20 Projects to Boost Saudi Arabia’s Cultural Creative Scene

CEO of the Saudi Cultural Development Fund Mohammed bin Dayel, (Asharq Al-Awsat)
CEO of the Saudi Cultural Development Fund Mohammed bin Dayel, (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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20 Projects to Boost Saudi Arabia’s Cultural Creative Scene

CEO of the Saudi Cultural Development Fund Mohammed bin Dayel, (Asharq Al-Awsat)
CEO of the Saudi Cultural Development Fund Mohammed bin Dayel, (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia’s cultural and creative scene is bracing for 20 new projects and initiatives widening its horizons. The Cultural Development Fund had approved the host of initiatives as the first qualified package of projects for launching a new cultural era in the Kingdom.

The Cultural Development Fund’s approval was coupled with it providing SAR76 million to support said projects.

This comes as part of the Fund’s endeavors to enrich the cultural activity in the Kingdom.

Supporting the pioneers of the cultural sector and enabling them to start their businesses and expand their existing initiatives will most definitely enhance the cultural scene in the Kingdom, empower national competencies, and provide an opportunity for more quality and creativity.

CEO of the Saudi Cultural Development Fund Mohammed bin Dayel considered that supporting the first package of cultural projects is one step to be followed by many other steps.

He said that more programs and plans to stimulate the Kingdom’s cultural sector will be announced in the coming period.

For his part, the head of the business sector at the Fund, Majid bin Abdullah Al-Manea, confirmed that the new projects are the first announced batch to receive support from among the group of advanced projects in the first cycle of the program.

He said the projects were selected after meeting all of the Fund’s requirements.

They were chosen for their social, economic, and cultural impact.

According to Al-Manea, all projects will remain subject to performance follow-up mechanisms to ensure the quality of their outputs.

The Fund's establishment came to develop the cultural sector and achieve sustainability by supporting cultural activities and projects, facilitating cultural investment, and enhancing the sector's profitability.

Additionally, enabling those interested in engaging in cultural activities to have an active role in achieving the National Culture Strategy's goals and the Kingdom's Vision 2030.



Newly Spotted Comet Is Third Interstellar Object Seen in Our Solar System

 This undated diagram shows the trajectory of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it passes through the solar system, released by NASA on July 2, 2025. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
This undated diagram shows the trajectory of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it passes through the solar system, released by NASA on July 2, 2025. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
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Newly Spotted Comet Is Third Interstellar Object Seen in Our Solar System

 This undated diagram shows the trajectory of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it passes through the solar system, released by NASA on July 2, 2025. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
This undated diagram shows the trajectory of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it passes through the solar system, released by NASA on July 2, 2025. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Astronomers are tracking a newly spotted comet hailing from parts unknown, only the third time such an interstellar object has been observed visiting our solar system.

According to US space agency NASA, the interloper - named 3I/ATLAS - was first spotted on Tuesday by an Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS, telescope located in Rio Hurtado, Chile. Astronomers said its unusual trajectory indicated it had ventured from beyond our solar system.

Journeying at a speed of around 37 miles (60 km) per second from the direction of the center of the Milky Way galaxy, 3I/ATLAS is presently located about 420 million miles (670 million kilometers) from Earth.

"Beyond that we do not know very much, and there are many efforts underway to observe this object with larger telescopes to determine composition," University of Hawaii astronomer Larry Denneau, co-principal investigator for ATLAS, said on Thursday.

The only other such interstellar visitors previously observed by astronomers were objects called 1I/'Oumuamua (pronounced oh-MOO-uh-MOO-uh), detected in 2017, and 2I/Borisov, discovered in 2019.

"The comet has some similarities to 2I/Borisov in that it appears to be an icy comet, but it is much larger, possibly 10 km (6.2 miles) in diameter," Denneau said.

"It currently has a faint coma," Denneau added, referring to the cloud of gas and dust surrounding a comet's nucleus, "but the coma and tail may increase dramatically as the object comes closer to the sun. Its closest approach to the sun will be later this year, when it will come inside the orbit of Mars. We don't know what will happen, so that's exciting."

Astronomers said the comet poses no threat to Earth and will never come closer than 150 million miles (240 million km) away, equivalent to more than 1-1/2 times the distance between Earth and the sun. It is currently located about 416 million miles (670 million km) from the sun and will reach its closest approach to the sun around October 30, when it will be about 130 million miles (210 million km) away from our star.

The ATLAS network is a NASA-funded telescope survey built and operated by the University of Hawaii, with five telescopes around the world that scan the night sky continuously to look for objects that could threaten Earth.