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Saudi Arabia Launches Int’l Center for Sustainable Travel, Tourism Research

Countries including the US, China, France, Spain and the Netherlands will be involved in the research, in what is viewed as a key step toward worldwide tourism sustainability (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Countries including the US, China, France, Spain and the Netherlands will be involved in the research, in what is viewed as a key step toward worldwide tourism sustainability (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Launches Int’l Center for Sustainable Travel, Tourism Research

Countries including the US, China, France, Spain and the Netherlands will be involved in the research, in what is viewed as a key step toward worldwide tourism sustainability (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Countries including the US, China, France, Spain and the Netherlands will be involved in the research, in what is viewed as a key step toward worldwide tourism sustainability (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Sustainable Tourism Global Center (STGC) has unveiled a new global research hub on the sidelines of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Climate Week in Riyadh.

This initiative, spearheaded by the Saudi Ministry of Tourism, aims to serve as a reference for applied research, best practices, and practical tools designed to expedite the travel and tourism sector's transition towards achieving zero carbon neutrality.

The establishment of this center is a response to the fact that the travel and tourism sector has been responsible for over 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions since 2019.

Without measures to curb these emissions, carbon emissions in the sector are expected to increase by 20% by 2030.

The center has stated its intention to address this issue by forming partnerships with 100 universities and international organizations from around the world by 2030.

These collaborations will focus on investing in practical tools and resources that will promote sustainability within the sector.

Notably, prestigious academic institutions in the US, China, France, Spain, and the Netherlands have already joined the research hub to realize this vision on the ground.

Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Saudi Arabia’s tourism minister, hailed the launch of the center.

“Our objective is clear. With the support of the Sustainable Tourism Global Center and the Ministry of Tourism, we aim for the (new) center to be an indispensable hub of solutions and tools, benefiting every stakeholder,” he said.

The Saudi Tourism Ministry’s special adviser, Gloria Guevara, highlighted the importance of trustworthy tourism data in empowering sustainability projects.

The research hub can serve as a “beacon of modern, trustworthy information” targeted to the particular needs of small and medium-sized businesses, tourists and local communities, she added.

As part of its launch, the research hub showcased a variety of sustainable solutions for the industry, including solar thermal water heaters and sustainable food options.

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Business

Qatar Says to Resume Normal LNG Production 'Within a Few Weeks'

Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani speaks during a press conference in Doha on April 27, 2025. (Photo by Karim JAAFAR / AFP)
Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani speaks during a press conference in Doha on April 27, 2025. (Photo by Karim JAAFAR / AFP)
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Qatar Says to Resume Normal LNG Production 'Within a Few Weeks'

Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani speaks during a press conference in Doha on April 27, 2025. (Photo by Karim JAAFAR / AFP)
Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani speaks during a press conference in Doha on April 27, 2025. (Photo by Karim JAAFAR / AFP)

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said Qatar would resume normal liquefied natural gas production “within a few weeks,” the Financial Times ⁠reported on Wednesday.

QatarEnergy suspended LNG production after the US and Israel launched their ⁠war ⁠on Iran on February 28 following a drone attack on its huge Ras Laffan plant.

Establishing ⁠a hotline between the US and Iran is essential ⁠to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, he told the FT in an interview.

Sheikh Mohammed told the FT that the hotline agreed by the warring parties at their talks in Switzerland was needed to counter “disinformation” and ensure co-ordination while mines were cleared from the crucial waterway.

Sheikh Mohammed said Qatar had already started to prepare its tankers after the warring parties signed a memorandum of understanding last week.

“Within a few weeks, production will come back to normal, except the damaged facility,” Sheikh Mohammed said. “Our teams have been mobilized already for a few weeks.

QatarEnergy is preparing for operations to come back to normal as soon as the situation in the strait normalizes.”

Qatar, which alongside Pakistan mediated high-level talks between the US and Iran in Switzerland on Sunday, also expects shipping in the strait to begin to return to normal within the first few weeks of the deal.

But Sheikh Mohammed cautioned that state-owned QatarEnergy would lift force majeure only “once the company sees they have addressed all the issues, and it’s safe to operate.”

Business

Trump Calls for Probe Into Gasoline Price 'Gouging'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 22: Yellow caution tape is seen wrapped around a gas pump at a Shell gas station on June 22, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 22: Yellow caution tape is seen wrapped around a gas pump at a Shell gas station on June 22, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP
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Trump Calls for Probe Into Gasoline Price 'Gouging'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 22: Yellow caution tape is seen wrapped around a gas pump at a Shell gas station on June 22, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 22: Yellow caution tape is seen wrapped around a gas pump at a Shell gas station on June 22, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he has instructed the Department of Justice to look into oil companies for not lowering gasoline pump prices in line with falling crude costs, and accused the companies of "gouging" customers.

According to Reuters, Trump did not name any companies in his social media post, which came after midnight. The White House and the Justice Department (DOJ) did not respond to a request for further comment outside regular business hours.

Diplomacy between the US and Iran has translated into relief at the pump for Americans, data ⁠showed earlier this ⁠week, with gasoline prices falling for a sixth straight week.

However, Trump said the fall in gasoline prices was neither enough nor proportionate with declines in crude oil costs.

"Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I’m seeing!"

Trump's latest post comes as consumers raise concern ⁠over high gasoline prices, just as the president and fellow Republicans are battling to hold narrow majorities in Congress in November's midterm elections.

The average price of gasoline in the US was $3.906 per gallon early Wednesday, GasBuddy data showed, down more than 14% from the peak in May.

By comparison, over the same period, crude oil prices have fallen 23%, with the US and Iran reaching an interim peace deal and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of global oil ⁠supply ⁠moved before the war began. From their peak in March, US crude prices have sunk about 40%.

"The big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil. Those prices are dropping like a rock! In other words, customers are being "gouged"," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

"I have instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this."

Pump prices remain significantly higher than the $2.764 per gallon recorded in January, more than a month before the Iran conflict began.

Business

Paris Club Says Debt Restructurings Need Improvement

Tourists with an umbrella take a photo in Paris, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena )
Tourists with an umbrella take a photo in Paris, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena )
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Paris Club Says Debt Restructurings Need Improvement

Tourists with an umbrella take a photo in Paris, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena )
Tourists with an umbrella take a photo in Paris, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena )

Despite progress in recent years the process for helping over-indebted countries restructure their public debts needs further improvement, the Paris Club said Tuesday.

The Paris Club brings together 22 mostly Western creditor nations which negotiate together on the terms to reduce the debt burden of countries that can no longer pay back their loans.

The group, in its annual report, said better coordination among creditors, more transparency and better information sharing could help improve the process, AFP reported.

In 2020, the Paris Club and the G20 nations launched a so-called Common Framework to streamline the debt restructuring of eligible low-income countries.

"Over the course of five years, the Common Framework has delivered significant results in practice," the Paris Club's co-chairman, Thomas Revial, said in the report.

He noted that more than $45 billion of external debt has been restructured under the framework.

"Negotiation timeframes have been compressed between each successive case: it took one year to Ethiopia and its official bilateral creditors" to reach a preliminary agreement restructuring $8.4 billion of debt in March 2025.

He noted however that Zambia hasn't fully restructured its debt six years after starting the process, when bilateral deals should be completed within a year of a preliminary agreement being reached.

The Paris Club members negotiate only their bilateral debts with over-indebted countries, but they require that private creditors don't receive more favorable terms, thus helping nations achieve better results.

Revial said one way to facilitate the process further would be to allow debtor countries to share information on the official creditor's debt treatment to its other creditors, without non-disclosure agreements.

"The Common Framework should eventually become the standard framework for sovereign debt restructurings beyond low-income countries," said Revial.

"It is indeed apparent that a lack of coordination of official bilateral creditors can lead to stalemate and prevent debtor countries from recovering," he added.

The Paris Club, which is housed in the French Treasury, celebrates its 70th anniversary this year.