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Saudi Arabia Concludes Participation in Beijing International Book Fair 2024

The Kingdom's pavilion was widely visited by the Chinese public - SPA
The Kingdom's pavilion was widely visited by the Chinese public - SPA
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Saudi Arabia Concludes Participation in Beijing International Book Fair 2024

The Kingdom's pavilion was widely visited by the Chinese public - SPA
The Kingdom's pavilion was widely visited by the Chinese public - SPA

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia concluded its participation in the Beijing International Book Fair, where it was the guest of honor this year, which was held from June 19 to 23.
The Kingdom's pavilion was widely visited by the Chinese public, being the highlight of the exhibition. Visitors would learn about Saudi culture, arts, and heritage through an integrated cultural experience, SPa reported.
The Literature, Publishing, and Translation Commission led the effort; various other cultural entities took part, like the Heritage Commission, the Culinary Arts Commission, the Fashion Commission, the King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives (Darah), the King Salman Global Academy for the Arabic Language, the King Abdulaziz Public Library, the Saudi Publishing Association, and the Ministry of Investment.
The Saudi pavilion played a significant role in fostering cultural dialogue and introducing the Saudi culture to the Chinese public through a cultural program that included 15 dialogue sessions.
The Prince Mohammed bin Salman Award for Cultural Cooperation between Saudi Arabia and China had a special pavilion at the exhibition, to emphasize the importance of cultural exchange and cooperation between the two countries.
Moreover, several agreements were signed between Saudi and Chinese book publishers, including a cooperation agreement that is part of the Tarjem Translation initiative, entailing translating into Arabic the books "The Forbidden City: A History of China Since the Fifteenth Century" and "Historical Tales of the Great Wall of China".

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Paris to Allow Swimming in Seine from July in Olympic Legacy

Swimming in the Seine is seen as a key legacy of the Games. EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP
Swimming in the Seine is seen as a key legacy of the Games. EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP
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Paris to Allow Swimming in Seine from July in Olympic Legacy

Swimming in the Seine is seen as a key legacy of the Games. EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP
Swimming in the Seine is seen as a key legacy of the Games. EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP

Remember the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics?

The fortnight of intense and memorable sporting competition against the background of iconic landmarks amid brilliant sunshine in the French capital, days that will never be forgotten.

And the constant uncertainty about whether the River Seine would be clean enough to allow the open water swimming and triathlon events to take place.

The organizers set the ambitious goal of staging those events in a river long seen as too polluted for swimming and, despite the occasional hitch when heavy rain increased pollution levels, pulled it off.

Now, fulfilling a key legacy promise from the Games, the Paris authorities this summer are to allow the public to swim from July 5 at three points in the Seine which is now deemed safe for a dip.

"It was an extraordinary moment (in 2024), but swimming during the Games was not an end in itself," Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo told reporters.

"Making the Seine swimmable is first and foremost a response to the objective of adapting to climate change, but also of quality of life," she added.

Parisians and tourists alike will be able to take the plunge at bras Marie in the heart of the historic center, the Grenelle district in the west of Paris, as well as Bercy in the east.

Once a favorite pastime in Paris, swimming in the Seine had been off limits for a century until last year due to the pollution levels.

"This summer, Parisians and tourists will rediscover the joys of swimming in the Seine, a hundred years after it was banned," city hall said in a statement.

Swimming will be supervised and monitored, said Pierre Rabadan, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of sports. The city expects to welcome between 150 and 300 people at any given time at the three sites, which will close for the season at the end of August.

As on beaches, a system of flags -- green, yellow and red -- will make clear the safety of swimming according to the Seine's current and the quality of the water.

The water quality will be closely watched, after high levels of bacteria forced the postponement of some of the competitions on certain days during the Olympics.

Checks will be carried out daily, and swimming may be suspended in the event of rain, said Marc Guillaume, the prefect, the top state-appointed official, of the Ile-de-France region that includes Paris.

He expressed "even more optimism" about water quality than last summer, given the work done on making the river cleaner.