Saudi Press Agency

A high-stakes camel beauty pageant in Saudi Arabia has been hit by a cheating scandal after 43 entrants were disqualified for botox injections and other cosmetic enhancements.

The King Abdulaziz Camel Festival is an annual Bedouin event held in the desert northeast of Riyadh that lures breeders from around the Gulf with prize money of up to $66 million.

Saudi Arabia announced on June 12it will allow 60,000 residents vaccinated against COVID to perform this year's hajj, but Muslims from abroad will be barred for a second straight year.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived in Buenos Aires on Wednesday to join a Group of 20 summit, media reported, as he aims to shrug off the lingering stigma of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder, reports AFP. 

The prince was received at the airport by Argentina's foreign minister Jorge Faurie, according to Argentine press.

Qatari pilgrims began arriving in Saudi Arabia yesterday, Saudi media reported, after Riyadh said it was opening up its border and airports for those attending the annual haj pilgrimage despite a diplomatic rift that cut travel ties.

Qatari Defense Minister Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah has conditioned the lifting of a blockage imposed on his country by four Arab states before engaging in any dialogue with its neighbors.

"Lifting the siege should precede any dialogue," al-Attiyah said in an interview with Russia Today, excerpts of which was published by Qatar's official news agency on July 25.

Police in Saudi Arabia have detained a woman who featured in a social media video wearing a miniskirt and a crop-top as she strolled through a Saudi city, according to a Saudi police statement.

Saudi Arabia's aviation body said on June 13 that the closure of its airspace to flights from Qatar was within the kingdom's sovereign right to protect its citizens from any threat.

The comments were in reaction to remarks by Qatar Airways' chief executive that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain were violating international law by shutting out Qatari flights.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates have broken diplomatic relations with Qatar, rattling a powerful 36-year-old Gulf states union, over what they say is the country’s support of terrorism. Egypt has also cut off relations with the tiny Gulf state.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Saudi Arabia's King Salman and his successors in her first visit to the kingdom in seven years, saying she pressed them on women's rights, the war in Yemen and other sensitive issues, as reported by the Associated Press on May 1. 

Saudi Arabia has named an air force pilot son of King Salman as ambassador to its major ally Washington, with which ties are improving under President Donald Trump.

The change came among a series of orders issued by the king, who shuffled his cabinet, restored civil service benefits, and replaced the head of the army which for two years has been fighting rebels  n neighboring Yemen.