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Arab Culture Ministers Conference Focuses on Cultural Industries, Digital Transformation

People watch the sunset at the Erg Chebbi sand dunes in the Sahara desert outside Merzouga, Morocco December 7, 2024. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi
People watch the sunset at the Erg Chebbi sand dunes in the Sahara desert outside Merzouga, Morocco December 7, 2024. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi
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Arab Culture Ministers Conference Focuses on Cultural Industries, Digital Transformation

People watch the sunset at the Erg Chebbi sand dunes in the Sahara desert outside Merzouga, Morocco December 7, 2024. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi
People watch the sunset at the Erg Chebbi sand dunes in the Sahara desert outside Merzouga, Morocco December 7, 2024. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi

The 24th session of the Conference of Ministers Responsible for Cultural Affairs in the Arab World convened in Rabat on Wednesday under the theme Cultural and Creative Industries: Challenges of Digital Transformation and Artificial Intelligence.

The event brought together culture ministers from across the Arab world, alongside representatives from regional and international organizations.
The conference’s agenda included presenting a forward-looking plan for developing cultural industries in Arab nations, reviewing and adopting the recommendations of the Permanent Committee for Arab Culture, and discussing arrangements for the 25th session of the conference.
The opening session emphasized the Arab world's rich cultural and creative resources and the necessity of leveraging these assets to drive economic development. Discussions also focused on embracing digital transformation and artificial intelligence to modernize cultural industries and enhance global competitiveness.
Participants highlighted the importance of adopting global best practices in cultural and creative industries to foster innovation and economic growth while preserving and promoting Arab cultural heritage.
The conference is expected to produce actionable strategies to position Arab culture as a cornerstone of sustainable development and global cultural exchange.

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Culture

Red Sea Museum Signs Cooperation Agreement to Support Artisans and Designers

The cooperation agreement aims to support local and regional artisans and designers. SPA
The cooperation agreement aims to support local and regional artisans and designers. SPA
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Red Sea Museum Signs Cooperation Agreement to Support Artisans and Designers

The cooperation agreement aims to support local and regional artisans and designers. SPA
The cooperation agreement aims to support local and regional artisans and designers. SPA

Saudi Arabia’s Museums Commission announced the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Red Sea Museum and Ahmed Angawi Studio to launch the "Made in the Red Sea" initiative at the Red Sea Museum in the heart of Historic Jeddah, aiming to support local and regional artisans and designers.

The initiative aims to preserve traditional skills and develop contemporary products inspired by the rich heritage, traditions and the tangible and intangible culture of the Red Sea region, for sale at the museum gift shop.

It builds on the momentum of the Saudi Ministry of Culture's Year of Handicrafts 2025 initiative launched to reinforce pride in national identity and support artisans, as one of the goals of the National Culture Strategy.

The partnership includes content development, the delivery of workshops and the selection of participating artists and artisans, in addition to promoting the "Made in the Red Sea" initiative and overseeing specialized workshops in traditional wood designs inspired by the historic Bab Al Bunt building, which now houses the Red Sea Museum. These efforts contribute to a contemporary reinterpretation of its architectural elements.

Culture

Saudi Arabia Participates in Cairo International Book Fair 2026

Saudi Arabia Participates in Cairo International Book Fair 2026
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Saudi Arabia Participates in Cairo International Book Fair 2026

Saudi Arabia Participates in Cairo International Book Fair 2026

The Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission will lead the Kingdom’s participation in the 57th edition of the Cairo International Book Fair 2026 taking place from January 21 until February 3.

CEO of the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission Abdullatif Alwasel stated that this participation is an extension of the commission’s ongoing efforts to enhance the Kingdom’s cultural and literary presence at the regional and international levels and to introduce Saudi cultural heritage, while underscoring the Kingdom’s role in leading the global cultural landscape.

He noted that the commission has mobilized its capabilities to support the participation of Saudi publishing houses in book fairs both within and outside the Kingdom, while also working to attract international publishers to participate in Saudi book fairs by building new partnerships and strengthening channels of cultural cooperation.

The Kingdom’s participation in the fair, which is organized by the General Egyptian Book Organization, aims to strengthen cultural relations and knowledge exchange between the Kingdom and Egypt, enhance cooperation in the fields of literature, publishing, and translation, support and promote Saudi publishing houses and literary agencies internationally, and raise awareness of Saudi cultural heritage in global forums.

Culture

Top Prosecutor: Louvre Heist Probe Still Aims to Recover Jewelry

FILE - People wait for the Louvre museum to open, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)
FILE - People wait for the Louvre museum to open, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)
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Top Prosecutor: Louvre Heist Probe Still Aims to Recover Jewelry

FILE - People wait for the Louvre museum to open, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)
FILE - People wait for the Louvre museum to open, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

French investigators remain determined to find the imperial jewels stolen from the Louvre in October, a prosecutor has told AFP.

Police believe they have arrested all four thieves who carried out the brazen October 19 robbery, making off with jewelry worth an estimated $102 million from the world-famous museum.

"The interrogations have not produced any new investigative elements," top Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said this week, three months after the broad-daylight heist.

But the case remains a top priority, she underlined.

"Our main objective is still to recover the jewelry," she said.

That Sunday morning in October, thieves parked a mover's truck with an extendable ladder below the Louvre's Apollo Gallery housing the French crown jewels.

Two of the thieves climbed up the ladder, broke a window and used angle grinders to cut glass display booths containing the treasures, while the other two waited below, investigators say.

The four then fled on high-powered motor scooters, dropping a diamond-and-emerald crown in their hurry.

But eight other items of jewelry -- including an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave his second wife, Empress Marie-Louise -- remain at large.

Beccuau said investigators were keeping an open mind as to where the loot might be.

"We don't have any signals indicating that the jewelry is likely to have crossed the border," she said, though she added: "Anything is possible."

Detectives benefitted from contacts with "intermediaries in the art world, including internationally" as they pursued their probe.

"They have ways of receiving warning signals about networks of receivers of stolen goods, including abroad," Beccuau said.

As for anyone coming forward to hand over the jewels, that would be considered to be "active repentance, which could be taken into consideration" later during a trial, she said.

A fifth suspect, a 38-year-old woman who is the partner of one of the men, has been charged with being an accomplice but was released under judicial supervision pending a trial.

Investigators still had no idea if someone had ordered the theft.

"We refuse to have any preconceived notions about what might have led the individuals concerned to commit this theft," the prosecutor said.

But she said detectives and investigating magistrates were resolute.

"We haven't said our last word. It will take as long as it takes," she said.