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Saudi Al-Soudah Festival Attracts over 12,000 Visitors Daily

In this August 22, 2019 photo, a Saudi woman poses for a picture as she wears a colorful flower crown native to the region during the al-Soudah festival in Abha, southwest Saudi Arabia. (AP)
In this August 22, 2019 photo, a Saudi woman poses for a picture as she wears a colorful flower crown native to the region during the al-Soudah festival in Abha, southwest Saudi Arabia. (AP)
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Saudi Al-Soudah Festival Attracts over 12,000 Visitors Daily

In this August 22, 2019 photo, a Saudi woman poses for a picture as she wears a colorful flower crown native to the region during the al-Soudah festival in Abha, southwest Saudi Arabia. (AP)
In this August 22, 2019 photo, a Saudi woman poses for a picture as she wears a colorful flower crown native to the region during the al-Soudah festival in Abha, southwest Saudi Arabia. (AP)

Atop a string of green mountains in Saudi Arabia, the monthlong al-Soudah festival drew a medley of yoga enthusiasts, extreme adventure seekers, tourists and traditional Saudi families — many wearing colorful flower crowns native to the region.

The festival, which ran throughout the month of August, gave visitors a chance to experience a unique region in Saudi Arabia and take part in outdoor sports like hiking, mountain biking, paragliding, horseback riding, zip lining and bungee jumping. Thousands also attended concerts by Middle Eastern superstars.

The festival attracted between 12,000 and 15,000 visitors per day, said Husameddin al-Madani, who oversaw the event. Most visitors to the festival were Saudi citizens, but it also drew foreign tourists.

The weather in August in the village of al-Soudah, located in the southwest Asir province, is a comfortable 22 degrees Celsius in August, unlike the capital, Riyadh, or the coastal city of Jeddah, where temperatures exceed 43 degrees Celsius throughout the summer. In the winter, parts of the mountain range see snow.

Al-Soudah sits on part of the Sarawat Mountain range in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula, some 3,000 meters above sea level. Its highlands are covered in the green of juniper trees. The area is also home to baboons, who were kept away from the festival with help from Human Wildlife Solutions based in Cape Town, South Africa.

Jeddah city resident Noura al-Moammar said she was surprised by the region's climate.

"I never thought, honestly, that my country is that rich with nature," she said, according to The Associated Press. "It's amazing for us to discover and see the different cultures and landscapes and weather in our beautiful Saudi."

In the nearby village of Rijal Almaa, the men wore flower crowns, or garlands, made from local flowers and herbs. Visitors here were treated to garlands of their own, local tribal dances, coffee, tea and evening lightshows displayed on the village's 500-year-old distinct natural clay, stone and wood structures.

The festival also drew extreme sports enthusiasts, including wingsuit base jumpers. Saudi media reported that British adventurer and astronautical engineer Angelo Grubisic died during a jump off the side of a cliff at the festival when he experienced difficulties reaching the landing site at speeds of around 160 kilometers (100 miles) per hour.

"Coming from America, there's obviously a lot of misconceptions ... but I'm here to show and prove it's nothing but incredible ... I hope everybody gets a chance to visit this place one day," said Paris Verra, a 24-year-old American visitor.

So serene was the vibe at the festival that Alwaleed al-Keaid, who runs a Saudi hiking company, led morning mediations atop the mountain.

"We start our mornings with a mediation session in this gorgeous environment where we thank God for this blessing and meditate," he said. "When we're done, we try the local bread with honey... and help people enjoy nature, forget about the rest of the world and live in the moment."

The festival also had its share of glitz and glamour with concerts by Middle Eastern mega stars, including Emirati singer Ahlam and Iraqi singer Kazem al-Saher. Their performances drew thousands of fans and al-Saher's concert alone generated 1.5 million Saudi riyals ($400,000) in ticket sales, festival organizers said.

The al-Soudah festival is one of 11 taking place in different parts of the country this year. The initiative, dubbed Saudi Seasons, is aimed at developing tourism and providing Saudis with temporary and permanent jobs.

Al-Madani, the CEO of the al-Soudah festival, said at least 515 young men and women were hired from the local community to assist in the monthlong event. Local businesses also got a boost by contributing to food trucks and other services.

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Heavy Snow in Poland Leaves Drivers Stranded in Tailbacks of up to 20 Km

Cars drive on a road during heavy snowfall in central Warsaw, Poland, 30 December 2025. (EPA)
Cars drive on a road during heavy snowfall in central Warsaw, Poland, 30 December 2025. (EPA)
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Heavy Snow in Poland Leaves Drivers Stranded in Tailbacks of up to 20 Km

Cars drive on a road during heavy snowfall in central Warsaw, Poland, 30 December 2025. (EPA)
Cars drive on a road during heavy snowfall in central Warsaw, Poland, 30 December 2025. (EPA)

Heavy snowfall in Poland caused tailbacks stretching as far as 20 km (12.43 miles) on a motorway between ​the capital Warsaw and the Baltic port city of Gdansk during the night, police said on Wednesday.

While the situation left hundreds of people trapped in their cars in freezing conditions, by the early hours of ‌Wednesday morning traffic ‌was moving again, ‌according ⁠to ​police.

"The ‌difficult situation began yesterday after 4 p.m., when the first trucks on the S7 route... began having trouble approaching the slopes," said Tomasz Markowski, a spokesperson for police in the northern city of ⁠Olsztyn.

"This led to a traffic jam stretching approximately ‌20 kilometers overnight." Deputy Infrastructure Minister ‍Stanislaw Bukowiec ‍told a press conference that nobody had ‍been hurt as a result of the difficult situation on the roads.

Anna Karczewska, a spokesperson for police in Ostroda, said officers had ​tried to help drivers who found themselves stuck. Ostroda lies on ⁠the highway about 40 km west of Olsztyn.

"We helped as much as we could, and we had coffee and hot tea for the drivers, which the Ostroda City Hall had prepared for us," she said.

State news agency PAP reported that there had also been some disruption to railways and airports, ‌but that services were returning to normal.

Varieties

Infant Screen Exposure Shapes Long-Term Brain Changes and Teen Anxiety, Study Finds  

The study concluded that children exposed to high levels of screen time before age two are exposed to endure adolescent mental health. (The University of Queensland)
The study concluded that children exposed to high levels of screen time before age two are exposed to endure adolescent mental health. (The University of Queensland)
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Infant Screen Exposure Shapes Long-Term Brain Changes and Teen Anxiety, Study Finds  

The study concluded that children exposed to high levels of screen time before age two are exposed to endure adolescent mental health. (The University of Queensland)
The study concluded that children exposed to high levels of screen time before age two are exposed to endure adolescent mental health. (The University of Queensland)

Children exposed to high levels of screen time before age two showed changes in brain development that were linked to slower decision-making and increased anxiety by their teenage years, according to new study released by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research in Singapore.

Prepared in collaboration with the National University of Singapore (NUS) Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, the study focuses on infancy, a period when brain development is most rapid and especially sensitive to environmental influences.

The amount and type of screen exposure in infancy are largely determined by parental and caregiver awareness and parenting practices, highlighting a critical window for early guidance and intervention, showed the study, published in eBioMedicine on Tuesday.

It said the researchers followed 168 children before age two and conducted brain scans at three time points (ages 4.5, 6, and 7.5), which allowed them to track how brain networks developed over time rather than relying on a single snapshot.

Children with higher infant screen time showed an accelerated maturation of brain networks responsible for visual processing and cognitive control.

The researchers suggest this may result from the intense sensory stimulation that screens provide. Notably, screen time measured at ages three and four did not show the same effects, underscoring why infancy is a particularly sensitive period.

The study showed that children with high screen exposure, the networks controlling vision and cognition specialized faster, before they had developed the efficient connections needed for complex thinking. This can limit flexibility and resilience, leaving the child less able to adapt later in life.

It said this premature specialization came at a cost: children with these altered brain networks took longer to make decisions during a cognitive task at age 8.5, suggesting reduced cognitive efficiency or flexibility.

Those with slower decision-making, in turn, reported higher anxiety symptoms at age 13. These findings suggest that screen exposure in infancy may have effects that extend well beyond early childhood, shaping brain development and behavior years later.

In a related study, the same team found that infant screen time is also associated with alterations in brain networks that govern emotional regulation — but that parent-child reading could counteract some of these brain changes.

Researchers found that their results give a biological explanation for why limiting screen time in the first two years is crucial.

“But it also highlights the importance of parental engagement, showing that parent-child activities, like reading together, can make a real difference,” said Asst Prof Tan Ai Peng, Clinician-Scientist at NUS, and the study's senior author.

The study concluded that children exposed to high levels of screen time before age two are exposed to endure adolescent mental health, particularly on cognitive performance and anxiety levels.

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Indonesia Raises Alert for Mount Bur Ni Telong Volcano after Spike of Activity

Explosive activity concentrates at the north-east crater of the Mount Etna, as an eruption started on Dec. 24 continues, in Sicily, Italy, Monday Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)
Explosive activity concentrates at the north-east crater of the Mount Etna, as an eruption started on Dec. 24 continues, in Sicily, Italy, Monday Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)
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Indonesia Raises Alert for Mount Bur Ni Telong Volcano after Spike of Activity

Explosive activity concentrates at the north-east crater of the Mount Etna, as an eruption started on Dec. 24 continues, in Sicily, Italy, Monday Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)
Explosive activity concentrates at the north-east crater of the Mount Etna, as an eruption started on Dec. 24 continues, in Sicily, Italy, Monday Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)

Indonesian authorities have raised the alert level for the Mount Bur Ni Telong volcano in the country’s westernmost province of Aceh to its second highest following a series of increased activity and volcanic earthquakes, official said Wednesday.

The 2,624-meter (8,600-foot) stratovolcano in Aceh's Bener Meriah regency recorded at least seven earthquakes on Tuesday evening that were felt about five kilometers (three miles) away, while seismographs also detected seven shallow volcanic earthquakes along with 14 deep quakes and two tectonic quakes, said Lana Saria, the acting head of the Geological Agency at Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.

She said based on the results of visual and instrumental monitoring which show the occurrence of increased volcanic activity for Mount Bur Ni Telong, scientists raised the alert level from the third to the second highest level Tuesday evening.

“Aftershocks following local tectonic events indicate magma activity is easily triggered by tectonic disturbances,” Saria said, adding that the increase in seismic activity has been ongoing since July and became more intense and shallow in the past two months.

According to The Associated Press, the agency's visual monitoring showed the volcano clearly visible with no crater smoke. However, she warned of possible eruption, including phreatic blasts and hazardous volcanic gases near areas with fumaroles and solfataras, openings in the Earth’s crust that emit steam and gases.

Authorities urged residents and visitors to stay at least 4 kilometers (2.4 miles) from the crater and avoid fumarole and solfatara zones during cloudy or rainy weather because gas concentrations can be life-threatening.

The heightened alert came as the Bener Meriah area is still recovering from catastrophic floods and landslides earlier this month that struck 52 cities and regencies on Sumatra island, leaving 1,141 people dead with 163 residents still missing and more than 7,000 injured, the National Disaster Management Agency said. In Bener Meriah alone, 31 people died and 14 are still missing after the floods and landslides hit the regency, disrupting access to remote villages and displacing more than 2,100 residents.

Local media said people living in three villages within a 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) radius from the crater are being evacuated as officials fear that heavy rains combined with volcanic activity could worsen conditions and complicate evacuation efforts.

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 280 million people, has over 120 active volcanoes. It is prone to volcanic activity because it sits along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.