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Saudi Arabia Establishes New Tourism Authority

Saudi Arabia Establishes New Tourism Authority
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Saudi Arabia Establishes New Tourism Authority

Saudi Arabia Establishes New Tourism Authority

Local tourism in Saudi Arabia had undergone several stages of development until it turned into an organized sector supported by regulations, projects and programs.

Saudi Arabia had also further polished its image as a tourism destination by the launching of e-visas for tourists. It opened its gates to the world in a way that matches its rich heritage and tourism attractions it has to offer visitors.

Many Saudi towns, cities and historic sites are gaining a competitive edge on local and international levels thanks to the attention they have secured from Kingdom authorities that have made transforming the country into a tourism destination a prevalent trend.

The Saudi Cabinet had approved the establishment of the Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) based on the recommendation of Council of Economic and Development Affairs.

King Salman bin Abdulaziz issued in February 2020 a royal decree to set up a new ministry for tourism, after cancelling the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH), and appointed Ahmed Al-Khateeb as head of the ministry.

The Saudi Tourism Authority is tasked with supervising, developing and marketing tourist packages and products both locally and internationally.

Over the last two decades, Saudi Arabia underwent a number of advanced stages in the file of organized tourism. The Asir region, nestled in southern Saudi Arabia, witnessed the formation of the first committee to stimulate tourism back in 1995.

In 2000, the Supreme Commission for Tourism was established. Over the years its name was changed, until a Ministry of Tourism was established in 2020.

The Ministry seeks to raise the contribution of the tourism sector to the Gross domestic product (GDP) from 3% to 10%.

It also focuses on creating an attractive investment environment, providing diverse packages of tourism services and offers, developing tourist destinations and sites, generating one million jobs in the tourism sector, and qualifying human labor working in the sector.

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Hiker Killed in Rare Suspected Mountain Lion Attack in Colorado

FILE - The General Store is seen Oct. 24, 2006, in Glen Haven, Colo. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, Karl Gehring, File)
FILE - The General Store is seen Oct. 24, 2006, in Glen Haven, Colo. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, Karl Gehring, File)
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Hiker Killed in Rare Suspected Mountain Lion Attack in Colorado

FILE - The General Store is seen Oct. 24, 2006, in Glen Haven, Colo. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, Karl Gehring, File)
FILE - The General Store is seen Oct. 24, 2006, in Glen Haven, Colo. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, Karl Gehring, File)

A hiker in Colorado has died in the state's first suspected fatal mountain lion attack in over 25 years, authorities said.

The woman was found unresponsive by other hikers on the Crosier Mountain trail northeast of Estes Park around noon on Thursday.

The hikers saw a mountain lion near the woman's body and scared it away by throwing rocks. A doctor was among the hikers and attended to the woman but found no pulse, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson Kara Van Hoose told reporters, according to Reuters.

CPW officers responded to the ⁠scene and shot dead two lions in the area. It is not known whether one or multiple animals were involved in the suspected attack, the agency said in a statement. It is believed the woman was hiking alone.

“There were signs that this was consistent with a mountain lion attack,” Van Hoose told a press ⁠conference.

Mountain lion attacks on humans in Colorado are rare, with 28 reported to CPW since 1990. The last fatal attack was in 1999.

CPW pathologists are performing necropsies on the dead animals to check for abnormalities and neurological diseases like rabies and avian influenza, as well as human DNA, Van Hoose said.

CPW policy mandates the killing of any mountain lion involved in an attack on a human so as to prevent repeat incidents. If human DNA is not found on either dead lion, authorities will continue to ⁠search for animals that may have been involved, Van Hoose said.

Larimer County Coroner will release the identity of the victim and cause of death, she said.

Colorado has a healthy mountain lion population, estimated by CPW to be between 3,800 and 4,400 adults. Conservation efforts have brought the species back from near extinction in the 1960s due to bounty hunting.

Mountain lions are common in the Front Range area where the woman was found, Van Hoose said. The animals go down to lower elevations in winter in search of prey like deer and elk, increasing chances of encounters with humans.

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Heroic Staffer Blocks 400-pound Runaway Prop at US Disney Theme Park

FILE - The road to the entrance of Walt Disney World, Monday, March 16, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)
FILE - The road to the entrance of Walt Disney World, Monday, March 16, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)
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Heroic Staffer Blocks 400-pound Runaway Prop at US Disney Theme Park

FILE - The road to the entrance of Walt Disney World, Monday, March 16, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)
FILE - The road to the entrance of Walt Disney World, Monday, March 16, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)

A staffer at Disney World in Florida was hailed as a hero after he blocked a 400-pound (180-kilogram) rubber boulder that was bouncing toward the audience at an Indiana Jones-themed live show.

"Woah! That's heading right for us!" an audience member can be heard saying on a YouTube video of the incident on Tuesday as the weighty object bounces off its track.

The boulder bashes into the staff member who had moved to try to block the prop from bouncing into the audience, knocking him down. Colleagues rush to his aid and quickly get him to his feet, with blood visible on his scalp.

Disney confirmed the incident happened during an "Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular." It said a performer was injured when a prop moved off its track.

"We're focused on supporting our cast member, who is recovering," a Disney spokesperson said in a statement to AFP on Friday.

"Safety is at the heart of what we do, and that element of the show will be modified as our safety team completes a review of what happened," the spokesperson added.

The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular is staged at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. A blog post on the company's website says the boulder is made of rubber and weighs 400 pounds.

Varieties

Angelina Jolie Visits Egyptian Side of Rafah Crossing to Gaza

US actress Angelina Jolie speaks to a member of the Egyptian Red Crescent at the Egyptian Rafah border crossing, part of her visit to the North Sinai Governorate to inspect aid entering the Palestinian Gaza Strip, on January 2, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
US actress Angelina Jolie speaks to a member of the Egyptian Red Crescent at the Egyptian Rafah border crossing, part of her visit to the North Sinai Governorate to inspect aid entering the Palestinian Gaza Strip, on January 2, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
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Angelina Jolie Visits Egyptian Side of Rafah Crossing to Gaza

US actress Angelina Jolie speaks to a member of the Egyptian Red Crescent at the Egyptian Rafah border crossing, part of her visit to the North Sinai Governorate to inspect aid entering the Palestinian Gaza Strip, on January 2, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
US actress Angelina Jolie speaks to a member of the Egyptian Red Crescent at the Egyptian Rafah border crossing, part of her visit to the North Sinai Governorate to inspect aid entering the Palestinian Gaza Strip, on January 2, 2026. (Photo by AFP)

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie visited on Friday the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing into Gaza, where she spoke with members of the Red Crescent and truck drivers ferrying humanitarian aid, AFP journalists said.

According to local media, the actor and former special envoy for the UN refugee agency made the visit to see the condition of injured Palestinians transferred to Egypt and to look into aid deliveries into the devastated territory.

Since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began, 414 people have been killed and 1,142 wounded in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry. The overall Palestinian death toll from the war is at least 71,266.

Accompanied by an American delegation and greeted by former and current officials, Jolie said she was "honored" to meet aid volunteers at the crossing.

A Red Crescent volunteer told the Oscar winner that "there are thousands of aid trucks just waiting" at the border crossing.

The Rafah border crossing was set to be reopened under the ceasefire in effect in Gaza since October, but has so far remained closed.