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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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Center for Space Futures Holds Workshop with Participation of 40 Global Experts

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Center for Space Futures Holds Workshop with Participation of 40 Global Experts

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat

The Center for Space Futures (CSF) held an international workshop in Riyadh on Thursday, bringing together nearly 40 experts from around the world to explore “The Next Decade of Transformative Space Technologies.”

The event forms part of the center's ongoing efforts to advance the global space economy and strengthen international collaboration in emerging space domains, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday.

During the workshop, CSF presented the findings of its global expert survey, from which the five priority technology domains were derived directly from expert responses, not pre-selected by CSF.

The domains, identified as most influential for the space sector by 2035, are: artificial intelligence (AI), autonomy and robotics, on-orbit servicing and ISAM propulsion, ISRU, and space communication and on-orbit data infrastructure.

Established through a partnership between the Saudi Space Agency and the World Economic Forum, the CSF is the first space-focused entity within the forum’s Fourth Industrial Revolution Network. It serves as an impartial global platform dedicated to advancing space policy, fostering innovation, and strengthening cross-sector collaboration to support the sustainable growth of the global space economy.

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Australia Says the World Will Follow Social Media Ban as Meta Starts Blocking Teens

(FILES) This photo taken on October 24, 2025 shows a 14-year-old boy posing at his home near Gosford as he looks at social media on his mobile phone. (Photo by David GRAY / AFP)
(FILES) This photo taken on October 24, 2025 shows a 14-year-old boy posing at his home near Gosford as he looks at social media on his mobile phone. (Photo by David GRAY / AFP)
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Australia Says the World Will Follow Social Media Ban as Meta Starts Blocking Teens

(FILES) This photo taken on October 24, 2025 shows a 14-year-old boy posing at his home near Gosford as he looks at social media on his mobile phone. (Photo by David GRAY / AFP)
(FILES) This photo taken on October 24, 2025 shows a 14-year-old boy posing at his home near Gosford as he looks at social media on his mobile phone. (Photo by David GRAY / AFP)

Australia's internet regulator said a teen social media ban would be the first domino to fall in a global push to rein in Big Tech, as Meta's Instagram, Facebook and Threads began locking out hundreds of thousands of accounts ahead of a deadline next week.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said she had initially expressed concern about the "blunt-force" approach of blocking under-16s from social media but she had come to embrace it after incremental regulatory changes were not effective enough. "We've reached a tipping point," Inman Grant said on Thursday at the Sydney Dialogue, a cyber summit.

"Our data is the currency that fuels these companies, and there are these powerful, harmful, deceptive design features that even adults are powerless to fight against. What chance do our children have?"

Governments around the world were watching as the Australian law takes effect on December 10, and "I've always referred to this as the first domino, which is why they pushed back", she added, referring to the platforms. After more than a year campaigning against the ban which carries a fine of up to A$49.5 million ($33 million), platforms owned by Meta, TikTok, Snap's Snapchat and Alphabet's YouTube have said they will comply. Some 96% of Australian teenagers under 16 - more than a million of the country's 27 million population - have social media accounts, according to eSafety.

Although the law takes effect on December 10, Meta's Instagram, Facebook and Threads began deactivating accounts from Thursday, according to screenshots seen by Reuters.

Most other affected platforms have started contacting underage users advising them to download their photos and contacts and offering the choice of deleting their accounts or freezing them until they turn 16.

"It's a great thing and I'm glad that the pressure is taken off the parents because there's so many mental health implications," said Jennifer Jennison, a Sydney mother.

"Give my kids a break after school and they can rest and hang out with the family." At the conference, Inman Grant said lobbying by the platforms had apparently involved taking their case to the US government, which has asked her to testify at its congressional House Judiciary about what it called an attempt to exert extra-territorial power over American free speech.

Inman Grant didn't say if she would agree to the request but noted that "by virtue of writing to me and asking me to appear before the committee, that's also using extra-territorial reach".

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Altitude Sickness: Don’t Let Your Mountain High Lay You Low

Members of an expedition to reach the summit of Mount Everest stand by their tents at the Everest Base Camp in Nepal on April 28, 2025. (AP)
Members of an expedition to reach the summit of Mount Everest stand by their tents at the Everest Base Camp in Nepal on April 28, 2025. (AP)
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Altitude Sickness: Don’t Let Your Mountain High Lay You Low

Members of an expedition to reach the summit of Mount Everest stand by their tents at the Everest Base Camp in Nepal on April 28, 2025. (AP)
Members of an expedition to reach the summit of Mount Everest stand by their tents at the Everest Base Camp in Nepal on April 28, 2025. (AP)

Be it on Mount Kilimanjaro, in the Andes, Himalayas or somewhere else, mountaineering can give you an unforgettable high. But it comes with a risk that's often underestimated though: altitude sickness.

According to the German press agency (dpa), climbing too quickly can cause serious health problems, experts said.

“The risk of getting altitude sickness significantly increases at an elevation of about 2,500 meters,” said Dr. Tomas Jelinek, scientific director of Germany's Center for Travel Medicine (CRM).

Symptoms include headache, nausea, fatigue and dizziness.

Depending on the region, the number of affected climbers can be quite high.

According to the CRM, as many as 21% of climbers develop symptoms in Nepalese high mountain areas, and from 45 to 75% on Kilimanjaro.

“Altitude sickness is a serious but avoidable problem,” remarked Jelinek, the cause of which is lower oxygen levels in the ambient air: at 5,000 meters they're only about half those at sea level.

“The most effective way to prevent it is to take precautions,” he said.

He recommended that mountaineers plan their climbing tour carefully, get travel medicine advice before setting off and critically examine bookable tours - also with an eye to the ascent profile of the climb.

To help your body adapt to lower oxygen levels, Jelinek said it's good to prepare with high-elevation day treks so long as you sleep at lower elevations afterwards.

Train high, sleep low, in other words.

Rest for a day after every elevation gain of 1,000 meters at the latest.

Beginning at an elevation of 2,500 meters, the elevation at which you sleep shouldn't increase more than 300 to 600 meters daily.

And be sure to drink sufficient fluids, since dehydration can aggravate altitude sickness symptoms.

Increased breathing and heart rates are a normal reaction when acclimating to mountain ascents and have no pathological significance, according to the Institute of International Health at Charité University Hospital in Berlin.

Experts there said signs of an early stage of altitude sickness are headache, nausea and vomiting, fatigue, loss of appetite, dizziness and difficulty sleeping.

If you have symptoms such as headache or dizziness, which usually occur six to 12 hours after quick climbs at elevations over 2,000 meters, you should stop your ascent. The symptoms then typically disappear within one to three days.

If they don't, or your condition worsens, you should descend immediately. The symptoms generally abate after an elevation drop of 500 to 1,000 meters, the health experts said.

In severe cases, you should receive medical assistance if possible. Transport to lower elevations is then imperative. At worst, altitude sickness can be life-threatening, causing your lungs to fill with fluid or your brain to swell.

The experts also pointed out that certain medications, such as acetazolamide and dexamethasone, can help prevent symptoms of altitude sickness. Both are available by prescription only.