesday. The kingdom, which has reported the highest number of infections in the Gulf, is scrambling to limit the spread of the disease at home. Saudi Arabia on Monday announced round-the-clock lockdowns on the cities of Riyadh, Tabuk, Dammam, Dhahran and Hofuf, according to the interior ministry. The same measures were also imposed on the governorates of Jeddah, Taif, Qatif and Khobar, the ministry added. Rabiah said the curfew was tightened across multiple cities as many people were not adhering to health warnings against public gatherings and social contact. Authorities had already sealed off the holy cities of Mecca and Medina along with Riyadh and Jeddah, barring people from entering and exiting as well as prohibiting movement between all provinces. Last month, King Salman warned of a "more difficult" fight ahead against the virus, as the kingdom faces the economic double blow of virus-led shutdowns and crashing oil prices. Saudi Arabia suspended the year-round "umrah" pilgrimage last month over fears of the coronavirus pandemic spreading to Islam's holiest cities. Authorities are yet to announce whether they will proceed with this year's hajj, scheduled for the end of July. Authorities last week urged Muslims to temporarily defer preparations for the annual pilgrimage. Last year, some 2.5 million faithful travelled to Saudi Arabia from across the world to take part in the hajj, which all Muslims must perform at least once in their lives if able. The Arab world's biggest economy has also closed down cinemas, malls and restaurants and halted flights as it steps up efforts to contain the virus. (AFP) ZHZH

Saudi expects virus cases to spike to up to 200,000: minister

New Delhi, Dec 13 () Assets worth over Rs 10 crore of a Bengaluru-based firm have been attached under the anti-money laundering law in connection with an alleged 'Islamic banking or halal investment' ponzi scam case, the ED said on Friday.
 The accused firm is Ambidant Marketing Pvt Ltd and its promoters and the case of alleged duping of a number of gullible investors had made headlines last year in Karnataka.
 The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in a statement the case pertains to allegations that the accused firm and its promoters were collecting investments from customers under various plans and Haj/Umrah plan in the name of 'Islamic banking or halal investment' and offering huge returns to the extent of up to 15 per cent per month.
 The company was not authorised to collect such funds as it was neither registered with RBI nor with the SEBI under their collective investment scheme, it said.
 "The company sold their plans in the form of partnership business with promise of high returns. Initially, to win the trust, it was ensured that customers get back their first instalment as promised," the ED alleged.
 The company had hired agents who would convince investors to invest in the plan by giving these agents a heavy commission, it said.
 "The company earned the trust of gullible investors and they were lured to invest even more but later returning the money including the principal amount was stopped," the federal probe agency said.
 Initially, the company shared profits to the existing investors out of funds obtained from its new investors, the ED added.
 "The attached immovable properties are in the form of land and residential flats in various part of Bengaluru. The value of immovable properties attached is Rs 8.8 crore while movable properties totalling Rs 1.4 crore have been attached,"it said.
 The total value of the attached assets, as part of a provisional order issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), is Rs 10.2 crore.
 The federal probe agency had taken over investigation in the case on the basis of a Bengaluru Police FIR and a charge sheet filed by it in February this year. NES CK

ED attaches Rs 10-cr assets in 'Islamic banking' Bengaluru ponzi scam

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">Thomson ReutersFriends and family members embrace outside the Orlando Police Headquarters during the investigation of a shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida</div></div></div>The Orlando nightclub gunman traveled to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates between 2011 and 2012 for the Muslim religious pilgrimage known as Umrah, CNN's Jim Sciutto <a href="https://twitter.com/jimsciutto/status/742336924430520320">reported Monday.</a>"Orlando shooter traveled to Saudi Arabia and UAE in 2011-12, US official tells me," Sciutto tweeted. "Saudi Arabia interior ministry adds that he went for the Umrah, the lesser religious pilgrimage that can take place any time of year."The shooter, identified as Omar Mateen, killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in central Orlando early Sunday morning. Mateen called 911 sometime during his rampage and pledged allegiance to ISIS, mentioning the Boston Marathon bombers during the call.The ISIS-affiliated news agency Amaq News broadcast a claim of <a href="https://twitter.com/thomasjoscelyn/status/742059677949829121">responsibility</a> from the terror group for the rampage late Sunday afternoon.Mateen's father, Mir Seddique Mateen, <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/orlando-nightclub-massacre/orlando-nightclub-shooting-emergency-services-respond-reports-gunman-n590446">told NBC News</a> that his son's actions had "nothing to do with religion." He said his son became angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami months ago, and he said he believed homophobia may have inspired his son to attack the nightclub.The imam at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, where Mateen often went to pray, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-nation-live/liveblog/live-updates-orlando-shooting/?tid=sm_tw#4613c1fa-eecf-4c09-bef2-089c3c6d4f54">told reporters</a> in Fort Pierce that Mateen "was the most quiet guy - he never talked to anyone." He said later that Mateen had come to the mosque with his 3-year-old son and his father the night before the shooting, and "was the last to come in and the first to leave." <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://myspace.com/300876077/mixes/classic-my-photos-676258/photo/370748587">Screenshot/MySpace</a>A photo from Mateen's MySpace page</div></div></div>One of Mateen's friends, however, told The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity that Mateen had indeed traveled to Saudi Arabia for a religious pilgrimage after a divorce from his wife."He was quite religious," the friend said, but added that Mateen never expressed support or sympathy for radical terror groups like ISIS. Mateen's ex-wife, for her part, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/ex-wife-of-suspected-orlando-shooter-he-beat-me/2016/06/12/8a1963b4-30b8-11e6-8ff7-7b6c1998b7a0_story.html?postshare=5531465748603597&amp;tid=ss_tw">told The Washington Post</a> that he was abusive and "was not a stable person.""He beat me," she said. "He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn't finished or something like that."The leader of Orlando's Islamic faith community, Muhammad Musri, urged people not to rush to judgment or "sensationalize" the shooting."I call on my fellow faith leaders ... please pray for the victims and their families at this hour," he said during a press conference. "I want to caution anyone from rushing to judgment or sensationalizing the story, because we do not want the focus of the story to shift from what it is: a horrible tragedy. We are mourning, we are heartbroken."Sunday's shooting at Pulse nightclub is the deadliest shooting in US history, with more fatalities than the mass shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007 (32 dead) and the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012 (27 dead).Mateen, a US citizen, was born in New York in 1986 to parents from Afghanistan. An FBI representative said he "was organized and well prepared" for the attack on the nightclub. Mateen worked as a security guard in Fort Pierce and rented a car to drive to Orlando. He was armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and a handgun.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Gerardo Mora/Getty ImagesOrlando police officers seen outside of Pulse nightclub after a fatal shooting and hostage situation where 50 people died on June 12, 2016 in Orlando, Florida.</div></div></div>Mateen was on an FBI list of suspected ISIS sympathizers and was looked into by federal authorities once in 2013 and again in 2014. He was the subject of a brief FBI investigation in 2014 before the case was closed."The FBI first became aware of Mateen in 2013, when he made threats to coworkers, including possible ties to terrorist activities," an FBI spokesman said Sunday in a news conference."In 2014, Mateen again came to the attention to the FBI because of possible ties to an American suicide bomber, Moner Abusalha. The FBI interviewed Mateen and determined that contact was minimal and did not constitute a substantive threat at the time."Mateen had a Florida license to carry concealed weapons and legally purchased the two firearms used in the attack in the days before the attack, police confirmed Sunday. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-washington-dc-president-white-house-kalorama-neighborhood-2016-5">Here's the $5.3 million mansion the Obamas will reportedly live in after the White House</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="9jc3ZxMzE6QOCQ6ydkxJ3LsB84vAV-S-" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Orlando shooter reportedly traveled to the Middle East in 2011 for a religious pilgrimage

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://twitter.com/LarryCoben/status/1037338260694069250">Twitter/Larry Cohen</a>An Emirates flight into JFK airport had to be quarantined Wednesday. 11 people were hospitalized.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/american-airlines-passengers-ill-at-philadelphia-airport-2018-9">illnesses that sickened dozens</a> of passengers on three separate <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/emirates-airbus-a380-quarantine-jfk-airport-100-people-reportedly-ill-2018-9">international flights</a> headed into the US this week.</li><li>It looks like many of the sick passengers were traveling from Mecca, where the Hajj was recently underway, and massive crowds of millions of people gathered.</li><li>Public health experts say this was a lucky break.</li><li>The incident points to how we may not be prepared for a worst-case scenario with a different bug.</li></ul> There have been a lot of coughing, feverish, sickly passengers flying into the US this week.First, there was an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/emirates-airbus-a380-quarantine-jfk-airport-100-people-reportedly-ill-2018-9">Emirates flight from Dubai that landed at JFK</a> airport Wednesday morning and had to be quarantined. Nearly a dozen passengers on board that flight were hospitalized and given anti-viral drugs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said "preliminary tests indicate that some patients tested positive for influenza and/or other common respiratory viruses." But the agency isn't quite sure this was the common flu. Then, on Thursday, two flights <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/american-airlines-passengers-ill-at-philadelphia-airport-2018-9">coming in to Philadelphia from Paris and Munich</a> were briefly held upon arrival because of passengers on board with sore throats and coughs. As <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/american-airlines-passengers-ill-at-philadelphia-airport-2018-9">NBC reported</a>, those sick passengers were all traveling from Mecca, Saudi Arabia where the annual Hajj pilgrimage was underway in late August. It's not too far from where the first plane took off (in the United Arab Emirates). If a more serious illness showed up at a gathering like the Hajj, it could quickly spell disaster. "This is kind of a warning shot," Marc Lipsitch, a professor of epidemiology at Harvard who studies infectious diseases, told Business Insider. "It, fortunately, arrived in a place that was about as well prepared as any place could be," Lipsitch said of JFK airport, which has its <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/quarantinestationcontactlistfull.html">own quarantine station</a>. James Steckelberg, a Mayo Clinic doctor who's also a flu expert, told Business Insider in an email that it looked like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did a pretty good job "getting on top of it." Had the illness been something more deadly, or had the planes flown off to a different destination, the experts agree: this could have been a nightmare scenario. "Public health experts have been saying for years that, first, there's inadequate surveillance around the world of human illness to really detect infections," Lipsitch said. "Large gatherings, including the Hajj, which may be involved here, are particular points of risk." Both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are home to laboratory-confirmed Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), a viral illness which includes symptoms of fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Death rates from MERS are much more concerning than a seasonal flu: about 4 in 10 who contract the illness die, according to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/mers/about/index.html">the CDC</a>. You can pick it up just from being in the line of an infected person's cough. "Imagine that it was MERS, and it arrived in an airport where nobody recognized it, and then those people all went, scattered," Lipsitch said. "I do wonder why we've seen relatively few transports or movements of the really scariest diseases." <h2>A perfect breeding ground of global diseases</h2>The Hajj gathers between two and three million people from around the globe every year to meet in Mecca, the holiest Muslim city. MERS and the flu aren't the only deadly viruses that may circulate there. Not everyone who travels to Mecca can afford to get vaccinated before they go, and people traveling from countries dealing with dengue fever, schistosomiasis, and leprosy send nearly 700,000 pilgrims to the religious site every year, as a <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0006539">2018 study</a> in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases points out.This happens at other religious sites too.In 2017, researchers at <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1710.09689">Hong Kong Polytechnic</a> found that flu outbreaks over an eight year period (2009-2017) tracked closely with Hanukkah in Israel, as well as with the Hajj in the Middle Eastern countries of Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, and Qatar. The danger doesn't disappear after the holiday is over. The flu has a range of incubation times, and some people <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-flu-epidemic-2018-1/">won't show symptoms</a> until four days after they've contracted the illness. Sharing a plane with a sick person is arguably one of the safest ways to travel with them; <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-best-place-to-sit-on-plane-to-not-get-sick-2018-3/">the state of the art air filtration systems</a> aren't like the ones you'll find on the ground, once the flight is over. <h2>How to protect from future outbreaks</h2>The <a href="https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/watch/hajj-umrah-saudi-arabia">CDC</a> warns travelers to the Hajj from the US that "because of the crowds, mass gatherings such as Hajj and Umrah are associated with unique health risks."The agency advises getting a checkup and making sure you're up to date on shots before you go, while the Saudi Ministry of Health encourages some medically vulnerable travelers - such as pregnant women, elderly adults, children and terminally ill people - to avoid the pilgrimage altogether.Lipsitch says one of the best ways for the world to prepare for future outbreaks would be to have more health care professionals around the world trained to identify and report illnesses, sending in samples for testing before sicknesses head off into airplanes buzzing about the globe."When the people disperse, it becomes a multi-point outbreak, which is much harder to control," he said.That's especially true in the case of a respiratory infection like MERS, which can be passed around easily through coughs and shared airspace."One thing we can't stop doing is breathing," Lipsitch said. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/is-drinking-diet-soda-unhealthy-2018-8">What drinking diet soda does to your body and brain</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

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Orlando shooter reportedly traveled to the Middle East in 2011 for a religious pilgrimage

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