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Saudi Arabia: Royal Commission for AlUla Signs Partnership with French Sorbonne

The agreement aims to build capacities, exchange knowledge, and establish integrated systems for research, training, and information sharing. SPA
The agreement aims to build capacities, exchange knowledge, and establish integrated systems for research, training, and information sharing. SPA
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Saudi Arabia: Royal Commission for AlUla Signs Partnership with French Sorbonne

The agreement aims to build capacities, exchange knowledge, and establish integrated systems for research, training, and information sharing. SPA
The agreement aims to build capacities, exchange knowledge, and establish integrated systems for research, training, and information sharing. SPA

The Royal Commission for AlUla has entered into a partnership agreement with Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University to establish the Jaussen and Savignac Center for Archaeological Research in AlUla and Paris, alongside a named chair to foster academic excellence and archaeological research.

This collaboration aligns with efforts to implement the comprehensive development plan for AlUla and deepen cooperation with leading institutions in culture, heritage, and education.

The agreement aims to build capacities, exchange knowledge, and establish integrated systems for research, training, and information sharing, documenting 200,000 years of human history in one of the world's largest archaeological reference libraries.

It seeks to develop cooperation in scientific studies and the fields of tourism, archaeology, history, and arts, contributing to AlUla's growth journey and cementing its position as the world's largest living museum and a global center for culture and heritage.

The partnership includes holding an annual symposium that provides a collaborative environment for academics, students, and Ph.D. candidates, encouraging dialogue among various disciplines and cultures, in addition to offering a master's program in archaeology and the conservation and restoration of cultural heritage.

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Australia Bans Uranium Mining at Indigenous Site

A view shows a sign at the Energy Resources Australia (ERA) Ranger Project Area in Kakadu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Northern Territory, Australia, July 11, 2024. (Reuters)
A view shows a sign at the Energy Resources Australia (ERA) Ranger Project Area in Kakadu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Northern Territory, Australia, July 11, 2024. (Reuters)
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Australia Bans Uranium Mining at Indigenous Site

A view shows a sign at the Energy Resources Australia (ERA) Ranger Project Area in Kakadu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Northern Territory, Australia, July 11, 2024. (Reuters)
A view shows a sign at the Energy Resources Australia (ERA) Ranger Project Area in Kakadu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Northern Territory, Australia, July 11, 2024. (Reuters)

Australia moved Saturday to ban mining at one of the world's largest high-grade uranium deposits, highlighting the site's "enduring connection" to Indigenous Australians.

The Jabiluka deposit in northern Australia is surrounded by the heritage-listed Kakadu national park, a tropical expanse of gorges and waterfalls featured in the first "Crocodile Dundee" film.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the national park would be extended to include the Jabiluka site -- which has never been mined -- honoring the decades-long desires of the Mirrar people.

"They were seeking a guarantee that there would never be uranium mining on their land," Albanese told a crowd of Labor Party supporters in Sydney.

"This means there will never be mining at Jabiluka," he added.

Archaeologists discovered a buried trove of stone axes and tools near the Jabiluka site in 2017, which they dated at tens of thousands of years old.

The find was "proof of the extraordinary and enduring connection Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander have had with our land", Albanese said.

"The Mirrar people have loved and cared for their land for more than 60,000 years.

"That beautiful part of Australia is home to some of the oldest rock art in the world," he added.

Discovered in the early 1970s, efforts to exploit the Jabiluka deposit have for decades been tied-up in legal wrangling between Indigenous custodians and mining companies.

It is one of the world's largest unexploited high-grade uranium deposits, according to the World Nuclear Association.

Rio Tinto-controlled company Energy Resources of Australia previously held mining leases at Jabiluka.

The conservation of Indigenous sites has come under intense scrutiny in Australia after mining company Rio Tinto blew up the 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge rock shelters in 2020.

Australia's conservative opposition has vowed to build nuclear power plants across the country if it wins the next election, overturning a 26-year nuclear ban.