عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Finger Bone Points to Early Humans in Arabia

The Saudi desert. (AFP)
The Saudi desert. (AFP)
TT
TT

Finger Bone Points to Early Humans in Arabia

The Saudi desert. (AFP)
The Saudi desert. (AFP)

A lone finger bone unearthed in the desert suggests modern humans had penetrated deep into Arabia already 85,000 years ago, said a study Monday that claimed to advance our African exodus by millennia, reported Agence France Presse.

The research, published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, challenged a long-held consensus that humans started to move en masse from our birthplace in Africa only about 60,000 years ago, with a few small, unsuccessful migrations before.

Recent archaeological finds have started to question that idea, with some claiming evidence of homo sapiens spreading beyond Africa and the adjacent Levant region already 120,000 years ago or more.

However, many of those discoveries -- including from China and Australia -- have doubts hovering over their authenticity and dating, said the authors of Monday's study.

Their new fossil finger bone, on the other hand, unquestionably belonged to a human and could be dated directly using radiometric technology, said the team.

Its age served as rare evidence that "our species was spreading beyond Africa much earlier than previously thought," said study co-author Huw Groucutt from the University of Oxford, reported AFP.

The bone, just 3.2 centimeters (1.6 inches) long, is thought to be the middle bone of a middle finger, likely of an adult. It was discovered in the Nefud Desert of Saudi Arabia in 2016, and analyzed over two years.

Groucutt and a team used a form of radiometry called uranium series dating to determine the bone's age by measuring tiny traces of radioactive elements.

The tests revealed it was at least 85,000 years old -- possibly 90,000 -- making it the "oldest directly-dated homo sapiens" fossil ever found outside of Africa and the Levant, said the team.

It is the first fossil of a hominin -- the group of humans and our direct ancestors -- discovered in what is Saudi Arabia today.

Other archaeological finds, which their discoverers claim are even older, may very well be authentic but were not directly dated, said the research team. Most had their age calculated from the sand or rock layers they were found in, or other items in the vicinity.

Besides redating the human exodus from Africa, the study may also alter its route.

"What we're arguing here is that there were multiple dispersals out of Africa, so the process of the movement and the colonization of Eurasia was far more complicated than our textbooks tell us," said study co-author Michael Petraglia of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany.

According to one mainstream theory, humans left Africa in a single wave, moving along the coast from Africa via southern Arabia and India all the way to Australia.

The Levant is roughly the eastern Mediterranean area today covered by Israel, Lebanon, part of Syria, and western Jordan.

The finger shows "that modern humans were moving across the interior, the terrestrial heart, of Eurasia -- not along the coastlines," said Petraglia.

The bone was discovered in an area known as Al Wusta that 90,000 years ago would have looked very different to the desert it is today -- with plentiful rivers and lakes.

The team found fossils of various animals, including hippos, as well as advanced stone tools.

This all pointed to the owner of the finger having been a member of a semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer group moving after water and animals.

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

Ice Pops Cool Down Monkeys in Brazil at a Rio Zoo during a Rare Winter Heat Wave

A spider monkey opens its mouth as frozen fruit is served at the BioParque do Rio amid a heat wave in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP)
A spider monkey opens its mouth as frozen fruit is served at the BioParque do Rio amid a heat wave in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP)
TT
TT

Ice Pops Cool Down Monkeys in Brazil at a Rio Zoo during a Rare Winter Heat Wave

A spider monkey opens its mouth as frozen fruit is served at the BioParque do Rio amid a heat wave in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP)
A spider monkey opens its mouth as frozen fruit is served at the BioParque do Rio amid a heat wave in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP)

Upon spotting a zookeeper laden with a bucket full of fruit-flavored ice pops, black spider monkeys in Rio de Janeiro’s BioParque gracefully swung their way towards him on Friday, chattering excitedly.

While it's technically still winter in Brazil, with spring due to start on Saturday, a heat wave has engulfed the country since the beginning of the week, causing humans and animals alike to eagerly greet any chance of cooling down.

“Normally they get a break from the heat in the winter, but it’s been so hot. They have even shed their winter layer of fur,” said zookeeper Tadeu Cabral, who handed out some treats, while others were scattered around.

The ice pops are part of the monkeys’ well-being program. They provide thermal comfort, and dispersing the popsicles in different locations also stimulates their behavioral need for foraging.

For the monkeys, the ice pops are watermelon, pineapple or grape flavored. But for Simba, the zoo’s lion, the ice treat is made up of blood or minced meat.

Koala the elephant, now more than 60 years old, was rescued from a Sao Paulo circus in the 1990s. She wrapped her trunk around the block of frozen fruit, placed it under her foot and squashed the treat, before slurping it up.

To cool her down even more, a zookeeper sprayed Koala with a hose.

“Elephants love water. She also throws mud on her back to protect herself from the heat and parasites, like mosquitoes. When wet, the mud layer gets thicker and helps her even more,” said Daniel Serieiro, a biologist at the zoo.

Carlos Acuña, a tourist from Costa Rica, looked on as Koala was sprayed with water.

“It’s great that they’re showering her, that they are making her feel comfortable. The heat is so intense,” he said.

Temperatures are due to exceed 40 C (104 F) in Sao Paulo state and the central-west and north regions, according to the National Institute of Meteorology.

Abnormally high temperatures, caused by global warming, increase the risk of wildfires. On Thursday, firefighters in Brazil’s northeastern Bahia state battled flames fanned by strong winds.

Varieties

Recycling Plastic Not Enough, Warns UN Environment Chief

Inger Andersen, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the UN Environment Program, speaks during an interview at UN headquarters in New York City on September 21, 2023. Ed JONES / AFP
Inger Andersen, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the UN Environment Program, speaks during an interview at UN headquarters in New York City on September 21, 2023. Ed JONES / AFP
TT
TT

Recycling Plastic Not Enough, Warns UN Environment Chief

Inger Andersen, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the UN Environment Program, speaks during an interview at UN headquarters in New York City on September 21, 2023. Ed JONES / AFP
Inger Andersen, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the UN Environment Program, speaks during an interview at UN headquarters in New York City on September 21, 2023. Ed JONES / AFP

With the production of plastic on the rise worldwide and creating ever more pollution, the UN environment chief warned that humanity cannot just recycle its way out of the mess, and she called for a total rethink about the way we use plastics.

"There are different sorts of onramps to the highway to solutions. But I think everybody recognizes that the status quo is just not an option," said Inger Andersen, director of the UN Environment Program, in an interview Thursday with AFP on the sidelines of the General Assembly in New York.

Andersen was talking two weeks after the publication of the first draft of a future international treaty on plastic pollution, which is expected to be finalized by the end of 2024, reported AFP.

It reflects the wide range of ambitions of the 175 countries involved, notably the gap between those who argue for a reduction in the production of raw polymers and those who insist on reuse and recycling.

First, Andersen said the aim was to get rid of as many single-use plastics as possible, "eliminating what's frankly not necessary: that thing that is wrapped in plastic that's completely mindless, that is maybe even wrapped by nature itself," like an orange or a banana.

Then, "there is thinking about the product itself. Does the product need to be liquid? Can we rethink the product... can it be powder, can it be compressed, can it be concentrated?" she said, saying that when entering a supermarket, she goes straight to the soap aisle to see if solid versions are available.

"We also have to reduce the overall supply of new raw polymer," she said, noting that this was one option in the draft text of the treaty.

Oceans a 'collective heritage'
For sure, "we have to recycle as much as we can. But as we look at it now, plastic uses is increasing," Andersen told AFP.

"So what is clear is that we cannot recycle our way out of this mess."

Annual production of plastics has more than doubled in the past 20 years, to reach 460 million tons. It could triple by 2060 if nothing changes.

However, only nine percent is recycled. Plastic waste of all sizes is found today at the bottom of the oceans, in the stomachs of birds and on the tops of mountains, while microplastics have been detected in blood, breast milk and placentas.

"If we continue to pump into the economy all this new raw polymer, there is no way that we will stop the plastic flow into the oceans," she said.

And the health of the oceans is crucial for the future of humanity.

The future treaty on plastic pollution would complement the global arsenal to protect the oceans, including the new historic treaty to protect the high seas signed this week by some 70 countries.

"The fact that we're going to move forward and protect that piece of the ocean that is beyond national boundaries is mind-blowingly important," Andersen said.

"And something that I'm just very, very happy about. And the whole world should be because this is our common heritage."

Varieties

Biologists in Slow and Steady Race to Help North America’s Largest and Rarest Tortoise Species

A US Fish and Wildlife Service employee holds Gertie, an endangered Bolson tortoise that has been a key part of the captive breeding program, at Ted Turner's Armendaris Ranch in Engle, N.M., on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP)
A US Fish and Wildlife Service employee holds Gertie, an endangered Bolson tortoise that has been a key part of the captive breeding program, at Ted Turner's Armendaris Ranch in Engle, N.M., on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP)
TT
TT

Biologists in Slow and Steady Race to Help North America’s Largest and Rarest Tortoise Species

A US Fish and Wildlife Service employee holds Gertie, an endangered Bolson tortoise that has been a key part of the captive breeding program, at Ted Turner's Armendaris Ranch in Engle, N.M., on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP)
A US Fish and Wildlife Service employee holds Gertie, an endangered Bolson tortoise that has been a key part of the captive breeding program, at Ted Turner's Armendaris Ranch in Engle, N.M., on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP)

While the average lifespan of North America's largest and most rare tortoise species is unknown, biologists have said it could span upward of a century.

So saving the endangered species is a long game — one that got another nudge forward Friday as US wildlife officials finalized an agreement with Ted Turner's Endangered Species Fund that clears the way for the release of more Bolson tortoises on the media mogul's ranch in central New Mexico.

The “safe harbor agreement” will facilitate the release of captive tortoises on the Armendaris Ranch to establish a free-ranging population. US Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams said the agreement, which offers private landowners protections from regulations, can serve as a model as officials look for more innovative ways to work within the Endangered Species Act.

Dozens of people gathered for the release Friday of 20 more adult tortoises on the property, which is already home to 23 of them as well as dozens of juvenile ones. With the sun high in the sky and temperatures nearing 90 degrees (32 degrees Celsius), the release was held off until the evening to ensure their well-being.

The tortoises usually spend about 85% of the time in their earthen burrows, which in some cases can be about 21 yards (20 meters) long.

Shawn Sartorius, a field supervisor with the Fish and Wildlife Service, said the results of the breeding and restoration efforts for the slow-reproducing and long-lived animals will not be known in his lifetime.

“What we’re doing here is establishing a population here that can be handed off to the next generation,” Sartorius said.

It's a step toward one day releasing the tortoise more broadly in the Southwest as conservationists push the federal government to consider crafting a recovery plan for the species. The tortoise is just the latest example of a growing effort to find new homes for endangered species as climate change and other threats push them from their historic habitats.

Now found only in the grasslands of north-central Mexico, the tortoise once had a much larger range that included the southwestern United States. Fossil records also show it was once present in the southern Great Plains, including parts of Texas and Oklahoma.

The wild population in Mexico is thought to consist of fewer than 2,500 tortoises, and experts say threats to the animals are mounting as they are hunted for food and collected as pets. Their habitat also is shrinking as more desert grasslands are converted to farmland.

While it's been eons since the tortoises roamed wild in what is now New Mexico, Mike Phillips, director of the Turner Endangered Species Fund, said it's time for biologists to reconsider what ecological reference points should matter most when talking about the recovery of an imperiled species.

Climate change is reshuffling the ecological deck and changing the importance of historical conditions in the recovery equation, Phillips said. He pointed to the case of the tortoise, noting that suitable habitat is moving north again as conditions in the Southwestern US become drier and warmer.

Absent a willingness by wildlife managers to think more broadly, he said, species like the Bolson tortoise could have a bleak future.

“It would seem in a recovery context, historical range should be considered. Prehistoric range sometimes matters too,” he said in an interview. “But most importantly, future range — because recovery is all about righting a wrong, it's about improving conditions. The future is what is of great relevance to recovery.”

Sartorius, of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, agreed, saying managers can’t look narrowly at historic range and still keep animals like the tortoise on the planet.

The question that biologists have been trying to answer is whether the Armendaris Ranch makes for a good home.

So far, the ranch, spanning more than 560 square miles (1,450 square kilometers) is proving to be an ideal spot. The landscape is similar to that where the tortoises are found in Mexico, and work done on the ranch and at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Carlsbad has resulted in more than 400 tortoises being hatched since 2006.

In all, the Turner Endangered Species Fund and its partners have been able to grow the population from 30 tortoises to about 800, said Chris Wiese, who leads the project at the Armendaris Ranch.

“The releases are the essential step to getting them back on the ground and letting them be wild tortoises,” she said. “To us, this is the pinnacle of what we do.”

The tortoises will be able to roam freely in the 16.5-acre (6.6-hectare) pen like they would in the wild. Wildlife officials will look in on them once a year.

Depending on weather conditions and forage availability, it can take a few years or more for a hatchling to reach just over 4 inches (110 millimeters) long. They can eventually grow to about 14.5 inches (370 millimeters).

The species was unknown to science until the late 1950s and has never been extensively studied.

“Each and every day we’re learning more and more about the Bolson tortoise's natural history,” Phillips said.

The goal is to build a robust captive population that can be used as a source for future releases into the wild. That work will include getting state and federal permits to release tortoises outside of the enclosures on Turner lands.

Tortoises in the pen are outfitted with transponders so they can be tracked. Those released Friday hit the ground crawling, wandering through clumps of grass and around desert scrub as the Fra Cristobal mountain range loomed in the distance.

It made for a perfect scene as one of the tortoises headed off toward the western edge of the pen, its shadow trailing behind. It was a moment that Wiese and her team have been working toward for years.

“We are not in the business of making pets,” she said. “We're in the business of making wild animals and that means you have to let them go.”

Varieties

Gases from Philippine Volcano Sicken Dozens of Children, Prompting School Closures in Nearby Towns 

An aerial view shows smog enveloping the coastal town of Talisay in Batangas Province, Philippines, September 22, 2023. (Reuters)
An aerial view shows smog enveloping the coastal town of Talisay in Batangas Province, Philippines, September 22, 2023. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Gases from Philippine Volcano Sicken Dozens of Children, Prompting School Closures in Nearby Towns 

An aerial view shows smog enveloping the coastal town of Talisay in Batangas Province, Philippines, September 22, 2023. (Reuters)
An aerial view shows smog enveloping the coastal town of Talisay in Batangas Province, Philippines, September 22, 2023. (Reuters)

Smog containing gases from a restive Philippine volcano sickened dozens of students and prompted 25 towns and cities to shut their schools on Friday as a health precaution, officials said.

There was no imminent threat of a major eruption of Taal Volcano, which authorities said remains at a low level of unrest in Batangas province south of Manila. But they said its emission of sulfur dioxide-laden steam in recent days caused skin, throat and eye irritation for at least 45 students in nearby towns.

Classes were suspended in 25 towns and cities in Batangas to keep students safely at home. Some schools resumed online classes and home learning that were in wide use at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, officials said.

Smog has also been reported in Manila north of Taal in recent days, but the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said it was largely caused by vehicle emissions and not the volcano.

Taal, one of the world’s smallest volcanoes, is among two dozen active volcanoes in the Philippines, which lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a seismically active region that is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

The 311-meter (1,020-foot) volcano sits in the middle of a scenic lake and is a popular tourist attraction about 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Manila.

Taal erupted in January 2020 with a massive plume of ash and steam that prompted the evacuation of tens of thousands of people and the closure of Manila’s international airport.

Varieties

AstraZeneca and Daiichi's Breast Cancer Drug Meets Goal in Study

FILE PHOTO: Test tubes are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken, May 21, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Test tubes are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken, May 21, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo
TT
TT

AstraZeneca and Daiichi's Breast Cancer Drug Meets Goal in Study

FILE PHOTO: Test tubes are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken, May 21, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Test tubes are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken, May 21, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo

AstraZeneca said on Friday its experimental precision drug had slowed the progression of a common type of breast cancer in a late-stage trial, a boost for the company after its shares fell in July on results from a separate trial of the same drug for lung cancer.
The drug, datopotamab deruxtecan, which AstraZeneca is jointly developing with Japan's Daiichi Sankyo, is being closely watched by analysts and investors in part due to the promise of the class of drugs to which it belongs, known as antibody drug conjugates (ADC).
ADCs consist of tumor-seeking monoclonal antibodies that are combined with a cell-killing chemotherapy payload.
The trial data released on Friday showed the drug, abbreviated as Dato-DXd, demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in slowing the progression of a type of breast cancer in trial participants, compared to patients who received other treatments such as chemotherapy.
The trial focused on tumors that grow in response to the hormones estrogen or progesterone, which account for roughly two-thirds of breast cancer cases. The study participants' disease had spread to other parts of the body.
The British drugmaker also said that there was a "trend in improvement" in the other main goal of the study, "overall survival" of patients, but the data on that was not mature so the trial would continue as planned.
AstraZeneca shares rose 1.7% in early trading, to their highest level in more than five weeks.
AstraZeneca is simultaneously developing the drug for use in lung cancer, and while data from a separate late-stage trial released in July was positive, the market was concerned that the drug's benefits for use in lung cancer treatment might not as pronounced as hoped, leading shares to fall more than 6% on the day the data was released.
The company has not said when it will release detailed data from the lung cancer study.
Analysts see the positive results from the breast cancer trial as good for AstraZeneca, but the market is more focused on the results of a trial called MARIPOSA by Johnson & Johnson. It compares AstraZeneca’s blockbuster cancer drug Tagrisso alone with its own drug, Rybrevant, in combination with another medicine.
Those results are expected later this year.

Varieties

In War-Scarred Iraqi City, Food Business Gives Women Independence 

A woman prepares food inside the kitchen of the women-run catering service "Taste of Mosul", in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, on September 13, 2023. (AFP)
A woman prepares food inside the kitchen of the women-run catering service "Taste of Mosul", in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, on September 13, 2023. (AFP)
TT
TT

In War-Scarred Iraqi City, Food Business Gives Women Independence 

A woman prepares food inside the kitchen of the women-run catering service "Taste of Mosul", in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, on September 13, 2023. (AFP)
A woman prepares food inside the kitchen of the women-run catering service "Taste of Mosul", in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, on September 13, 2023. (AFP)

Abir Jassem is busy preparing stuffed vegetables at a kitchen in Iraq's Mosul, where after years of unrest a women-run catering service has helped single mothers like her achieve financial security.

The 37-year-old, who lost her husband while the city was under the control of the ISIS group, said she had to get a job to put food on the table for her and her children.

"If I didn't work, we wouldn't have anything to eat," said Jassem.

She is now one of some 30 employees of "Taste of Mosul", which celebrates local delicacies and was founded in 2017 after the northern Iraqi metropolis was liberated from ISIS extremists.

Most of the workers -- cooks as well as two deliverywomen -- are widowed or divorced.

Mosul residents are all reeling from the brutal ISIS rule and the war to defeat it, but for women in Iraq's largely conservative and patriarchal society, the challenges are often compounded.

For Jassem, whose husband died of hepatitis, the catering business has offered a lifeline.

Her family had refused for her to work in any mixed-gender spaces, "but I wanted to work so I would not have to depend on anybody", she said.

Now she earns 15,000 dinars ($11) a day cooking meals that are then delivered to clients.

Her specialty is Mosul-style kibbeh, a minced meat dish.

"Neither Syrians nor Lebanese can make" some of the recipes her Iraqi city is known for, Jassem boasted, as other women sat beside her at a large blue table were preparing the day's menu.

One cook rolled vine leaves. Another copiously stuffed hollowed-out peppers with orange-colored rice, and a third made meat fritters.

'Strong women'

Only slightly more than 10 percent of Iraq's 13 million women of working age are in the job market, according to a July 2022 report issued by the International Labor Organization.

When the war in Mosul ended in the summer of 2017, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR estimated the number of "war widows" in the thousands.

"Their husbands were often the families' sole breadwinners," the UN agency said.

"Without an income and often with children to support, Mosul's war widows are among the most vulnerable to have been displaced during months of fighting for the once thriving city."

Mahiya Youssef, 58, started "Taste of Mosul" to allow women to enter the labor market in the battered city.

"We have to be realistic," she said. "If even people with university degrees are unemployed, I wondered what kind of work" would "let them cover their children's needs and be strong women".

Launched with just two cooks, the initiative has since grown and now also provides employment for young graduates, said Youssef, a married mother of five.

Appetizers and main dishes on the menu go for the equivalent of $1-10, and monthly profits top $3,000, according to Youssef, who plans to expand.

She said she hopes to open a restaurant or create similar projects in other parts of Iraq.

'Unique'

Youssef said her passion was "old recipes that restaurants don't make", like hindiya, a spicy zucchini stew with kibbeh, or ouroug, fried balls of flour, meat and vegetables.

One of her employees, Makarem Abdel Rahman, lost her husband in 2004 when he was kidnapped by Al-Qaeda militants.

The mother of two, now in her 50s, delivers food in her car, which she said has drawn some criticism.

"My children support me, but certain relatives are opposed" to her working, she said.

But Abdel Rahman hasn't let that stop her, and said she has found in "Taste of Mosul" a "second home".

Many clients order again, but some have become particularly loyal.

For more than two years, Taha Ghanem has ordered his lunch from "Taste of Mosul" two or three times a week.

"Because of our work, we are far from home," said the 28-year-old cafe owner.

"Sometimes we miss our home cooking, but we have this service", he said, hailing "the unique flavors" of Mosul's cuisine.

Varieties

Cairo International Film Festival Announces Screening of Saudi Film

“To My Son” is the second film directed by Dhaffer L'Abidine
“To My Son” is the second film directed by Dhaffer L'Abidine
TT
TT

Cairo International Film Festival Announces Screening of Saudi Film

“To My Son” is the second film directed by Dhaffer L'Abidine
“To My Son” is the second film directed by Dhaffer L'Abidine

The Cairo International Film Festival has announced the screening of the Saudi film “To My Son” by director and actor Dhafer Abidine as part of the Horizons of Arab Cinema Competition this year.

It is the second film directed by Dhaffer L'Abidine, and its story revolves around the return of a Saudi father and his son to Saudi Arabia, after their lengthy residency abroad ended in a painful incident.

L'Abidine’s first film, “Ghodwa”, was shown at the 43rd Cairo International Film Festival, where it won the International Federation of Film Critics Award.

Cairo International Film Festival has earlier announced that it will grant Egypt’s Ahmed Ezz the Faten Hamama Award for Excellence during its 45th session, to be held from November 15 to 24, in appreciation of what he presented throughout his artistic career that began since the end of the nineties.

Varieties

King Charles III Makes Stop at Fire-Damaged Notre Dame Cathedral on State Visit to France 

Britain's King Charles and Britain's Queen Camilla visit Notre Dame Cathedral to see the restoration work in progress, in Paris, France, September 21, 2023. (Reuters)
Britain's King Charles and Britain's Queen Camilla visit Notre Dame Cathedral to see the restoration work in progress, in Paris, France, September 21, 2023. (Reuters)
TT
TT

King Charles III Makes Stop at Fire-Damaged Notre Dame Cathedral on State Visit to France 

Britain's King Charles and Britain's Queen Camilla visit Notre Dame Cathedral to see the restoration work in progress, in Paris, France, September 21, 2023. (Reuters)
Britain's King Charles and Britain's Queen Camilla visit Notre Dame Cathedral to see the restoration work in progress, in Paris, France, September 21, 2023. (Reuters)

King Charles III went from a meeting with young athletes in a working-class, multicultural suburb of Paris to an emotional stop in front of the fire-damaged Notre Dame Cathedral on Thursday, the second day of his state visit to France.

Earlier, Charles made an address to lawmakers at the Senate, praising France and the United Kingdom's “indispensable relationship” and its capacity to meet the world's challenges, including Russia's war in Ukraine and climate change.

Charles and Queen Camilla, accompanied by French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, paid much attention to a presentation about ongoing renovation work at Notre Dame, one day after the king said he had been “utterly appalled by the scenes of such devastation following the catastrophic fire” in April 2019.

Charles and Camilla weren't able to enter the cathedral for safety reasons, but Macron invited them to take a closer look at the entrance as dozens of workers on the higher floors of the monument applauded the king and took pictures. The cathedral is due to reopen at the end of next year.

During the day, Charles made a few stops to greet the crowds waiting for him along the streets of the sites he visited, including the Paris flower market named after his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

In Saint-Denis, north of the capital, Charles chatted with young athletes while Camilla exchanged a few balls with Prithika Pavade, a 19-year-old French table tennis player. The area will serve as a major venue in next year’s Olympics.

Residents said the royal visit to Saint-Denis was a welcome boost for the town with deep pockets of poverty, a reputation for crime and a feeling among many of being left by the wayside.

“A lot of people are poor and it has a reputation as a cut-throat place,” said Yasmina Bedar, who was born in Saint-Denis and has lived there for 50 years.

“For a king in real flesh and blood to come to Saint-Denis of course can only help our image,” she said, chatting with friends in the Le Khédive café where Charles stopped to sit down for a few minutes with job seekers.

Café owner Sid Ould-Moussa said, “It’s excellent for the town, for us.”

The king also met there with the Paris Saint-Germain soccer club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who gave him the club’s No. 3 jersey and explained the club’s involvement in supporting young people and communities in difficulty.

Charles and Camilla briefly visited the basilica of Saint-Denis, which houses the tombs of French kings.

In the morning, the king received a warm welcome from French lawmakers from both the upper and lower houses of parliament gathered at the Senate, who stood and applauded him at length.

The partnership between the two nations “remains utterly vital as together we confront the challenges of this world,” he said, switching from French to English. “The United Kingdom will always be one of France’s closest allies and best friends.”

“Our determination and our alliance are more important than ever” in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he added. “Together, we are steadfast in our determination Ukraine will triumph, and that our cherished freedoms will prevail.”

Charles offered to adapt the Franco-British “Entente Cordiale,” a 1904 series of agreements that settled former disputes and significantly improved relations, into an “entente for sustainability in order to tackle the global climate and biodiversity emergency more effectively."

"There’s no challenge we can’t meet, as we have so often done in the past,” he said.

The king’s emphasis on climate change came a day after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced he was watering down some of Britain’s climate commitments, including pushing back a ban on new gas and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035.

Charles and Macron later attended a reception for British and French business leaders about financing climate-related and biodiversity projects.

The king also met at the British Embassy with French billionaire Bernard Arnault, CEO of the world's biggest luxury group LVMH.

Charles and Camilla wrapped up the Parisian leg of their state visit on Thursday evening with an informal meeting at the presidential palace, where they were welcomed by Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron.

The royal couple was to head the next day to the southwestern city of Bordeaux that is home to a large British community.

Charles is scheduled to meet emergency workers and communities affected by the 2022 wildfires in the area and visit an experimental forest designed to monitor the impact of climate on urban woodlands.

The royal couple's trip started Wednesday with a ceremony at Arc de Triomphe in Paris and a state dinner at the Palace of Versailles.

Varieties

Media Minister: Saudi History Exhibition Establishes Relationship between Saudi Media, National History

Minister of Media Salman bin Yousef Al-Dosari at the exhibition. SPA
Minister of Media Salman bin Yousef Al-Dosari at the exhibition. SPA
TT
TT

Media Minister: Saudi History Exhibition Establishes Relationship between Saudi Media, National History

Minister of Media Salman bin Yousef Al-Dosari at the exhibition. SPA
Minister of Media Salman bin Yousef Al-Dosari at the exhibition. SPA

The Minister of Media and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Salman bin Yousef Al-Dosari, expressed the Saudi media’s pride in its national message and its responsibility to consolidate the historical depth of the Saudi state by introducing its achievements, nobility, and cultural and social heritage, and promoting its civilizational achievement and regional and global status so that the progress march continues towards a promising future for the nation and the citizens under the Saudi Vision 2030.

He made his remarks following the opening on Wednesday of “Saudi Arabia's History Exhibition” at the headquarters of SPA in Riyadh. He noted that this documentary initiative aims to enrich historical knowledge and highlights the prosperous present of the country, within a framework that reflects the image of the Kingdom on the world stage.

He added that SPA’s holding of an exhibition on Saudi Arabia's history comes in the context of its national media role and to enrich its educational and knowledgeable message through an interactive media presentation, in a new experience for visitors from inside and outside the Kingdom, applying an innovative method that establishes a relationship between the media institution and the Kingdom's history.

The minister of media reiterated that the exhibition embodies the depth of the media’s connection with Saudi Arabia's history.

Nearly a century ago, the Kingdom witnessed the publication of Umm Al-Qura newspaper in 1924, in which it documented events and the reality of the national scene in its various aspects then. The issue of September 23, 1932 announced the declaration of all parts of the Kingdom united, under the name "Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” marking a new era of development and modernization of the media sector, the diversity of its mass-media organizations, and the breadth of its message, keeping pace with the latest technologies across various media platforms.

After his statement, the minister of media extended his thanks and appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for their support to Saudi media, and their continued interest in developing it, to enhance its role in highlighting the Kingdom's movement, under the goals of Saudi Vision 2030.

Varieties

KAICIID Trains Journalists to Use Dialogue, Media in Conflict Settlement

The participants acquired the necessary skills to use alternative methods to address conflicts. (Asharq Al-Awsat).
The participants acquired the necessary skills to use alternative methods to address conflicts. (Asharq Al-Awsat).
TT
TT

KAICIID Trains Journalists to Use Dialogue, Media in Conflict Settlement

The participants acquired the necessary skills to use alternative methods to address conflicts. (Asharq Al-Awsat).
The participants acquired the necessary skills to use alternative methods to address conflicts. (Asharq Al-Awsat).

The King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID) held a training workshop that hosted 32 Arab journalists from different religious and cultural backgrounds in Kuala Lumpur. It focused on understanding conflicts and how to use dialogue and media as efficient tools to address them.

During the second workshop of the Dialogue Journalism Project, the participants improved their knowledge of conflicts, and the decisive role that mediation can play to achieve peace.

They also acquired the necessary skills to use alternative methods to address conflicts by studying different cases of social disputes between two parties and developing sustainable and innovative solutions for these cases.

They trained on drafting “primary agreements” aimed at protecting the rights of all parties and establish peace among them.

Waseem Haddad, program manager in the Arab region, underscored the pivotal role that media can play to enhance coexistence, build sustainable peace, and respect the other who comes from another religious, ethnic, and cultural background. “Media can be a bridge of communication and agreement among different communities, and even among the members of the same community,” he explained.

“Journalists can harness dialogue to resolve conflicts and build communication bridges, which highlights the importance of the Dialogue Journalism Project led by KAICIID in the Arab region,” he said.

The participants said that after five days of various workshops and discussion sessions, they felt more open to accept the other and coexist with them without prejudgments, more committed to fighting hate speech, and more able to enhance peaceful agreements among religions and cultures.

They also acknowledged the importance of joining hands to empower the strategic role of media in promoting dialogue, coexistence, conflict settlement, and peace.