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Saudi Arabia Promotes Investment Environment to Fund Cultural Projects

A night view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A night view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Promotes Investment Environment to Fund Cultural Projects

A night view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A night view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)

Saudi Arabia’s Cultural Development Fund launched a partnership with the private sector to bolster the investment environment in the cultural field and provide a crowdfunding opportunity for the first creative projects.

The partnership agreement was signed with Beehive company, which provides an inspiring environment for entrepreneurs and artists.

The Fund, which was established with a capital of half a billion riyals (about $133.32 million), seeks to support cultural development and its sustainability by allocating sustainable funding from the public and private sectors with optimal financing mechanisms to support cultural projects and ensure their success.

It seeks to boost crowdfunding opportunities and investment in the cultural sector to develop small and medium enterprises in an attempt to advance the cultural sector, develop promising cultural projects, and provide liquidity to revive the creative movement.

The Saudi cultural sector is preparing for a phase of thriving arts, culture and creative production, in line with investment plans in the sector and efforts to enhance its role in quality of life and sustainable economic development.

Head of Strategy and Partnerships at King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) Fatmah al-Rashid said the sustainability of cultural projects is one of the key challenges facing the sector.

Institutions are trying to address this challenge through many ways that ensure ongoing production, Rashid added.

She pointed out that the demand for the cultural products is greater than the supply, which requires efforts to develop initiatives and projects and encourage production and talents.

She further indicated that the Saudi institutions operating in the cultural field are expected to support the promising cultural sector, emerging talents, youth capabilities, and cultural and creative content.

She stressed that these efforts help in promoting the growth of the creative sector, expand its scope by creating jobs and providing an added value to the national economy and the innovation industry in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 to transform into a knowledge-based economy.

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Varieties

'Pinprick of Light': Artemis Crew Witnesses Meteorite Impacts on Moon

In this image provided by NASA, the Artemis II crew captured this view as the Earth sets behind the Moon during a lunar flyby, Monday, April 6, 2026. (NASA via AP)
In this image provided by NASA, the Artemis II crew captured this view as the Earth sets behind the Moon during a lunar flyby, Monday, April 6, 2026. (NASA via AP)
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'Pinprick of Light': Artemis Crew Witnesses Meteorite Impacts on Moon

In this image provided by NASA, the Artemis II crew captured this view as the Earth sets behind the Moon during a lunar flyby, Monday, April 6, 2026. (NASA via AP)
In this image provided by NASA, the Artemis II crew captured this view as the Earth sets behind the Moon during a lunar flyby, Monday, April 6, 2026. (NASA via AP)

During their historic lunar flyby, astronauts on NASA's Artemis II mission witnessed meteorites striking the rugged surface of the Moon, a sight that has piqued scientists' curiosity.

"That was definitely impact flashes on the moon. And Jeremy (Hansen) just saw another one," mission commander Reid Wiseman reported on Monday while flying around the Moon -- the first such journey by humans in more than half a century.

"Amazed," replied Kelsey Young, the mission's lunar science lead, as she followed the spacecraft from more than 250,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) away on Earth.

"I don't know if I expected to have the crew see any on this mission, so you probably saw the surprise and shock on my face," she said, recounting the strikes at a press briefing the next day.

Among NASA's team in Houston, there were "audible screams of delight" from scientists when the crew described flashes of light caused by meteorite impact, Young said.

The phenomenon is "something that we have not witnessed often," the mission's backup astronaut Jenni Gibbons told AFP.

"They were really high priority science for us, so the fact that they saw four or five was just outstanding."

As the astronauts hurtled towards home, NASA asked them on Tuesday about the meteorite strikes they saw during their nearly seven-hour observation period.

"Were they prolonged? And did you notice any color?" Young asked.

"It's a pinprick of light," replied Canadian crew member Hansen. "I would suspect there were a lot more of them."

"I would say they were a millisecond, like the fastest a camera shutter can open and close," added Wiseman, who said the flashes were "white to bluish white."

"To me there was no doubt we were seeing it, and we were all seeing it," he added.

According to NASA's tally, the team -- which broke the record for the furthest distance from Earth during their flyby -- reported a total of six meteorite impacts on the lunar surface.

Ground crews are now working to match these observations with data from a satellite orbiting the Moon, said Young, adding that the majority of the sightings took place during a solar eclipse, when the Moon passed in front of the Sun.

"I'm personally... surprised they would see that many, although they (had) been trained to look for them," said Bruce Betts, chief scientist at the Planetary Society.

According to Betts, the descriptions will allow scientists to "get some idea of the frequency of impact" as well as the size of the projectiles.

One question was what size an object needed to be to create a flash visible to the astronauts, Betts said.

"It's not a piece of dust, but it's not a meter-size boulder, either."

The observations raise questions and show that the "daily flux of meteors should be monitored more closely in the future before a lunar base is established," said Peter Schultz, Professor Emeritus of Geological Sciences at Brown University.

On Earth, smaller objects "burn up high in the... atmosphere due to friction" before they reach the ground, noted Betts, which is not the case on Earth's natural satellite.

"There is more of a challenge on the Moon," he said.

Varieties

Greece to Ban Social Media for Under 15-year-olds

FILE PHOTO: Instagram app icon is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken October 27, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Instagram app icon is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken October 27, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Greece to Ban Social Media for Under 15-year-olds

FILE PHOTO: Instagram app icon is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken October 27, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Instagram app icon is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken October 27, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Greece will ban access to social media for children under 15 from January 1, 2027, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday.

"We have decided to go ahead with a difficult but necessary measure: ban access to social media for children under 15-years-old," he said in a video posted on TikTok.

"Greece is among the first countries in the world to adopt such a measure," the prime minister said, adding that he would put pressure on the European Union to follow suit.

Mitsotakis said he used social media to make the announcement so he could address teenagers and children directly: "I know that some of you are going to be angry.... Our aim is not to keep you away from technology but to combat addiction to certain applications that harms your innocence and your freedom."

"Science is clear: when a child is in front of screens for hours, their brain does not rest," he said.

Australia in December became the first country in the world to require TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and other top sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, or face heavy fines.

Indonesia began enforcing a social media ban for users under the age of 16 in March, and has already issued summons letters to Google and Meta over their failure to comply with the law.

Austria announced last month it would soon ban social media for children up to the age of 14, with a plan to present a new law "as early as this summer."

Spain and Denmark have also announced their intention to introduce a digital age of majority for social networks.
 

Varieties

11-Year-old UK Girl Turns Marsh Trees Into Quirky Characters

There are currently 16 trees in Hackney Marsh's which feature stories
There are currently 16 trees in Hackney Marsh's which feature stories
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11-Year-old UK Girl Turns Marsh Trees Into Quirky Characters

There are currently 16 trees in Hackney Marsh's which feature stories
There are currently 16 trees in Hackney Marsh's which feature stories

Visitors taking a stroll along the River Lea in Hackney Marshes may spot a series of signs fixed to the trees, each sharing an eccentric, whimsical tale.

An 11-year-old girl is behind the notices and over the past year has spent her family walks inventing backstories for each tree.

Niovi's project, called the Talking Tree Collective, now features characters.

Among them is Humble Dick. His story reads: “In the war of 1952 between the local gang of sting nettles and a group of young saplings over a patch of scrubland, the brave Professor Humble Dick the Fourth was the last shoot standing.”

Other characters include Bernard the litter picking tree who is described as a “descendant of a legendary environmentalist lineage” inspired by nature documentaries.

Niovi told BBC London “it started like a year ago when we walked around the marshes and we saw funny looking trees. We would make stories for them and then we eventually gave them personalities and names.”

Each tree's backstory comes from its appearance - for example, if a tree has a dent, she will imagine how it might have got it.

What started as a simple game during family walks with Coco the dog has since grown into a small, unofficial literacy trail.

The signs are anonymous, attributed only to the “Talking Tree Collective,” leaving their author a mystery until Niovi came forward.

Her father, Doug, helped her make the signs but leaves most of the creativity to Niovi.

Doug said: “I've mostly been consigned to laminating and printing, so I leave the imagination to Niovi. I think news is pretty tough at the moment, so it's nice to do something which is a bit more joyous.”

The signs are expected to remain in place for a few weeks, giving passers by a brief glimpse into Niovi's world.