Hajj pilgrims arrive in Mecca

Pilgrims circled the Kaaba – the huge black cube in the centre of the Grand Mosque in Mecca – raising their hands heavenward in prayer Saturday, asking for God’s bounty and forgiveness.

Millions of Muslim faithful, the men in white robes and women covered head to toe, were in Islam’s holiest city to prepare for the hajj, the faith’s most sacred ritual, which begins today.