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Saudi Space Commission Reviews Plans for Exploration Missions to Mars, Moon

Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of the Saudi Space Commission. (Saudi Space Commission)
Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of the Saudi Space Commission. (Saudi Space Commission)
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Saudi Space Commission Reviews Plans for Exploration Missions to Mars, Moon

Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of the Saudi Space Commission. (Saudi Space Commission)
Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of the Saudi Space Commission. (Saudi Space Commission)

The Saudi Space Commission is reviewing the track of work put into sending exploratory missions to both the Moon and Mars. Concerned authorities in the kingdom have prepared several programs for building national cadres and expanding investment in the space field.

Commission Chairman Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz announced that the agency completed all stages of its establishment and concluded many partnerships and agreements both locally and internationally.

Heading the Commission’s fourth board meeting, which was held via videoconference, Prince Sultan thanked King Salman bin Abdulaziz for the support shown by the country’s leadership and stressed that the kingdom maintains a leading role in the field of space.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is able to maintain leadership by relying on its educated and qualified children who have made many achievements at various levels,” a statement by the Commission, which Asharq Al-Awsat obtained a copy of, cited Prince Sultan as saying.

Prince Sultan explained that King Salman had witnessed Saudi Arabia’s pioneering and historic journey to space in 1985.

Including over 30 Saudi scientists, the mission was met with great success and managed to inspire many countries in the region and the world to invest in outer space for the benefit of humanity.

On raising the levels of investment in the sector, Prince Sultan said that the Commission was cooperating with the Saudi Investment ministry and Public Investment Fund (PIF).

According to the chairman, only a few weeks separate the Commission from launching an entire branch centered on boosting and encouraging investment in the space field.

Apart from securing funds, the new domain will enable the involvement of SMEs.

More so, Prince Sultan predicted that the Kingdom, in two years’ time, will finish assembling an integrated crew with international space agencies. The team is expected to mount space exploration missions to Mars and the Moon.

Prince Sultan also congratulated the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on it Mars “Hope” Probe successfully entering the planet’s orbit.

He affirmed the kingdom’s support for the efforts of the UAE in the projects and programs it is working on in the field of space.

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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.