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KAPSARC, KSGAAL Launch 3rd Edition of KAPSARC Arabic Award

KAPSARC, KSGAAL Launch 3rd Edition of KAPSARC Arabic Award
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KAPSARC, KSGAAL Launch 3rd Edition of KAPSARC Arabic Award

KAPSARC, KSGAAL Launch 3rd Edition of KAPSARC Arabic Award

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC), in partnership with the King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language (KSGAAL), announced on Sunday that submissions for this year's 3rd edition of the KAPSARC Arabic Award will be open until October 31.

The award aims to enrich Arabic content in energy, economics, and the environment. For the first time, it will target graduate students at Saudi universities and Saudi authors and translators residing in the Kingdom. It will also include professionals from the Saudi energy sector, continuing the focus from previous editions.

This year's award theme is environmental, social, and governance sustainability standards in the energy sector, a crucial topic both locally and globally. This theme aligns with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 goals and aims to support and bolster scientific writing in Arabic. The top winners in each category will receive cash prizes totaling SAR320,000.

President of KAPSARC Eng. Fahad Alajlan emphasized that the award supports Saudi Arabia's efforts to value and elevate the Arabic language, boosting its presence in various scientific and intellectual fields. It also aims to cement KAPSARC's role as a beacon of innovation and knowledge dissemination in energy, economics, and environmental studies.

KSGAAL Secretary-General Dr. Abdullah Al-Washmi stressed that the academy is pleased to recognize and promote the diverse efforts of Saudis in serving and elevating the Arabic language. This collaboration targets researchers, creators, and enthusiasts to acknowledge their achievements and encourage further innovation and usage of the language.

KAPSARC is a leading research and consulting center in energy economics and sustainability. It is dedicated to advancing the energy sector in Saudi Arabia and guiding global policies through evidence-based research and specialized consulting services.

KSGAAL was established to boost the role of the Arabic language regionally and globally, showcasing its value within the broader Arabic and Islamic cultural context and contributing to the goals of Saudi Vision 2030.

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Culture

Syria's Aleppo Set for Revival Despite War Scars to its Heritage

During the four years of fighting before Assad's forces recaptured Aleppo following a devastating siege, the city was virtually emptied - AFP
During the four years of fighting before Assad's forces recaptured Aleppo following a devastating siege, the city was virtually emptied - AFP
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Syria's Aleppo Set for Revival Despite War Scars to its Heritage

During the four years of fighting before Assad's forces recaptured Aleppo following a devastating siege, the city was virtually emptied - AFP
During the four years of fighting before Assad's forces recaptured Aleppo following a devastating siege, the city was virtually emptied - AFP

The historic Baron Hotel in Syria's Aleppo is dilapidated and damaged by years of war but still standing and ready for a revival, much like the city itself.

Aleppo's old city, designated a UNESCO World Heritage site, was ravaged by the conflict that erupted after a government crackdown on protests in 2011.

Between 2012 and 2016, it became a battleground between Syria's military and opposition factions.

The army of now-ousted president Bashar al-Assad shelled opposition fighters from the ground and struck them from the air, supported by Russian firepower.
Opposition groups, meanwhile, used mortars and artisanal rockets, as the fighting turned ancient streets into sniper alleys.

During the four years of fighting before the government recaptured Aleppo following a devastating siege, the city was virtually emptied.

Now, after Assad's fall following a lightning opposition offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, residents are looking forward to reconstruction.

"Unfortunately, more than 60 percent of the edifices in the old city, monuments of the old city of Aleppo, were devastated to ground zero," said Georges Edleby, a tour guide in the city for 35 years.

"Hopefully there will be a day that we see them again restored."

The ancient souks where Aleppo's famed olive oil soap is piled up in stacks for sale has been reduced in many places to little more than rubble.

- 'Hope for a better life' -

Aleppo's medieval citadel, however, remains relatively intact.

Opposition fighters, one with a rose slipped into the barrel of his gun, stood guard outside the ancient ramparts, which Syria's army turned into a stronghold during the war.

Most of the damage in the citadel was caused by a 2023 earthquake, locals say.

Below in the old city, a few alleys of the souk -- once the largest in the world with 4,000 stalls -- have reopened after being restored, including with Saudi financial aid.

Jamal Habbal, 66, has spent all his life under the stone vaults of the old city and reopened his macrame and rope shop there a year ago.

"We have so many memories here. It was a big market that was vibrant and lively. Girls used to come to buy items for their trousseaus. They could find everything," he told AFP.

"And then suddenly, the crisis," he said, reluctant to even say the word war.

"We had to leave. I returned in 2018, but it's still difficult," he added, speaking in a dark and largely deserted alley.

Fadel Fadel has also reopened his shop offering souvenirs, soap and mother-of-pearl inlaid boxes.

"It was completely destroyed here," said the 51-year-old.

He is hoping to see Aleppo returned to its status as a "center of commerce, industry and tourism."

"We hope for a better life."

- Museum ready to reopen -

Outside, dusty streets wind between ruins that await reconstruction and revival.

The Baron Hotel once welcomed Agatha Christie, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser and France's Charles de Gaulle.

Visitors flocked to see the somewhat faded glory of its rooms, as well as its terrace and the unpaid bar bill belonging to one Lawrence of Arabia.

But now, several broken windows adorned with shutters hanging from a single hinge offer a view into a deserted building covered in dust.

The hotel's future is uncertain.

Its last owner, Armen Mazloumian, has passed away. He told AFP back in 2014 that he felt the hotel's glory days were behind it and it would "never be what it once was again".

Nearby, however, the National Museum of Aleppo is readying to reopen. Its courtyard was hit in shelling but its building and collection were spared.

Director Ahmed Othman said the museum "took lessons from the experience of our neighbours," including institutions in Iraq and Lebanon.

"We took the necessary measures to protect our collections," he said.

"The statues that were too heavy to move were encased in concrete and the smaller pieces were moved to safe places."

Treasures that trace nine millennia of history and the birth of writing in nearby Mesopotamia have been preserved unharmed as a result.

"We did many things in order to protect the museum as a whole," said Othman