UNESCO: Arabic is One of the Pillars of Human Civilization

The UNESCO logo is seen during the opening of the 39th session of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at their headquarters in Paris, France, Oct. 30, 2017. Reuters
The UNESCO logo is seen during the opening of the 39th session of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at their headquarters in Paris, France, Oct. 30, 2017. Reuters
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UNESCO: Arabic is One of the Pillars of Human Civilization

The UNESCO logo is seen during the opening of the 39th session of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at their headquarters in Paris, France, Oct. 30, 2017. Reuters
The UNESCO logo is seen during the opening of the 39th session of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at their headquarters in Paris, France, Oct. 30, 2017. Reuters

UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay has described Arabic as one of the most widespread languages in the world, saying it is one of the pillars of human civilization.

“The Arabic language is one of the most widespread languages in the world, and it is the tongue of more than 422 million people, and through it they communicate and interact,” Azoulay said in a statement in a report released by the UAE Ministry of Culture and Youth on the state of the Arabic language and its future.

“Arabic is one of the pillars of human civilization, and it is the language of innovation and exploration in the fields of science, medicine, astronomy, mathematics, philosophy and history, throughout the ages, and it was and still is a bridge of knowledge, across time and space and contributed through the centuries, with the rest World cultures, in the accumulation of the legacy of humanity.”

UAE’s Minister of Culture and Youth Noura Al Kaabi said "The State of the Arabic Language and Its Future” report constitutes a basis and a reference point to assist decision-makers in governments and private institutions at the regional and global levels in everything related to the Arabic language.

She noted that the report will be the first building block in the framework of a permanent case study project The Arabic language, and working to enhance its presence and use in its various forms.

The report focused on the most important issues of interest to decision-makers working in the Arabic language sector, she said.

The minister explained that this work is part of the UAE’s commitment to its cultural identity and its role as an active contributor to the cultural identity of the region.

Saudi Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan also said in the report that the Arabic language has received great attention from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

Saudi Arabia placed the language in a major position in all its systems and regulations, he said.

As for Sheikha Mai bint Muhammad Al Khalifa, President of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, she described language as a mother.

“Language preserves identity and its first embrace. It is the first word that we wake up to in this world.”

The report showed the growth of digital publishing platforms in the Arabic language, as the number of novels published on one of the platforms reached 2,600 novels, while the number of views of some novels reached 10 million.

The report also found that Arabic is among the most used languages on the internet, and pointed to a high demand by non-Arabic speakers to learn Arabic.



Beloved Zurich Zoo Gorilla Euthanized after Years of Declining Health

FILE - N'Gola, the silverback male of the gorilla group at Zurich Zoo celebrates his 40th birthday on Wednesday, June 21, 2017, in Zurich. (Siggi Bucher/Keystone via AP, file)
FILE - N'Gola, the silverback male of the gorilla group at Zurich Zoo celebrates his 40th birthday on Wednesday, June 21, 2017, in Zurich. (Siggi Bucher/Keystone via AP, file)
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Beloved Zurich Zoo Gorilla Euthanized after Years of Declining Health

FILE - N'Gola, the silverback male of the gorilla group at Zurich Zoo celebrates his 40th birthday on Wednesday, June 21, 2017, in Zurich. (Siggi Bucher/Keystone via AP, file)
FILE - N'Gola, the silverback male of the gorilla group at Zurich Zoo celebrates his 40th birthday on Wednesday, June 21, 2017, in Zurich. (Siggi Bucher/Keystone via AP, file)

The Zurich Zoo’s beloved gorilla of more than 40 years has been put down after a long struggle with declining health, a zoo official in the Swiss city said this week.
N’Gola was 47 and one of the oldest male gorillas in European zoos, said Zurich Zoo director Severin Dressen.
He was a Western lowland gorilla — a subspecies of the great apes found in Africa and listed as critically endangered — and because of his mature age he was a silverback, after the gray hair on his back, The Associated Press reported.
N'Gola had suffered a host of health ailments, including arthritis, a heart condition and a tapeworm infection. He had been on painkillers for several years, eating less, and losing weight and muscle mass.
“It’s a hard decision to euthanize a silverback,” Dressen said.
"We’ve seen a crash in the wild over the span of three generations of 80% of the population," Dressen said about the decline of gorillas in the wild. Zoos can be helpful for research and public education about species protection, he added.
N'Gola was born in captivity and fathered 34 children. He was known for his sensitive side, taking “care of his harem, his group of females,” Dressen said.
In 2012, the female Nache in his harem suffered a burst appendix during advanced pregnancy, and both she and the unborn baby gorilla died, according to the Swiss newspaper Neue Zuricher Zeitung.
N’Gola spent weeks whimpering through the zoo enclosure looking for her, the report said.
Dressen also recalled a time when N'Gola looked after a baby gorilla in the group. "The mother wasn’t there, and he kind of — which is not a typical silverback behavior — took care of that baby.”
As for humans, N'Gola mostly ignored "other bipedal species on the other side of the glass” of his enclosure, Dressen said.