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UNESCO Member States Give Green Light to US Return

FILE PHOTO: A UNESCO sign is seen at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, May 29, 2023. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A UNESCO sign is seen at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, May 29, 2023. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo
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UNESCO Member States Give Green Light to US Return

FILE PHOTO: A UNESCO sign is seen at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, May 29, 2023. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A UNESCO sign is seen at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, May 29, 2023. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo

UNESCO's member states backed the United States' return to the United Nations' cultural organization almost five years after then-President Donald Trump ordered an American withdrawal, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday.
"I am encouraged and grateful that today the (UNESCO) membership accepted our proposal, which will allow the United States to take the next, formal steps toward fully rejoining the organization," Blinken said in a statement.
UNESCO - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - is best known for designating and protecting archaeological and heritage sites, from the Galapagos Islands to the tombs of Timbuktu, Reuters said.
Trump withdrew the US from the Paris-based organization in 2018 over accusations of anti-Israel bias and mismanagement. Most of UNESCO's activities are not controversial - but issues such as resolutions about how religious sites should be run in Jerusalem have been highly charged.
UNESCO's director-general, Audrey Azoulay, has said those issues were now a thing of the past after finding consensus between Israeli and Palestinians.
The US State Department indicated in a letter dated June 8 that it wanted to rejoin UNESCO in July as a full member and that it intended to repay $619 million in arrears in installments over several years.
The member states approved the US return at an extraordinary session this week, Blinken said on Friday.
The 2018 pullout by the United States - which had provided a fifth of UNESCO's funding - threw the organization into turmoil.
Israel also pulled out of UNESCO following Washington's departure. At this stage, there are no negotiations for its return, Azoulay has said.
US law forbids Washington from funding UN bodies that have admitted Palestine as a full member. The American return to UNESCO was enabled after a waiver from Congress earlier this year, which will be in effect until the end of 2025.
UNESCO was founded in the ashes of World War Two to protect humanity's common cultural inheritance.

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Culture

Rome to Charge Tourists to Get Close to the Famed Trevi Fountain

A visitor takes a photo of Rome's Trevi Fountain, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, as the city municipality announced that, starting on Feb. 1, it will impose a 2 euro fee for tourists to visit the recessed fountain edge. (AP)
A visitor takes a photo of Rome's Trevi Fountain, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, as the city municipality announced that, starting on Feb. 1, it will impose a 2 euro fee for tourists to visit the recessed fountain edge. (AP)
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Rome to Charge Tourists to Get Close to the Famed Trevi Fountain

A visitor takes a photo of Rome's Trevi Fountain, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, as the city municipality announced that, starting on Feb. 1, it will impose a 2 euro fee for tourists to visit the recessed fountain edge. (AP)
A visitor takes a photo of Rome's Trevi Fountain, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, as the city municipality announced that, starting on Feb. 1, it will impose a 2 euro fee for tourists to visit the recessed fountain edge. (AP)

Tourists who want to get close to Rome's Trevi Fountain will soon have to pay a two-euro ($2.34) fee, the city mayor said on Friday, as authorities look to profit more handsomely from Italy's many attractions.

Mayor Roberto Gualtieri told reporters the new payment system would start on February 1, adding that the measure was expected to raise 6.5 million euros a year.

"Two euros isn't very much ... and it will lead to less chaotic tourist flows," Gualtieri said, stressing that citizens of Rome will continue to have free access to the fountain.

Tourists will ‌have to ‌pay if they want to get ‌onto ⁠the stone steps ‌surrounding the fountain's basin, while the small surrounding square offering a view of the imposing monument will remain open for everyone.

The Trevi Fountain, where tradition dictates that visitors toss a coin into the water to guarantee their return to Rome, has long been a major tourist attraction, even for visiting world leaders.

Completed in 1762, the monument is ⁠a late Baroque masterpiece depicting Oceanus and symbolizing the varying ‌moods of the world's seas and ‍rivers.

It has received nine million ‍visitors so far this year, Gualtieri said, suggesting that he ‍expects many people will opt to view the fountain from afar in future, rather than pay to get near the water.

Visitors on Friday said they would be willing to pay if the money was put to good use.

"If it means that money is used to keep it maintained, then yeah, that's fine," said British ⁠tourist Yvonne Salustri.

Gualtieri said five other relatively unknown sites in Rome that are currently free will start charging five euros for access from February, continuing the recent trend aimed at squeezing profits from Italy's cultural heritage.

In 2023, a five-euro entrance fee was introduced for Rome's ancient Pantheon. As a result, the square outside is often crammed with people waiting for their turn to pay and enter.

Venice has introduced a tourist entry-fee system during the peak travel season, while Verona this month began charging for access to the balcony in ‌the northern Italian city that is associated with Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet".

Culture

ICAIRE Launches Data, AI Glossary to Mark World Arabic Language Day

The interactive edition enables users to easily browse AI- and data-related terminology in Arabic, English, and French
The interactive edition enables users to easily browse AI- and data-related terminology in Arabic, English, and French
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ICAIRE Launches Data, AI Glossary to Mark World Arabic Language Day

The interactive edition enables users to easily browse AI- and data-related terminology in Arabic, English, and French
The interactive edition enables users to easily browse AI- and data-related terminology in Arabic, English, and French

The International Center for Artificial Intelligence Research and Ethics (ICAIRE) announced the launch of an interactive edition of the Data and Artificial Intelligence Glossary, in cooperation with the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), the King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language (KSGAAL), and the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO).

The launch coincides with World Arabic Language Day, observed annually on December 18.

The dictionary aims to preserve the Arabic language, enrich Arabic digital content with technical terminology and concepts, raise awareness of modern concepts, and facilitate access to information for researchers and practitioners.

It seeks to unify technical terminology in support of the development of the digital economy and the building of a sustainable knowledge-based future.

The interactive edition enables users to easily browse AI- and data-related terminology in Arabic, English, and French, and allows users to interact with the dictionary by adding terms in various dialects.

These enhance knowledge exchange and help ensure the unification and integration of efforts among scientific and technical institutions both regionally and internationally. The dictionary includes more than 1,200 technical terms.

Culture

Jeddah Book Fair Highlights World Arabic Language Day with Discussion on Literature’s Global Reach

The event was held under the cultural program overseen by the Saudi Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission
The event was held under the cultural program overseen by the Saudi Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission
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Jeddah Book Fair Highlights World Arabic Language Day with Discussion on Literature’s Global Reach

The event was held under the cultural program overseen by the Saudi Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission
The event was held under the cultural program overseen by the Saudi Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission

As part of its World Arabic Language Day celebration, the Jeddah Book Fair 2025 has organized a panel discussion on expanding Arabic literature’s global reach.

The event was held under the cultural program overseen by the Saudi Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission. Several female academics and other literature enthusiasts took part.

The panel discussed the concept of world literature and its relationship to comparative literature, stressing that opening Arabic texts to the world’s literature requires moving beyond local geographic boundaries and engaging in wider circles of reception and circulation.

The discussion also highlighted the key role of the press and media in conveying literary texts and reaching global readers, while praising Saudi efforts to internationalize Arabic literature through clear plans and strategies as a sustainable institutional approach.

The panel is part of the commission’s efforts to mark global occasions linked to Arabic literature and culture within an integrated cultural program offered by the Jeddah Book Fair, which continues to welcome visitors until December 20, with Saudi and Arab publishing houses showcasing the latest literary releases.