Saudi Arabia Wins UNESCO Executive Board Seat

The Saudi Minister of Culture during his meeting with UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay in Paris
The Saudi Minister of Culture during his meeting with UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay in Paris
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Saudi Arabia Wins UNESCO Executive Board Seat

The Saudi Minister of Culture during his meeting with UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay in Paris
The Saudi Minister of Culture during his meeting with UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay in Paris

Saudi Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan has thanked King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz for their limitless support to culture and art.

He congratulated on Wednesday the Saudi leadership on Saudi Arabia's election to the executive board of UNESCO for 2019-2023.

“We look forward to working together with our partners to promote peace through education, science, culture and the arts,” said the minister, who is also Chairman of the Saudi National Commission for Education, Science and Culture.

“This confirms the Kingdom’s international status and its role in building peace and contributing effectively to the establishment of the principles of culture and science.”

The Saudi Minister of Culture earlier this week met with UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay on the sidelines of the International Forum of Ministers of Culture 2019 in Paris.

During the meeting they discussed ways of cooperation between UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture in the fields of science, culture, arts and heritage.

Prince Badr also inaugurated the Saudi cultural exhibition at the UNESCO headquarters with the participation of a large number of culture ministers.



Final Crystal Triangles Installed on Times Square Ball ahead of New Year's Eve

Times Square New Year's Eve Ball is displayed at One Times Square, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Times Square New Year's Eve Ball is displayed at One Times Square, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
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Final Crystal Triangles Installed on Times Square Ball ahead of New Year's Eve

Times Square New Year's Eve Ball is displayed at One Times Square, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Times Square New Year's Eve Ball is displayed at One Times Square, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

The last of the crystal triangles that make up this year's Times Square New Year's Eve ball were installed on Friday morning, marking the first time in 10 years that all 2,688 were replaced at once.

Rapper Pitbull and inventor Joy Mangano were among those on hand to help the organizers of the celebration put the final pieces in place atop One Times Square, the skyscraper from which the 11,875-pound (5,386-kilogram) geodesic sphere drops to mark the new year, according to The AP.

A New Year's Eve ball was first dropped in Times Square in 1907. Built by a young immigrant metalworker named Jacob Starr, the 700-pound (318-kilogram), 5-foot (1.52-meter) diameter ball was made of iron and wood and featured 100 25-watt light bulbs. Six newer versions of the ball have been featured in the century-plus since that first celebration.

The only years no ball drop occurred were 1942 and 1943, when the city instituted a nightly “dimout” during World War II to protect itself from attacks. Crowds instead celebrated the new year with a moment of silence followed by chimes rung from the base of One Times Square.