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‘Athra’ … A Saudi e-Platform for Translation

Rashad Hassan.
Rashad Hassan.
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‘Athra’ … A Saudi e-Platform for Translation

Rashad Hassan.
Rashad Hassan.

“Athra,” is a Saudi e-platform dedicated to translation. It hires translators to translate articles and books under the supervision of senior experts in linguistics and translation.

So far, the e-platform has published over 150 translated books and articles, and plans to show 12 books in this year’s edition of the Riyadh International Book fair.

Rashad Hassan, a Saudi writer and translator who co-founded “Athra” said: “Translators are the cornerstone of this platform overseen by senior translation experts and practitioners. The platform does not only require the translator to translate a book or an article, but it brings him the material, trains and qualifies him, and then helps him translate and overcome the obstacles that he could face during his work.”

The platform recently announced the launch of the second edition of the Athra Project, an interactive translation project that allows translators to translate a book, and distribute it across libraries and e-book stores, as well as take part in fairs and events dedicated to books and translation.

According to Hassan, the Athra Project focuses on book translation, and “involves translators who have majored and practiced translation, and have former experience in this field.” The project consists old, contemporary and children’s books.

The Athra platform has acquired the exclusive translation rights from prominent global publishing and academic institutions, such as the universities of Harvard, Chicago, and Princeton.

“In this project, our main goal is to empower translators, and to enrich the Arabic translated content. The program passes through many phases, and offers translation training courses approved by the US board, along with regular discussion sessions that gather translators partaking in the program. It also reviews and evaluates their works regularly, and edits, proofreads, and finally publishes the translated books and articles,” he said.

The Athra Platform translates and publishes one to three articles each week in all fields of human science, in collaboration with international publishing institutions, explained Hassan. He also noted that 12 translated books on different topics will be displayed at the Riyadh International Book Fair.

“The translation team working with the platform includes 10 translation experts majored in translation. Anyone can translate and publish with Athra, on its official website or by taking part in its book projects. We offer opportunities for all translators, and select those who show the seriousness, enthusiasm, and will to work and learn,” he stated.

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Culture

Italian Police Recover Stolen Renoir, Cezanne and Matisse Worth 9 mn Euros

Carabinieri officers pose with three paintings by Paul Cezanne, Henri Matisse and Pierre-Auguste Renoir recovered after they were stolen from the Magnani Rocca Foundation in Mamiano, Italy, in this handout image released on August 14, 2026. Carabinieri/Handout via REUTERS
Carabinieri officers pose with three paintings by Paul Cezanne, Henri Matisse and Pierre-Auguste Renoir recovered after they were stolen from the Magnani Rocca Foundation in Mamiano, Italy, in this handout image released on August 14, 2026. Carabinieri/Handout via REUTERS
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Italian Police Recover Stolen Renoir, Cezanne and Matisse Worth 9 mn Euros

Carabinieri officers pose with three paintings by Paul Cezanne, Henri Matisse and Pierre-Auguste Renoir recovered after they were stolen from the Magnani Rocca Foundation in Mamiano, Italy, in this handout image released on August 14, 2026. Carabinieri/Handout via REUTERS
Carabinieri officers pose with three paintings by Paul Cezanne, Henri Matisse and Pierre-Auguste Renoir recovered after they were stolen from the Magnani Rocca Foundation in Mamiano, Italy, in this handout image released on August 14, 2026. Carabinieri/Handout via REUTERS

Paintings by Renoir, Cezanne and Matisse worth over nine million euros which were stolen from a museum in Italy in March have been recovered, Italian police said Friday.

The paintings were taken by masked thieves from the villa of the Magnani Rocca Foundation, near Parma in northern Italy, in a heist that lasted under three minutes.

Video footage released by the police showed two thieves wearing headlamps and with their faces covered entering the villa by breaking through a window, Reuters reported.

They headed straight into the room where the three paintings hung and took them off the wall, before heading back to the window and passing them through to an accomplice waiting outside.

They made off with "Fish" by Auguste Renoir, "Still Life with Cherries" by Paul Cezanne, and "Odalisque on the Terrace" by Henri Matisse.

The Renoir is worth six million euros, the Cezanne three million and the Matisse some 20,000 euros, police said.

The Magnani Rocca Foundation -- 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Parma -- houses the collection of art historian Luigi Magnani, which also includes works by Durer, Rubens, Van Dyck, Goya and Monet.

The theft is the latest in a series of robberies targeting major museums in Europe.

Last October, thieves broke into the Louvre in Paris -- the most visited museum in the world -- in broad daylight, escaping in less than eight minutes with jewellery worth $102 million.

 

 

 

 

Culture

Brazilian Police Recover Matisse Works Stolen in 2025

This handout picture released on August 13, 2026, by the Sao Paulo police press office shows eight recovered works by French artist Henri Matisse that had been stolen in December 2025 in Sao Paulo. (Photo by Handout / SAO PAULO'S POLICE PRESS OFFICE / AFP)
This handout picture released on August 13, 2026, by the Sao Paulo police press office shows eight recovered works by French artist Henri Matisse that had been stolen in December 2025 in Sao Paulo. (Photo by Handout / SAO PAULO'S POLICE PRESS OFFICE / AFP)
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Brazilian Police Recover Matisse Works Stolen in 2025

This handout picture released on August 13, 2026, by the Sao Paulo police press office shows eight recovered works by French artist Henri Matisse that had been stolen in December 2025 in Sao Paulo. (Photo by Handout / SAO PAULO'S POLICE PRESS OFFICE / AFP)
This handout picture released on August 13, 2026, by the Sao Paulo police press office shows eight recovered works by French artist Henri Matisse that had been stolen in December 2025 in Sao Paulo. (Photo by Handout / SAO PAULO'S POLICE PRESS OFFICE / AFP)

Police in Brazil have recovered eight engravings by French artist Henri Matisse that were stolen from a Sao Paulo library last year by an organized gang of thieves, officials said on Thursday.

Vividly colored artwork from Matisse's limited-edition art book "Jazz" were laid out on a table alongside a handgun, in an image released by police.

The works, estimated to be worth $200,000, were found at a home in the town of Sao Bernardo do Campo, near Sao Paulo.

Officers arrested a man who was keeping the works for the mastermind of the heist, police said, adding that he will face charges of receiving stolen goods and illegal weapon possession.

The alleged mastermind was apprehended in April and a woman has also been arrested in the case.

According to AFP, police said the gang behind the robbery was highly organized and structured, with specific tasks assigned to members as it stole artworks in Brazil and sold them on the black market.

In the Matisse robbery last year, police say thieves overpowered a security guard and an elderly couple visiting the Mario de Andrade Library, grabbed the engravings and other items from a glass dome where they were kept, and fled.

They also stole five works by the Brazilian artist Candido Portinari, but these have not been recovered and may have already been sold.

One of the suspects was arrested the day after the theft via the use of the city's facial recognition system.

As part of the investigation, police conducted operations targeting "establishments related to the auction market and the sale of artworks" in municipalities such as Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

The Matisse engravings were part of a modern art exhibition highlighting a collaboration between the library and the Museum of Modern Art of Sao Paulo.

"Jazz" was published in France in 1947 and there are 250 copies signed by the artist, according to auction house Christie's.

Culture

Spain Removes Remains of 11th Century Kings from Monastery as Wildfire Rages

This screen grab of a handout video taken and released by Spain's Military Emergencies Unit (UME) shows firefighters taking away a painting amid a wildfire threatening San Juan de la Pena Monastery in Penas de Riglos in the Spanish southwestern province of Aragon, on August 13, 2026. (Photo by Handout / UME / AFP)
This screen grab of a handout video taken and released by Spain's Military Emergencies Unit (UME) shows firefighters taking away a painting amid a wildfire threatening San Juan de la Pena Monastery in Penas de Riglos in the Spanish southwestern province of Aragon, on August 13, 2026. (Photo by Handout / UME / AFP)
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Spain Removes Remains of 11th Century Kings from Monastery as Wildfire Rages

This screen grab of a handout video taken and released by Spain's Military Emergencies Unit (UME) shows firefighters taking away a painting amid a wildfire threatening San Juan de la Pena Monastery in Penas de Riglos in the Spanish southwestern province of Aragon, on August 13, 2026. (Photo by Handout / UME / AFP)
This screen grab of a handout video taken and released by Spain's Military Emergencies Unit (UME) shows firefighters taking away a painting amid a wildfire threatening San Juan de la Pena Monastery in Penas de Riglos in the Spanish southwestern province of Aragon, on August 13, 2026. (Photo by Handout / UME / AFP)

Spanish authorities on Thursday removed the remains of three kings who ruled the Aragón region in the 11th century from a monastery threatened by a wildfire.

Their remains were taken to the provincial museum of Huesca, located 80 km (50 miles) south of the monastery, for their protection until conditions improve, said the northeastern region's vice-president Mar Vaquero.

After the wildfire that had been raging since Monday began moving toward the 10th century San Juan ⁠de la Peña ⁠monastery late on Thursday, concern that it could be engulfed by flames prompted authorities to launch a rescue operation, Vaquero told reporters.

An emergency military unit team managed to enter the monastery, located in a mountain range, and ⁠take ceremonial clothing belonging to an 18th century count buried there, before the proximity of the flames forced them to flee.

A Spanish firefighter and local officials carry boxes containing remains of the first kings of Aragon after their removal from a monastery that is being threatened by a wildfire in San Juan de la Pena, Spain, August 13, 2026. Spanish Military Emergency Unit/Handout via REUTERS

The team returned a second time, accompanied by police officers and heritage officials, and removed the remains of the first three kings of Aragón — who ruled between 1035 and 1104 — from a pantheon within the monastery, as well as some historical paintings.

Vaquero praised ⁠the bravery ⁠of the rescue team, Reuters reported.

The wildfire had intensified earlier on Thursday, fueled by higher temperatures and strong winds. It has burned more than 9,000 hectares and forced the evacuation of 16 towns, although the monastery remained unharmed on Friday morning.

In southern Spain, a much larger wildfire also worsened on Thursday. It has so far burned 31,000 hectares in the province of Huelva and forced the evacuation of around 700 people.