عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Saudi Arabia’s GEA to Host 1st Entertainment Forum in Mideast

General Entertainment Authority logo
General Entertainment Authority logo
    Asharq A-Awsat
TT
TT

Saudi Arabia’s GEA to Host 1st Entertainment Forum in Mideast

General Entertainment Authority logo
General Entertainment Authority logo

The General Entertainment Authority (GEA), in partnership with the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), will organize the International Entertainment Forum on March 5-8, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Considered the first of its kind in the Middle East, the forum will have a number of panel sessions that will bring together international experts in the entertainment industry and will introduce its visitors to the Kingdom’s largest entertainment cities, facilities, and projects, SPA said.

An exhibition will be organized on the sidelines of the forum for local and global companies specialized in show business. The exhibition will provide unique networking opportunities and exchange of expertise for participating international investors.

The forum, where IAAPA will be participating for the first time in the Middle East since its establishment in 2018, also aims at exploring the latest innovations in the entertainment industry and enhancing the performance of relevant initiatives, as well as introducing participants to the business and event success measurement tools and challenge solving mechanisms, SPA said.

A specialized vocational development program, presented by IAAPA’s Institute for Attractions Managers, will be organized during the forum with the aim of exchanging expertise and best practices in the entertainment industry applied by top global companies in the field.

A number of panel sessions have been organized on the Kingdom’s major projects being developed, and there will be an exhibition with accompanying pavilions where companies can display their products and services.

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

In Hiroshima, Nobel Prize Brings Survivors Hope, Sense of Duty

Teruko Yahata, who survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, gestures, as she speaks at an interview with Reuters on the following day of The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) winning the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, in Hiroshima, Japan, October 12, 2024. (Reuters)
Teruko Yahata, who survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, gestures, as she speaks at an interview with Reuters on the following day of The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) winning the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, in Hiroshima, Japan, October 12, 2024. (Reuters)
TT
TT

In Hiroshima, Nobel Prize Brings Survivors Hope, Sense of Duty

Teruko Yahata, who survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, gestures, as she speaks at an interview with Reuters on the following day of The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) winning the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, in Hiroshima, Japan, October 12, 2024. (Reuters)
Teruko Yahata, who survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, gestures, as she speaks at an interview with Reuters on the following day of The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) winning the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, in Hiroshima, Japan, October 12, 2024. (Reuters)

Almost eight decades after an atomic bomb devastated her hometown of Hiroshima, Teruko Yahata carries the scar on her forehead from when she was knocked over by the force of the blast.

The US bombs that laid waste to Hiroshima on the morning of Aug. 6, 1945, and to Nagasaki three days later, changed the course of history and left Yahata and other survivors with deep scars and a sense of responsibility toward disarmament.

The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday to the Nihon Hidankyo group of atomic bomb survivors, for its work warning of the dangers of nuclear arms, has given survivors hope and highlighted their work still ahead, Yahata and others said.

"It felt as if a light suddenly shone through. I felt like I could see the light," the 87-year-old said on Saturday, describing her reaction to hearing about the award.

"This feels like the first step, the beginning of a movement toward nuclear abolition," she told Reuters at the site of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

She was just 8 years old and in the back garden of her home when the bomb hit. Although her house was 2.5 km (1.5 miles) from the hypocenter, the blast was strong enough to throw her several meters back into her house, she said.

Seventy-nine years later, and a day after the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the survivors the prize, a long line formed outside the museum, with dozens of foreign and Japanese visitors queuing up to get in.

A bridge leading into the memorial park was decorated with a yellow sheet and other handmade signs against nuclear weapons. Campaigners gathered signatures for nuclear abolition from those passing by.

Nihon Hidankyo, formed in 1956, has provided thousands of witness accounts, issued resolutions and public appeals, sent delegations to the UN and peace conferences, and collected signatures advocating nuclear disarmament.

Yahata, who is not a Nihon Hidankyo member, said it was that drive to gather signatures that finally paid off after bearing little fruit for most of a century.

"It's this amount of sadness and joy that led them to this peace prize. I think it's something very meaningful," she said.

Nihon Hidankyo's co-chair, Toshiyuki Mimaki, said he felt the award meant more responsibility, adding that most atomic bomb survivors were more than 85 years old.

"Rather than feeling purely happy, I feel like I have more responsibility now," he told Reuters, sitting in a Hidankyo office in Hiroshima in front of a map showing the impact of the bomb on the city.

In rural areas the group is on the verge of falling apart, the 82-year-old said. "The big challenge now is what to do going forward."