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119th Regular Session of the Executive Council of 'ALECSO' Kicks Off in Tunis

The 119th regular session of the Executive Council of the Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization kicked off in Tunis on Saturday - SPA
The 119th regular session of the Executive Council of the Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization kicked off in Tunis on Saturday - SPA
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119th Regular Session of the Executive Council of 'ALECSO' Kicks Off in Tunis

The 119th regular session of the Executive Council of the Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization kicked off in Tunis on Saturday - SPA
The 119th regular session of the Executive Council of the Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization kicked off in Tunis on Saturday - SPA

The 119th regular session of the Executive Council of the Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) kicked off Saturday in Tunis.

The two-day session will cover various agenda items, including monitoring the implementation of decisions made during previous sessions and assemblies. Additionally, discussions will focus on the educational, cultural, and scientific conditions in Palestine, the threats faced by Jerusalem, and the review of reports and recommendations from specialized ministerial conferences.

Also, proposals from member states will be examined, including the Saudi Kingdom's proposal to launch the ALECSO Forum for Business and Partnerships, as well as the Arab Observatory Center for Translation project.

Representatives from member states, Arab and international bodies, and organizations in Tunisia, along with representatives from the Arab League, took part in the meeting.

The Kingdom's representative and Chairman of the Executive Council, Hani bin Moqbel Al-Moqbel, lead the discussions.

Also present were the Director General of ALECSO, Mohamed Ould Omar, and the Secretary-General of the Saudi National Commission for Education, Culture, and Science (SNC), Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al-Bulahid.

During the session, the Executive Board of ALECSO commended the success of the "Future of Education, Science, and Culture International Organizations Forum (FESCIOF)," held in Riyadh last March.

They expressed appreciation to the Saudi leadership for hosting the conference for two consecutive terms and recognized the efforts of the SNC in ensuring its international success, SPA reported.

In his speech, Al-Moqbel stated that ALECSO and SNC organized the FESCIOF conference in Riyadh under the slogan "Together for impact in the 21st century." He emphasized that the Kingdom aimed for a new transformative phase characterized by an international perspective, a future-oriented framework, and a comprehensive vision.

This made the initiative, tools, and leadership of the conference truly exceptional, particularly as it was the first of its kind since the inception of the organization over 50 years ago.

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France Savors Competitive Cooking Win as Restoring Lost Prestige

French chef Paul Marcon prepares dishes as he competes in the 2025 Bocuse d'Or cooking competition in Chassieu, near Lyon, central-eastern France, on January 27, 2025. (AFP)
French chef Paul Marcon prepares dishes as he competes in the 2025 Bocuse d'Or cooking competition in Chassieu, near Lyon, central-eastern France, on January 27, 2025. (AFP)
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France Savors Competitive Cooking Win as Restoring Lost Prestige

French chef Paul Marcon prepares dishes as he competes in the 2025 Bocuse d'Or cooking competition in Chassieu, near Lyon, central-eastern France, on January 27, 2025. (AFP)
French chef Paul Marcon prepares dishes as he competes in the 2025 Bocuse d'Or cooking competition in Chassieu, near Lyon, central-eastern France, on January 27, 2025. (AFP)

After major investments in a bid to restore its lost national culinary prestige, France savored victory Tuesday at the world's most prestigious international cooking competition, the Bocuse d'Or.

Paul Marcon, son of the former winner Regis Marcon, clinched the title late on Monday in France's gastronomic capital Lyon, 30 years after his much-garlanded father.

The biennial event, which takes places in front of a boisterous live audience, was founded in 1987 by late French cooking legend Paul Bocuse.

Having seen Scandinavian countries dominate over the last decade, France's team has professionalized and attracted funding from public authorities and private donors in a sign of the importance of the title for national identity.

"It's a childhood dream. It's a source of pride to take France to the top again," a visibly emotional Marcon, 29, told reporters on Monday evening after being hoisted onto the shoulders of his colleagues in his chef's whites.

"Today I hope that we light up the eyes of all the cooks and cooks-to-come in France," he added.

In total, 24 countries competed in the 2025 edition, with the Danish team, winners of the last edition, taking silver and Sweden the bronze medal.

Marcon and his team wowed the judging panel with a pie filled with deer, foie gras and wild mushrooms, accompanied by celery.

The quality of cooking on display at the Bocuse d'Or is seen by observers as increasing every year as countries invest in their delegations for national marketing purposes or to raise the profile of their gastronomic traditions.

France has won just one medal in the last decade -- Davy Tissot having clinched gold in 2021 -- with Scandinavian nations maintaining a grip on the top positions with their precise, minimalist and environmentally-conscious cooking.

Until Monday's victory by Marcon, the United States -- whose food the French have long looked down on -- had won more medals than France over the last 10 years.

"France was navel-gazing," Tissot told AFP recently, "while people around us were moving forward."

Olivia Gregoire, then France's trade and tourism minister, admitted last year that France had been "outstripped by the performance and influence of other countries."

Realizing that the country had fallen behind, Team France head Romuald Fassenet began searching for new funds and resources when he took over in 2019 and he found an ally in President Emmanuel Macron, who became the first French leader to visit the Bocuse d'Or.

Around 600,000 euros ($630,000) were raised for this year's French team led by Marcon from private donors and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region surrounding Lyon, which is headed by ambitious conservative politician Laurent Wauquiez.

A national center for gastronomic excellence, called the Paul Bocuse Institute, was formally launched in January in Lyon to train chefs for international cooking competitions.

Macron has also created an "ambassador for French gastronomy", naming former presidential chef Guillaume Gomez to the role last year.