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Saudi Culture Minister Meets French Counterpart

Saudi Culture Minister Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan and his French counterpart Rima Abdul Malak in Riyadh. (SPA)
Saudi Culture Minister Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan and his French counterpart Rima Abdul Malak in Riyadh. (SPA)
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Saudi Culture Minister Meets French Counterpart

Saudi Culture Minister Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan and his French counterpart Rima Abdul Malak in Riyadh. (SPA)
Saudi Culture Minister Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan and his French counterpart Rima Abdul Malak in Riyadh. (SPA)

Saudi Minister of Culture and Governor of the Royal Commission for AlUla Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan held an official meeting with the French Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, who is on an official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Prince Badr emphasized the strong bilateral relations between the two countries across various domains.

The two officials reviewed the cultural relations in different fields and discussed strategies to further enhance them for the mutual benefit of both countries.

The two countries signed an agreement in 2021 to promote cooperation and cultural exchange in a variety of sectors, including architecture and design, heritage, visual arts, performing arts, films, and literature. They also signed a historic agreement in 2018 to develop AlUla governorate’s cultural and heritage features, and launch joint strategic projects and joint scientific initiatives relating to archeological research and excavation in the Kingdom.

Rakan bin Ibrahim Al-Touq, undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture, and Eng. Fahd bin Abdulrahman Al-Kanaan, general supervisor of cultural affairs and international relations, also attended the meeting.

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NASA's Parker Solar Probe Aims to Fly Closer to the Sun Like Never Before

The sun sets in Santiago, Chile, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, as a forest fires burns on the outskirts of the capital. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
The sun sets in Santiago, Chile, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, as a forest fires burns on the outskirts of the capital. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
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NASA's Parker Solar Probe Aims to Fly Closer to the Sun Like Never Before

The sun sets in Santiago, Chile, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, as a forest fires burns on the outskirts of the capital. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
The sun sets in Santiago, Chile, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, as a forest fires burns on the outskirts of the capital. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

A NASA spacecraft aims to fly closer to the sun than any object sent before.
The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 to get a close-up look at the sun. Since then, it has flown straight through the sun's corona: the outer atmosphere visible during a total solar eclipse.

The next milestone: closest approach to the sun. Plans call for Parker on Tuesday to hurtle through the sizzling solar atmosphere and pass within a record-breaking 3.8 million miles (6 million kilometers) of the sun's surface, The Associated Press reported.
At that moment, if the sun and Earth were at opposite ends of a football field, Parker "would be on the 4-yard line,” said NASA's Joe Westlake.
Mission managers won't know how Parker fared until days after the flyby since the spacecraft will be out of communication range.

Parker planned to get more than seven times closer to the sun than previous spacecraft, hitting 430,000 mph (690,000 kph) at closest approach. It's the fastest spacecraft ever built and is outfitted with a heat shield that can withstand scorching temperatures up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,371 degrees Celsius).

It'll continue circling the sun at this distance until at least September.

Scientists hope to better understand why the corona is hundreds of times hotter than the sun’s surface and what drives the solar wind, the supersonic stream of charged particles constantly blasting away from the sun.

The sun's warming rays make life possible on Earth. But severe solar storms can temporarily scramble radio communications and disrupt power.
The sun is currently at the maximum phase of its 11-year cycle, triggering colorful auroras in unexpected places.

“It both is our closest, friendliest neighbor,” Westlake said, “but also at times is a little angry.”