THIS WEEK'S VISITORS (3,366)

Here are the top ten countries from which the blog has received visits in the past week.

1. United States 1176
2. Indonesia 802
3. United Kingdom 335
4. Saudi Arabia 298
5. France 219
6. Russia 131
7. China 118
8. Venezuela 112
9. Germany 83
10. Ukraine 72

This week's total: 3,366 (last week: 3,293). These are aggregates of figures from the top ten countries only. Blogger's analytics doesn't show the numbers of pageviews below the tenth-ranking country and they don’t show the cumulative total including those additional countries, which is undoubtedly larger than the number shown above.

The world map at the top of this post is the graphic that I see on the stats page. The darker the green, the more pageviews from that country. I can see different versions of that map for "now" (i.e. in the last two hours), "today", "this week", "this month" and "all time". They're updated each time I look at them.

THIS WEEK'S VISITORS (3,293)

Here are the top ten countries from which the blog has received visits in the past week.

1. United States 943
2. Indonesia 791
3. United Kingdom 433
4. Saudi Arabia 291
5. Poland 204
6. China 179
7. Russia 143
8. France 113
9. Venezuela 112
10. Germany 84

This week's total: 3,293 (last week: 3,016). These are aggregates of figures from the top ten countries only. Blogger's analytics doesn't show the numbers of pageviews below the tenth-ranking country and they don’t show the cumulative total including those additional countries, which is undoubtedly larger than the number shown above.

The world map at the top of this post is the graphic that I see on the stats page. The darker the green, the more pageviews from that country. I can see different versions of that map for "now" (i.e. in the last two hours), "today", "this week", "this month" and "all time". They're updated each time I look at them.

PILGRIMS WARNED OF HAJJ RIP-OFF

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Pilgrims warned of Hajj rip-off

agent watchdogs have issued a warning to pilgrims from Leicester heading off for the Hajj to beware of the dangers of booking with unlicensed companies.

Thousands of Muslims will to be heading Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage which takes place between October 24 and 29.

The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) has warned that many pay for travel arrangements that are sub-standard, or in the worst cases non-existent, leaving travellers out of pocket by thousands of pounds.

Every year pilgrims pay thousands of pounds for specialist Hajj flight and accommodation arrangements.

ABTA risk manager Steve Abrahamson said: "Every year the police and trading standards offices have to deal with cases of Hajj pilgrims who have lost substantial amounts of money or arrived in Saudi Arabia to find that their accommodation and other travel arrangements are of a much lower standard than they had paid for."

By UK law, if a travel company books a customer on a flight-based package holiday, it must have an ATOL (Air Travel Organisers' Licensing) licence in place to ensure the customer is financially protected in the event something goes wrong.

If the travel companies are not members of ABTA, they are not policed by its code of conduct which ensures customers receive high standards of service, fair terms of trading and accurate booking information.

ABTA membership also means that if something should go wrong before or after the trip, pilgrims would be able to use ABTA's cost-effective and swift complaint handling service.

ABTA said whether someone is offering a Hajj trip or a holiday, the same laws applied and companies must have an ATOL licence when selling flights and accommodation as a package or act as an agent for a company that does.

Hajj pilgrims should always check that they are legitimate ABTA members and that they hold an ATOL licence.

Pilgrims are encouraged to check with ATOL on 020 7453 6700 whether the company they are booking with is registered.

THIS WEEK'S VISITORS (1,813)

Regular update on the number of pageviews received from different parts of the world in the week just ending.

1. United Kingdom 670
2. United States 579
3. France 173
4. Russia 111
5. India 85
6. Germany 59
7. Netherlands 44
8. Ukraine 43
9. China 28
10. Saudi Arabia 21

This week's total: 1,813 (last week: 1,976). These are aggregates of figures from the top ten countries only. Blogger's stats software doesn't show me numbers of pageviews below the tenth-ranking country.

The world map at the top of this post is the graphic that I see on the stats page. The darker the green, the more pageviews from that country. I can see different versions of that map for "now" (i.e. in the last two hours), "today", "this week", "this month" and "all time". They're updated each time I look at them.

THIS WEEK'S VISITORS (1,289)

Regular update on the number of pageviews received from different parts of the world in the week just ending.

1. United Kingdom 675
2. United States 180
3. Ukraine 130
4. Russia 89
5. Germany 86
6. India 61
7. France 28
8. Saudi Arabia 18
9. Canada 11
10. Netherlands 11

This week's total: 1,289 (last week: 1,295). These are aggregates of figures from the top ten countries only. Blogger's stats software doesn't show me numbers of pageviews below the tenth-ranking country.

The world map at the top of this post is the graphic that I see on the stats page. The darker the green, the more pageviews from that country. I can see different versions of that map for "now" (i.e. in the last two hours), "today", "this week", "this month" and "all time" (which seems to mean the last 12 months). They're updated each time I look at them.