Hajj pilgrimage to begin on June 4: Saudi state media
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday that the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage to Mecca would begin on...
Arts & Culture
Cardinals elect a new pope to lead Catholic Church
Cardinals chose a new pope to lead the world's 1.4 billion Catholics on Thursday, sending up white smoke from the...
Arts & Culture
Arts & Culture
Saudi film industry gets boost with $100m investment fund
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -The Middle East Financial Investment Company (MEFIC Capital) has unveiled the establishment of the Saudi Film Fund,...
- The strategic fund is an outcome of an agreement involving the Cultural Development Fund, MEFIC Capital, and Roaa Media Ventures
- The Saudi film production market has experienced impressive growth, boasting an annual growth rate exceeding 25%
Arts & Culture
‘Oppenheimer’ dominates BAFTAs in major Oscars boost
London, United Kingdom - "Oppenheimer", Christopher Nolan's epic movie about the creation of the atomic bomb, swept the board at Sunday's...
- The movie earned seven awards in total, including best film, best director for Nolan, best actor for Cillian Murphy and best supporting actor for Robert Downey Jr
- In the film, Murphy plays J. Robert Oppenheimer, the US theoretical physicist often called the "father of the atomic bomb" who was haunted by the consequences of his creation
Interview
WEF24: Virunga battles deforestation, habitat loss
Climate finance plays a critical role in protecting Virunga National Park through innovative solutions like hydroelectric energy, director Emmanuel de...
- Climate finance plays a critical role in protecting Virunga National Park through innovative solutions like hydroelectric energy, director Emmanuel de Merode tells TRENDS.
- Addressing investment risks and finding sustainable funding methods for forest protection become significant challenge amid ongoing regional conflicts, de Merode adds.
Geostrategy
Saudi Arabia’s Madinah, KAEC, Al-Ahsa join UNESCO global network of learning cities
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has announced that the cities of Madinah, King...
- Saudi Arabia now boasts five cities enlisted in the UNESCO GNLC, contributing to the goal of equipping globally competitive citizens.
- Previously, Yanbu Industrial City was designated as a UNESCO Learning City in 2022 and Jubail Industrial City earned the Learning City status in 2020.
Arts & Culture
Riyadh to host Saudi’s first snooker event in 2024
London, UK - Saudi Arabia will stage its first ranking snooker event in 2024, with a prize pool of more than...
- The inaugural Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters will trail only the World Championship in terms of prize money
- A 10-year deal has been agreed for the event, which will take place from August 31 to September 7 in Riyadh
Business
Air Arabia 2023 net profit $408m
The firm recorded a 27 percent rise in profit compared to 2022.
- The company in its financial results said that the airline's turnover for 2023 reached US$1.6 billion
- Air Arabia’s Board of Directors proposed a dividend distribution of 20 percent of share capital,
Arts & Culture
Archaeological sites discovered in Southern Saudi Arabia
ABHA, SAUDI ARABIA - The Heritage Commission announced its most prominent discovery in Jurash, Asir region, as one of the...
- These were the result of strenuous excavations that took place in 2023.
- Residential units whose walls were built with stones and clay were revealed.
Arts & Culture
US teens make efforts for Jewish-Muslim dialogue in New Jersey suburb
TEANECK, US - They are only teenagers, but a pair of New Jersey high school students -- one Jewish and one...
- The unexpected success of that first meeting led to a second, larger one, and the girls since have enjoyed support.
- Despite the strong turnout, the girls were not overly optimistic about the outcome of the meeting.
Geostrategy
Law, politics hamper UK museum return of artifacts
LONDON, UK - British museums, like others across Europe, are under pressure to return artworks taken during the colonial era, including...
- Politicians have little appetite to change the legal framework that is currently blocking full restitutions by national museums, campaigners say.
- British laws dating from the 1960s and 1980s prevent national museums, such as the British Museum and the V&A, from making returning artifacts.
Arts & Culture
AI game gains popularity during Chinese New Year festivities
SHANGHAI, CHINA - Young Chinese flocking home for Lunar New Year this weekend have turned to an AI chatbot game to...
- The new game uses an AI chatbot to simulate the barrage of squirm-inducing questions young people can expect to face.
- The annual inquisition as extended families gather for China's biggest festival is a cultural touchstone across the country.
Hajj pilgrimage to begin on June 4: Saudi state media
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday that the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage to Mecca would begin on...
Arts & Culture
Company News
Art and culture retain power to humanize the Intelligent Age, says WEF’s Fowler
World Economic Forum
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Palestinian pottery sees revival in war-ravaged Gaza
Arts & Culture
‘Amazing’ AI de-ages Tom Hanks in new film ‘Here’
Arts & Culture
Second edition of Saudi art biennale seeks to modernize Islamic tradition
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - Under a vast canopy of tents in the Saudi city of Jeddah, religious artefacts are on display...
Arts & Culture
Art and culture retain power to humanize the Intelligent Age, says WEF’s Fowler
Davos, Switzerland -- In an age where artificial intelligence is reshaping our lives, the World Economic Forum's Arts and Culture...
World Economic Forum
Maori-led AI initiative can revolutionize language preservation, says Peter-Lucas Jones
Davos, Switzerland -- Peter-Lucas Jones, a Kaitaia native, who has been listed in the prestigious Time100 AI 2024 List, was...
World Economic Forum
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Arts & Culture
Portraits of pain: smuggled Palestinian art shows trauma of Gaza
Smuggled art pieces from Gaza are on display in an exhibition in Amman showcasing pain, suffering and a strong resolve...
- The paintings document the brutality of war and massacres… carrying pain and sorrow and also a strong resolve and determination
- The exhibition in Jordan features 79 artworks crafted from improvised materials including medicine wrappers
Arts & Culture
‘Amazing’ AI de-ages Tom Hanks in new film ‘Here’
Los Angeles, United States - Tom Hanks has praised the "amazing" use of artificial intelligence to de-age him "in real time"...
- Hanks portrays his character from an idealistic teen, through various stages of youth and middle age, to a frail, elderly man
- But rather than just relying on makeup, filmmakers teamed up with AI studio Metaphysic on a tool called Metaphysic Live, to rejuvenate and "age up" the actors
Arts & Culture
Five charged over ketamine death of ‘Friends’ star Matthew Perry
Los Angeles, United States - Five people who allegedly supplied ketamine to "Friends" star Matthew Perry in a bid to exploit...
- The actor died at his luxury Los Angeles home last year, sparking an outpouring of grief from fans around the world
- An autopsy found the cause of his death was "the acute effects of ketamine," a controlled drug the recovering addict was taking as part of supervised therapy