This year's hajj, which has been scaled back dramatically to include only around 1,000 Muslim pilgrims due to the coronavirus pandemic, will begin on July 29, Saudi authorities said Monday. "The stand of pilgrims on Mount Arafat, the peak of the hajj ritual, falls on Thursday," the official Saudi Press Agency cited the Supreme Court as saying, indicating that Wednesday would be the first day of the annual event. bur-mah/sls/par