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45.7 Million Visitors Boost Saudi Arabia's Entertainment Sector

Indicators showed the sector continued to expand, with the number of companies operating in it surpassing 7,200. (General Entertainment Authority)
Indicators showed the sector continued to expand, with the number of companies operating in it surpassing 7,200. (General Entertainment Authority)
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45.7 Million Visitors Boost Saudi Arabia's Entertainment Sector

Indicators showed the sector continued to expand, with the number of companies operating in it surpassing 7,200. (General Entertainment Authority)
Indicators showed the sector continued to expand, with the number of companies operating in it surpassing 7,200. (General Entertainment Authority)

Entertainment events and activities across the Kingdom attracted 45.7 million visitors during the first half of 2026, as the General Entertainment Authority (GEA) continued to strengthen the regulatory framework governing the entertainment sector through a series of regulatory and oversight initiatives.

These efforts have enhanced sector efficiency, improved service quality, and strengthened the experience of both investors and visitors, keeping pace with the sector's rapid growth and supporting the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 to build a sustainable and investment-attractive entertainment economy, according to SPA.

GEA made significant progress in regulating the sector by issuing more than 2,500 licenses for entertainment activities and supporting entertainment activities, reflecting the continued expansion of the sector and the growing volume of related business activity and investment. These efforts also contribute to providing a flexible regulatory environment that enables operators to conduct their activities in accordance with the highest approved standards.

As part of its commitment to strengthening compliance and enhancing service quality, GEA conducted more than 8,500 compliance inspections across entertainment activities throughout the Kingdom to verify adherence to regulatory requirements, ensure the quality of services provided, and enhance safety and operational standards, thereby reinforcing the confidence of visitors and investors in the sector.

The authority also continued its efforts to streamline government procedures related to the sector by aligning and coordinating with 29 government entities, helping simplify the investor journey, accelerate regulatory procedures, and strengthen collaboration among relevant stakeholders to create a more efficient and agile governance framework for the entertainment sector.

In the area of classification, GEA issued 1,127 classification certificates during the first half of 2026 as part of implementing its approved classification framework for entertainment activities. The framework aims to elevate service quality, standardize quality benchmarks, and encourage establishments to adopt operational best practices.

The sector's performance indicators reflect its continued growth, with the number of companies operating in the entertainment sector exceeding 7,200, underscoring the sector's increasing attractiveness for investment and the continued expansion of entertainment activities across the Kingdom, supported by an advanced and growth-oriented regulatory environment.

According to SPA, the authority also enabled more than 400 investors to benefit from its Visitor Experience Measurement tools, allowing them to access performance indicators, analyze visitor behavior, and make data-driven decisions that enhance visitor experiences and improve investment efficiency across the sector.

In the same context, GEA prepared more than 900 visitor satisfaction and experience reports, providing a comprehensive knowledge base that supports informed decision-making, contributes to the development of entertainment products and activities, and drives continuous operational improvement through measurable performance indicators.

Commenting on these achievements, Chief Regulatory Affairs Officer at the General Entertainment Authority Majed Alghurabi said: "These results reflect the role undertaken by the authority in building an integrated regulatory ecosystem that extends beyond licensing to include the development of regulations, enhancement of service quality, strengthening of compliance and oversight, performance measurement, and investor enablement. Together, these efforts contribute to reinforcing the Kingdom's position as one of the world's fastest-growing entertainment markets while enhancing the sector's competitiveness as a key driver of the national economy and quality of life."

He added: "Under the guidance of the Kingdom's wise leadership and with the direction and close supervision of Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority Turki Alalshikh, GEA continues to establish an enabling regulatory environment that provides the private sector with the support needed to enrich the entertainment sector through a diverse range of events and entertainment activities. These efforts contribute to achieving the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, strengthen the sector's appeal to domestic and international investors, and expand economic activity in ways that deliver lasting positive impact for the Kingdom."

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Varieties

Don’t Ban Children from Social Media, Estonia Tells EU

The TikTok app icon on a smartphone in this illustration taken October 27, 2025. (Reuters)
The TikTok app icon on a smartphone in this illustration taken October 27, 2025. (Reuters)
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Don’t Ban Children from Social Media, Estonia Tells EU

The TikTok app icon on a smartphone in this illustration taken October 27, 2025. (Reuters)
The TikTok app icon on a smartphone in this illustration taken October 27, 2025. (Reuters)

The European Union should make social media platforms change instead of banning children from using the apps, Estonia's digital minister told AFP Monday, just over a week before the EU is due to announce an age limit.

Estonia has been a lone voice in opposing the EU's plans to restrict children's access to social media, instead calling for online platforms to change.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen is expected to announce a social media ban on September 16, with officials saying an age limit of 13 or 15 is under discussion.

But IT-savvy Estonia argues the tech giants have prime responsibility for making their popular platforms safer for minors.

"As children are members of the information society, it's actually the platforms who should change," Estonian Justice and Digital Affairs Minister Liisa-Ly Pakosta said.

"The best interests and rights of the child must guide platforms' design, and that is useful for the whole society," she said in a video interview.

Pakosta pointed to the EU's content law known as the Digital Services Act (DSA) as one way for the bloc to demand platforms change.

She argues for instance that the EU's recommendations for platforms under the DSA to protect children online should be made legally binding.

The EU has already deployed the law to probe Meta's Facebook and Instagram as well as TikTok, and told the platforms to change their "addictive" designs.

Varieties

‘Slumping’ South Korean Corals Worry Divers, Scientists Studying Climate Change

Kang Do-hyung, principal research scientist at Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology and former Oceans and Fisheries Minister, checks corals with researchers at a lab called Jeju Tropica, in Jeju, on Jeju Island, South Korea, August 20, 2026. (Reuters)
Kang Do-hyung, principal research scientist at Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology and former Oceans and Fisheries Minister, checks corals with researchers at a lab called Jeju Tropica, in Jeju, on Jeju Island, South Korea, August 20, 2026. (Reuters)
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‘Slumping’ South Korean Corals Worry Divers, Scientists Studying Climate Change

Kang Do-hyung, principal research scientist at Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology and former Oceans and Fisheries Minister, checks corals with researchers at a lab called Jeju Tropica, in Jeju, on Jeju Island, South Korea, August 20, 2026. (Reuters)
Kang Do-hyung, principal research scientist at Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology and former Oceans and Fisheries Minister, checks corals with researchers at a lab called Jeju Tropica, in Jeju, on Jeju Island, South Korea, August 20, 2026. (Reuters)

Ko Myeong-hyo loved the vibrant color and thriving life of South Korea's soft corals when she first began diving off the coast of Jeju island six years ago, looking to harvest seafood for sale.

"Watching the coral garden collapse and turn white, it was so disorienting," Ko says now, after two years of rising temperatures and harsher weather brought by climate change have led to many corals slumping over and dying.

"I was afraid the whole sea might be collapsing."

The "slumping" phenomenon is showing up again this year, says the Paran Ocean Citizen Science Center, a group of divers who monitor the island's UNESCO-listed soft corals, mostly around uninhabited islets south of Jeju.

Roughly half of one cluster off the islet of Beomseom has been struggling in past months, the group says.

Unlike hard corals supported by rigid calcium carbonate skeletons, soft corals rely on internal fluid pressure to keep upright. Environmental changes can disrupt that pressure, leading them to sag or collapse.

"If another large-scale 'slumping' happens, corals partially recover and ‌then a lot ‌break off and deteriorate again, and that keeps repeating, their capacity to recover just keeps declining," ‌said ⁠researcher Kim Taihun.

Kim ⁠and Anna Beate Jöst, a colleague at the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST), documented Jeju's 2024 soft coral slumping event for the first time in a May article in the journal Scientific Reports.

In an email, Korea Heritage Service, which manages the soft coral colonies designated a national monument, said it has monitored the situation this year and will keep up long-term research to identify the reasons for the changes.

The Oceans Ministry, which oversees marine protected species and areas such as soft corals, added that it plans detailed investigation to gauge the scale of damage.

EL NINO COULD WORSEN THIS YEAR'S EVENT

Kim said this year's event looked similar to that of 2024, but could worsen should high water temperatures persist ⁠through September, and the El Nino weather phenomenon may trigger typhoons and heavy rains.

But he called for ‌consistent and quantitative monitoring of the loss of soft corals through slumping, citing a ‌lack of research support.

Climate change has hit corals globally, with perhaps the world's most famous colonies on Australia's Great Barrier Reef getting the most attention.

A record ‌heatwave has parched the Korean peninsula this year while heavy rains have pelted the south.

Coral researchers say such weather conditions, as ‌well as water flowing down from China's Yangtze River to affect the area's salinity, are potential triggers for "slumping".

Jeju's waters have given safe harbor to soft coral communities, sensitive to environmental conditions and living on the edge of tolerable conditions in the northernmost limit of coral distribution in the East China Sea.

Soft coral functions as the nursery underpinning Jeju's marine ecosystem, and soft coral communities reside in the UNESCO-listed Jeju Island Biosphere Reserve.

"The seaweed sea, the coral ‌sea, is the foundational ecosystem underlying Jeju's marine ecology," said Yoon Sanghoon, an environmental expert at Paran.

"So if this base ecosystem collapses, there's a real possibility the entire marine ecosystem could collapse."

Over the ⁠past decade, marine heatwaves around ⁠Korea have extended almost four times longer, at 83.3 days, weather authorities say.

RIPPLING IMPACT

Paran, formed in 2023 by Jeju residents concerned by marine changes, brings together office workers, traditional divers and documentary filmmakers who flock there for monthly dives.

They plunge to the coral bed to take photograph and document changes they provide to scientists.

While Ko, a third-generation Jeju "haenyeo" or "sea woman", can dive to a depth of as much as 8 m (26 ft) relying on her own breath, she carries an oxygen tank on coral dives to greater depths.

The warming waters have affected the seabed in other ways, said her mother, 70-year-old Son Choon-sook, who began diving 45 years ago, when species such as turban shells, abalone and sea cucumber were abundant and thick seaweed festooned the rocks.

"I've worked at the sea for about 45 years, earned money, and sent my children to school on it," she said. "Now the catch has run dry, and it makes me very sad."

The thinning catch of the past few years follows summers that make the water too hot for species to spawn, she added, and her workday has shrunk to three hours from five formerly, as there is less to gather, but partly also for reasons of health.

Ko said her most recent dives in the summer have worried her again. "Rather than the beautiful coral shapes, I feel like I'm seeing more sick coral now," she added.

Varieties

Can Dogs Sniff Cancer? AI Joins the Hunt in India

A growing body of global research suggests dogs can be trained to detect cancer and other human illnesses. Idrees MOHAMMED / AFP
A growing body of global research suggests dogs can be trained to detect cancer and other human illnesses. Idrees MOHAMMED / AFP
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Can Dogs Sniff Cancer? AI Joins the Hunt in India

A growing body of global research suggests dogs can be trained to detect cancer and other human illnesses. Idrees MOHAMMED / AFP
A growing body of global research suggests dogs can be trained to detect cancer and other human illnesses. Idrees MOHAMMED / AFP

When rescue dog Chloe is not tumbling across the grass on a farm outside India's tech capital Bengaluru, she is learning to sniff human breath for cancer with a little help from AI.

Fitted with a 3D-printed helmet and harness packed with sensors, Chloe is part of experimental efforts to use dogs' extraordinary sense of smell to develop a non-invasive test for the disease.

A growing body of global research suggests dogs can be trained to detect cancer and other human illnesses, from Parkinson's to Covid-19.

The Bengaluru-based startup Dognosis is using AI to analyze dogs' brain activity, respiration and body language -- turning their reaction to scent into data.

"In an hour, they can do thousands of sniffs," co-founder Akash Kulgod, 26, told AFP. "Each sniff can evaluate a sample."

Dognosis hopes to launch commercially next year, which it says would make it the third company of its kind, after firms from Germany and Israel.

Early detection can make a crucial difference to cancer survival rates, but in India many patients are diagnosed only after the disease has advanced.

Dog sniffs could provide an easy and affordable first layer of screening to be deployed at scale, finding potential cases for further testing.

As it chases commercial approval, Dognosis -- backed by venture-capital firms including Accel India -- is collaborating with government medical institutions for its research.

Chloe, a Labrador mix, is one of 15 dogs being coached by the startup, clad in customized data-gathering helmets.

"It's like a doggy 'Iron Man' suit," said Kulgod, who comes from a family of doctors and studied cognitive science at the University of California, Berkeley.

- 'Promising' study -

Research suggests diseases can alter the chemicals released by the body, creating distinctive odors.

Dogs have around 300 million scent receptors, compared to about five million in humans.

The testing method is simple: a patient breathes into a cotton mask for about 10 minutes, and the mask is then sealed in a bag and taken to the lab. Patients do not meet the dogs.

A recent Dognosis study of more than 1,500 participants, involving six hospitals in Karnataka state, was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The company said it achieved an accuracy rate of more than 90 percent across seven major types of cancer, and now plans to test in real-world programs.

Cancer specialists in Bengaluru independent of the project voiced cautious optimism.

"The study is promising, as an early signal," said Santhosh Kumar Devadas, head of oncology at Ramaiah Memorial Hospital.

"But they need to do the study with a much larger group before we make any definitive conclusions."

Neelesh Reddy, a senior consultant oncologist at Manipal Hospitals, told AFP that "only time will tell how this technology will be useful to the actual patients".

- Dog 'work-life balance' -

India has described cancer as a major public health concern, saying one in nine of its 1.4 billion people are likely to develop the disease.

Dognosis says it aims to improve "proactive and preventative medicine" while boosting "human-canine communication".

Most of the dogs are beagles, along with some Malinois and Shepherd mixes, brought on board through adoption or legal breeders.

But only the best are selected, said Kulgod. The dog team individually lists each animal on the company website as an official "sniffer", alongside their photographs.

All have a great "work-life balance", with work time limited to around 30-45 minutes a day, he added.

At a center called "Sniffspace", dogs test human samples on platforms equipped with automatic feeders dispensing dog treats.

Kulgod's co-founder Itamar Bitan, 28, who spent four years in an Israeli special-forces canine unit, said the dogs were trained using "positive reinforcement" to detect a "specific funky smell" for a reward.

"Some of the dogs run directly to the feeder expecting rewards, some dogs freeze, some dogs will scratch the sample with excitement," Bitan said.

"But, as long as the machine that learns how the dogs react to the sample is very consistent... we don't really mind."