Images Show U.S. Patriot Missiles Deployed for Muslim Hajj Pilgrimage
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
The Saudi Ministry of Defense has released images of U.S.-made Raytheon MIM-104 Patriot missile systems deployed to protect Mecca and the Grand Mosque during the ongoing Hajj pilgrimage.
The same system has previously been used to intercept Houthi-launched missiles.
Newsweek has reached out to the Saudi government for comment.
Why It Matters
The kingdom has stepped up a multi-layered security approach to manage over 1.5 million Hajj pilgrims this year, deploying advanced air defense and surveillance systems and enhancing military ground forces' coordination with civil police.
The deployment of the Patriot missile system underscores Saudi Arabia's reliance on American-made air defense technology, a cornerstone of its defense strategy, also notable in its recent acquisition of Lockheed's THAAD system, which operates over longer ranges.
A U.S. Army MIM-104 Patriot Missile launcher on display at Holloman Air Force Base.
A U.S. Army MIM-104 Patriot Missile launcher on display at Holloman Air Force Base.
Jon G. Fuller / VWPics/AP Images
What To Know
"Air defense forces... an eye that never sleeps, its mission is the safety of Muslim pilgrims," read the Saudi Defense Ministry's Arabic-language caption above photos of the Patriot missile system.
لم يعد مقبول ان تقوم منظومات دفاع صناعة امريكية ويتحكم بها خبراء امريكيين بحماية أجواء مكة المكرمة والمدنية،
ان لم تصنع السعودية منظومات دفاع وهذا مستبعد قريبًا، فالافضل اللجوء الى منظومات دفاع موثوقة بدأت تنتجها تركيا المسلمة
في اي وقت ومع اي خلاف سياسي يمكن لامريكا سحبها او… https://t.co/iYgzcz9uWL pic.twitter.com/bzlwBxuBPk — الرادع المغربي 🇲🇦🔻🇵🇸 (@Rd_fas1) June 5, 2025
Some social media uders speculated it was a show of force to the Yemeni Houthis, which the kingdom has fought since 2015. "May God strengthen you and may God return the plots of the pagan Houthis back upon them," a username called Abdullah wrote in a comment.
In 2022, the U.S. approved the sale of 300 Raytheon Patriot MIM-104E GEM-T missiles to Saudi Arabia as part of a $3.05 billion defense package, in support for counterattacks from the Houthis.
What People Are Saying
A Saudi-based military blogger account by the username of "SM Military" with more than 100,000 followers on X, translated from Arabic: "From the holy city of Mecca, the Saudi Air Defense's Patriot system stands as a strong shield protecting the most sacred land on earth...A clear message to the world that the security of the Guests of the Merciful is a non-negotiable priority, and that the skies over the Grand Mosque are guarded by vigilant hands that never sleep."
An account in Arabic on X under the name of "The Moroccan Deterrent" with over 246,000 followers: "It is no longer acceptable for American-made defense systems controlled by American experts to protect the airspace of Mecca and its cities. If Saudi Arabia does not manufacture defense systems, which is unlikely in the near future, it would be better to resort to reliable defense systems that Muslim Türkiye has begun to produce. At any time and with any political dispute, America can withdraw or suspend it, and this is known to the leaders of the Saudi army."
What Happens Next
Rituals of the Hajj pilgrimage will continue to unfold over several days this week.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
4 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Social Security COLA for 2026 and Beyond: What Seniors Want
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. American seniors are frustrated with how Social Security adjusts for inflation, and they want change. A new report from The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) shows a clear demand among retirees to improve the way the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is calculated. According to the group's latest survey of 1,92 individuals over the age of 62, 34 percent of respondents identified updating the COLA formula as their top policy priority for enhancing Social Security benefits. And when presented with specific policy options to raise future COLAs, seniors overwhelmingly supported a shift to a more targeted inflation measure. Currently, the Social Security Administration (SSA) calculates COLA based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). This index tracks inflation using the spending habits of younger, urban workers, not retirees. Since 1975, COLAs have been applied annually based on CPI-W data gathered during the third quarter of the year (July through September), with the goal of ensuring benefits rise in line with everyday costs, such as housing, food, and medical care. This year, benefits rose by 2.5 percent. The TSCL, based on current CPI-W readings, expects the 2026 COLA to increase slightly to 2.6 percent. However, regardless of the boost, for many retirees, that formula no longer works. According to the TSCL survey, 68 percent of seniors support replacing the current CPI-W model with the CPI-E, or Consumer Price Index for the Elderly. Developed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the CPI-E is an index that tracks the spending habits of Americans aged 62 and older, focusing on the types of goods and services seniors typically use, such as health care, housing, and prescription drugs. "CPI-E is designed to better reflect the spending habits of people aged 62 and older," Colin Ruggiero, co-founder at told Newsweek. "It gives more weight to health care and housing costs which are two of the fastest-growing expenses for seniors. Switching to CPI-E would make COLAs more relevant and responsive to the real financial pressures seniors face." Chris Motola, a financial analyst at told Newsweek: "The main advantage of CPI-E would be to more heavily weight health care and housing costs in COLA calculations, both of which tend to disproportionately eat into seniors' budgets." Another popular idea is making up for what's already been lost. The TSCL survey found that 57 percent of respondents support a one-time "catch-up" COLA payment to compensate for years when benefits failed to keep pace with actual living costs. Composite image created by Newsweek. Composite image created by Newsweek. Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty/Canva "A catch-up COLA would be a recognition that past adjustments haven't kept pace with reality," Ruggiero said. "While it's feasible, it would require congressional approval and carry a hefty budgetary cost. Politically, it could gain traction as a way to restore fairness, especially if framed as a correction rather than a new ongoing expense." Still, the limits of these proposals are clear. While COLA reforms could help stabilize seniors' purchasing power, experts caution that they won't fix everything. "Adjusting the COLA is a great start, but it's not the cure-all," said Ruggiero. "We also need broader reforms to strengthen the entire retirement system, including benefit adequacy, solvency, and support for low-income seniors." Motola agreed: "It would go a long way, but again, a major problem is that Social Security isn't really meant to carry the burden alone. We've made it very difficult for people to save money for retirement, and the loss of pensions has placed enormous stress on the system."
Newsweek
5 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Map Shows Region Leading 2050 Global Population Increase
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Almost every country in the world has seen fertility rates decline over the past few decades, but one region's birth rates are still so high that it is expected to provide more than half the global population increase until 2050—sub-Saharan Africa. The global fertility rate was 2.2 births per woman last year, down from five in the 1960s and 3.3 in 1990, according to the United Nations World Fertility 2024 report. It is set to hit the replacement level of 2.1 (required to maintain a stable population without immigration) in 2050 and drop below the replacement rate to 1.8 in 2100. America's fertility rate is already below the replacement rate, at 1.6 births per woman, according to the Congressional Budget Office's latest forecast released this year. But sub-Saharan Africa's fertility numbers are the highest of any major world region, at 4.3 children per woman. This high figure is despite the fact that the region, made up of 49 separate African nations, has also seen declines—from 6.5 in the 1960s, to 5.3 in 2000. The UN Commission on Population and Development estimates that over the coming decades, more than half of all new people added to the planet will be in Sub‑Saharan Africa. "Generally, countries in sub-Saharan Africa are in an earlier stage of the demographic transition, characterized by a relatively large share of children and youth," Patrick Gerland, chief of the Population Estimates and Projection Section, told Newsweek. In other words, while countries in the Sahara have followed the rest of the world in lowering death rates, meaning there are more elderly people than there have been before, their higher birth rates mean their populations are mostly children and teenagers. This means that, unlike wealthy countries, which are facing a workforce crisis (not enough working-aged people to support the growing elderly population), nations in sub-Saharan Africa have a growing working-age population. But "investments in areas like education and infrastructure will be crucial" for this to be as beneficial as it could be, Gerland said. "Many African countries are currently experiencing a 'window of opportunity' for economic growth," he said. Could This Be Tomorrow's Workforce? Professor Giovanni Peri, an economist at the University of California, spoke this dynamic - a growing workforce in sub-Saharan Africa with "demographic pressures increasing in rich countries as they age, have fewer workers and higher dependency ratios." "From an economic point of view, it would make sense to think this would generate change in attitude towards migration," he told Newsweek. "So far it has not, and it seems unlikely in the next two decades, at least to me." "From an economist point of view, any reasonable policy that would plan migration in an orderly way from south-Saharan Africa, to jobs and universities in Europe, enforced and implemented well would generate huge economic gains," he said. "I just do not see this happening." Similarly, William Frey, a demographer and senior fellow at The Brookings Institution, told Newsweek: "It is clear that most developed countries, including the US, will need to rely on immigration to counter advanced population aging and declines in their labor force populations." "In the years ahead, the U.S. will require even higher immigration than it currently receives in order to avoid this scenario," said Frey. But "the issues of safety, culture will predominate on the economic rationale," Professor Peri said. Why Does Sub-Saharan Africa Have Such High Birth Rates? "Fertility transitions in sub-Saharan Africa exhibit distinctive characteristics compared to other low- and middle-income countries," the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs said in its report. "The fertility decline started later, and the pace of fertility decline has been markedly slower in sub-Saharan Africa than in Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean," it said. There are many practical reasons for high fertility rates in sub-Saharan Africa, including limited access to contraception, lower levels of education for girls and women and high rates of child marriages. But there are also significant cultural reasons, with children seen as important contributors to household livelihoods and carers of parents in old age. Both men and women in sub-Saharan Africa express a preference for larger families—in Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda and Zimbabwe, the ideal family size is 3.5 and four, according to the latest Demographic and Health Surveys (conducted between 2010 and 2022). Meanwhile, in Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Niger and Nigeria, the ideal family size is more than six. Conversely, families in wealthier countries are having fewer children while cultural traditions are shifting away from the prioritization of parenthood in general, according to a new study Newsweek reported on here.
Newsweek
5 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Trump's 'Largest Deal Ever' Faces Japan Diet in Crisis
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. When President Donald Trump revealed that his administration had struck a "massive" trade and investment deal with Japan, he described it as "completed"—but it must still pass the Japanese parliament, called the Diet, which is riven with political turmoil. The deal will likely require—at least in part, if not in full—approval by the Diet, where Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's coalition government very recently lost its majority in the upper chamber, having already become the minority in the lower chamber in 2024. A Japanese lawmaker in the lower house, who chairs a key policy committee of the left-leaning Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), the main opposition, told Newsweek they are closely scrutinizing the Trump deal to assess whether they are satisfied with it. They will then decide how to proceed. Ishiba, of the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), still the largest party in the Diet, said he would stay on to see through the implementation of the U.S. trade deal, rather than cave to calls for his immediate resignation and create a political vacuum. Analysts said that opposition parties may seek to criticize Ishiba and the deal, but the alternative of blocking it in the Diet could backfire and lead to higher tariffs. Newsweek has contacted the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative for comment. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the East Room at the White House on February 7, 2025 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the East Room at the White House on February 7, 2025 in Washington, It Matters Trump has said he will make deals that benefit both sides, hailing his unique abilities to do so. But the intense "America First" messaging surrounding Trump's deals poses a challenge for U.S. trading partners. They must balance Trump's demands against their own national interests, economic needs, and views of voters, while projecting a degree of strength and independence to show they are securing gains and not merely surrendering to Washington. The Japanese deal, whose advantages to the U.S. Trump has heavily emphasized, highlights the potential vulnerability of these agreements to domestic politics. Trump's Japan Trade Deal The deal was struck ahead of Trump's August 1 deadline, when, in a letter to Ishiba, he had said Japanese imports would face a 25 percent tariff in the U.S. if negotiations failed to bear fruit. Trump had previously questioned the strategic U.S.-Japan partnership, including a long-standing security agreement with its key East Asian ally, citing what he said was an unfair set of trading terms because the Japanese market was too closed off to Americans. Trade talks between the two sides had been stuck on imports of American rice in particular. But negotiations continued, and Trump revealed the deal in a post on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, July 22. Trump said Japan had agreed "at my direction" to invest $550 billion into the U.S.—spanning energy, semiconductors, critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, and shipbuilding—but that 90 percent of the profits from these would be kept by the U.S. He also said Japan would open up to American car and truck exports, rice and other agricultural products, and more goods. Japan would still face a 15 percent tariff, Trump said, but U.S. businesses will have a zero tariff. Among the specific measures in the deal are a Japanese commitment to immediately increase rice imports from the U.S. by 75 percent and a Japanese purchase of 100 Boeing aircraft, according to a White House fact sheet. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a press conference at the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) headquarters on July 21, 2025 in Tokyo, Japan. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a press conference at the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) headquarters on July 21, 2025 in Tokyo, Japan. Philip Fong - Pool/ Getty Images Japan's CDP Will 'Carefully Scrutinize' Trump Deal Kazuhiko Shigetoku, a lawmaker in the Diet's lower house from the opposition CDP, told Newsweek that the deal means "the uncertainty of the economic outlook has eased." "However, in terms of the perspective of the national interest, we need to carefully scrutinize the content of the agreement to determine whether it is satisfactory and how it will affect the Japanese economy," Shigetoku said. "We will determine our future actions based on explanations from the government at the Diet and other meetings. Although the need for congressional approval is unclear at this stage, we believe that it is important to maintain and expand free trade." Mixed Reactions in Japan Ishiba's recent election loss was driven in large part by voter frustration with rising prices while wage growth is slow. His weakened minority government must now push through a hard-fought trade agreement, one that Trump has touted as a major win for the U.S. "Early reactions among Japanese lawmakers have been mixed, with the Ishiba administration touting the deal as a success and members of the opposition claiming it is bad for the Japanese economy," Kristi Govella, Associate Professor at the University of Oxford and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told Newsweek. "For Japanese people, trade negotiations with the U.S. have been seen as a litmus test of the current government's leadership ability, so politicians are currently fighting to control the narrative about how good this deal really is for Japan." Kazuto Suzuki, professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo, Japan, and director of the Institute of Geoeconomics at International House of Japan, said the Trump deal was "well received by both the ruling and opposition parties." "Given that many lawmakers did not expect the Ishiba administration to succeed in reaching an agreement, the fact that it was achieved came as a surprise," Suzuki told Newsweek. "Moreover, while it was considered difficult to lower tariffs on automobiles and automobile parts, the fact that they were reduced to 15 percent is highly regarded. "However, this does not compensate for the major defeat in the Upper House election on July 20, and criticism of Prime Minister Ishiba is growing." He added: "It is unlikely that the Diet will reject this agreement. If it were to reject it, higher tariffs would inevitably be imposed, which would benefit no one." Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers his policy speech during a plenary session at the lower house of parliament on January 24, 2025, in Tokyo, Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers his policy speech during a plenary session at the lower house of parliament on January 24, 2025, in Tokyo, National Interest Govella said opposition parties "have a great deal of incentive to criticize the trade deal and to capitalize on the weakness of the Ishiba government," but "actually blocking the deal's approval could backfire badly." Higher tariffs "would have significantly worse impacts on the Japanese economy and on Japanese people who are already feeling the effects of inflation," she said. Japanese voters have "generally been skeptical about the opposition's ability to lead" after their experience with the Democratic Party of Japan from 2009 to 2012, she continued. "So if the current opposition parties are perceived to be acting against Japan's national interest by blocking this deal, they could lose the supporters they've recently gained," Govella said. What People Are Saying President Trump posted to Truth Social: "We just completed a massive Deal with Japan, perhaps the largest Deal ever made … This is a very exciting time for the United States of America, and especially for the fact that we will continue to always have a great relationship with the Country of Japan." Prime Minister Ishiba told reporters, per The Wall Street Journal: "The government was determined to protect national interests," adding that the deal "will lead to Japan and the U.S. working together to create jobs, produce high-quality goods, and contribute to fulfilling various roles in the world going forward." What's Next Japanese lawmakers are scrutinizing the trade deal with the U.S.. They are unlikely to block it should they be called to vote on some or all of its components, though the Ishiba government no longer has a majority in either house of the Diet, complicating its passage.
