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UNESCO Celebrates World Arabic Language Day

A general view of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) headquarters is seen at dusk in Paris, France, October 12, 2017. Reuters
A general view of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) headquarters is seen at dusk in Paris, France, October 12, 2017. Reuters
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UNESCO Celebrates World Arabic Language Day

A general view of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) headquarters is seen at dusk in Paris, France, October 12, 2017. Reuters
A general view of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) headquarters is seen at dusk in Paris, France, October 12, 2017. Reuters

The role of new technologies and how to harness them is the theme of this year’s World Arabic Language Day, which will be celebrated at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on December 18-19, the organization has said in a statement.

The annual event will feature a concert by Iraqi oud player Naseer Shamma, it said.

Organized in cooperation with the Permanent Delegation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with the support of the Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud Foundation, the events acknowledge the Arabic language’s immense contribution to science and culture, including philosophy and the arts.

Arabic has more than 290 million native speakers, and millions of others gaining some level of fluency.

The two-day roundtable discussions will explore the Arabic language’s relationship to science; language planning and its role in the dissemination of Arabic; language engineering and the use of new technologies in the teaching of Arabic language; as well as the future of the language, UNESCO said.

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay and Prince Saud Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Secretary-General of the Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud Foundation, will open the event.

Other speakers include Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah, President of the Arabic Language Academy in Sharjah (United Arab Emirates); Dr. Saud Hilal Al Harbi, Director-General of the Arab Organization for Education, Culture and Science (ALECSO); and Lebanese Culture Minister Ghattas Khoury, as well as other renowned experts, academics, high-level representatives of international organizations and specialized institutions.

Shamma, renowned Iraqi composer, oud virtuoso and UNESCO Artist for Peace, will also perform an Oriental Jazz concert at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, on December 19. He will be accompanied by Amine Bouhafa (Piano), Tunisian multi-awarded composer, orchestrator and musical director; Jorge Bezeera (Percussion), internationally renowned Brazilian percussionist; and Ali Shaker (Zither), Iraqi Zither player.

This celebration also resonates with the International Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures (2013-2022), for which UNESCO is the lead UN Agency.

Arabic is a very diverse language, with numerous dialects. It has deep historical connections to other languages, many of which use or have historically used the Arabic alphabet.

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Japan Startup Hopeful Ahead of Second Moon Launch

Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi soars through the air during the trial round of the Four Hills FIS Ski Jumping tournament (Vierschanzentournee), in Innsbruck, Austria on January 4, 2025. (Photo by GEORG HOCHMUTH / APA / AFP)
Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi soars through the air during the trial round of the Four Hills FIS Ski Jumping tournament (Vierschanzentournee), in Innsbruck, Austria on January 4, 2025. (Photo by GEORG HOCHMUTH / APA / AFP)
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Japan Startup Hopeful Ahead of Second Moon Launch

Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi soars through the air during the trial round of the Four Hills FIS Ski Jumping tournament (Vierschanzentournee), in Innsbruck, Austria on January 4, 2025. (Photo by GEORG HOCHMUTH / APA / AFP)
Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi soars through the air during the trial round of the Four Hills FIS Ski Jumping tournament (Vierschanzentournee), in Innsbruck, Austria on January 4, 2025. (Photo by GEORG HOCHMUTH / APA / AFP)

Japanese startup ispace vowed its upcoming second unmanned Moon mission will be a success, saying Thursday that it learned from its failed attempt nearly two years ago.

In April 2023, the firm's first spacecraft made an unsalvageable "hard landing", dashing its ambitions to be the first private company to touch down on the Moon.

The Houston-based Intuitive Machines accomplished that feat last year with an uncrewed craft that landed at the wrong angle but was able to complete tests and send photos.

With another mission scheduled to launch next week, ispace wants to win its place in space history at a booming time for missions to the Moon from both governments and private companies.

"We at ispace were disappointed in the failure of Mission 1," ispace founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada told reporters.

"But that's why we hope to send a message to people across Japan that it's important to challenge ourselves again, after enduring the failure and learning from it."

"We will make this Mission 2 a success," AFP quoted him as saying.

Its new lander, called Resilience, will blast off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 15, along with another lunar lander built by US company Firefly Aerospace.

If Resilience lands successfully, it will deploy a micro rover and five other payloads from corporate partners.

These include an experiment by Takasago Thermal Engineering, which wants to split water into oxygen and hydrogen gas with a view to using hydrogen as satellite and spacecraft fuel.

- Rideshare -

Firefly's Blue Ghost lander will arrive at the Moon after travelling 45 days, followed by ispace's Resilience, which the Japanese company hopes will land on the Earth's satellite at the end of May, or in June.

For the program, officially named Hakuto-R Mission 2, ispace chose to cut down on costs by arranging the first private-sector rocket rideshare, Hakamada said.

Only five nations have soft-landed spacecraft on the Moon: the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India and, most recently, Japan.

Many companies are vying to offer cheaper and more frequent space exploration opportunities than governments.

Space One, another Japanese startup, is trying to become Japan's first company to put a satellite into orbit -- with some difficulty so far.

Last month, Space One's solid-fuel Kairos rocket blasted off from a private launchpad in western Japan but was later seen spiraling downwards in the distance.

That was the second launch attempt by Space One after an initial try in March last year ended in a mid-air explosion.

Meanwhile Toyota, the world's top-selling carmaker, announced this week it would invest seven billion yen ($44 million) in Japanese rocket startup Interstellar Technologies.

"The global demand for small satellite launches has surged nearly 20-fold, from 141 launches in 2016 to 2,860 in 2023," driven by private space businesses, national security concerns and technological development, Interstellar said.