unesco | Al Majalla

The cultural landscape of Al Faw Archaeological Area

Al Faw: A beacon of tolerance on the edge of the Saudi desert

The Kingdom's latest addition to the world's premier heritage sits on an ancient trade route and brought together various faiths, creating a historic treasure trove that has been recognised by UNESCO

Abdullah Al-Rashid 21, Sep 2024

Saudi Arabia’s ancient village of Al Faw has been named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, making it the eighth in Saudi Arabia to be featured on the list.

SPA

Al Faw becomes Saudi Arabia's eighth UNESCO heritage site

The ancient village dates back to 500BC and served as a major trade hub and urban centre in the Arabian Peninsula that connected other prominent civilisations

Jaber Muhammad Madkhali 05, Sep 2024

Golestan Palace, a UNESCO Heritage Site in Tehran, Iran

Shutterstock

Iran’s plan to sell historic sites sparks 'monumental' controversy

Proposed auctions for a range of cultural and architectural treasures are being opposed by experts and the public alike. There are fears that the plans could be the first of a wave of privatisations.

Rustum Mahmud 11, Jun 2023

A baker shows freshly-baked?baguettes at "Armand" bakery in Nice, France, November 28, 2022. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

French Baguette Gains Place on World Cultural Heritage List to Bakers' Delight

The humble baguette, France's staple bread, made it onto the United Nation's cultural heritage list on Wednesday, drawing delighted responses from French bakers and non-bakers alike. Paris-based U…

30, Nov 2022

FILE - In this undated photo provided by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the Great Barrier Reef near the Whitsunday, Australia, region is viewed from the air. A United Nations-backed mission is recommending that the Great Barrier Reef be added to the list of endangered World Heritage sites, sounding the alarm that without "ambitious, rapid and sustained" climate action the world's largest coral reef is in peril. The warning came in a report published Monday Nov. 28, 2022 following a 10-day mission to the reef last March by officials from UNESCO and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.(Jumbo Aerial Photography/Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority via AP)

UN: Great Barrier Reef Should Be On Heritage ‘Danger’ List

A United Nations-backed mission is recommending that the Great Barrier Reef be added to the list of endangered World Heritage sites, warning that without “ambitious, rapid and sustained” climate…

AP 28, Nov 2022

FILE PHOTO:Glaciologist Matthias Huss together with members of the Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland (GLAMOS) Romain Hugonnet and Andreas Linsbauer climb the Gries glacier during a trip to check measuring equipment in Gries, Switzerland, September 2, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Major Glaciers, Including Dolomites and Yosemite, to Disappear by 2050 - UN Report

Some of the world's most famous glaciers, including in the Dolomites in Italy, the Yosemite and Yellowstone parks in the United States and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania will disappear by 2050 due to…

02, Nov 2022

Castellers de Vilafranca form a human tower called "castell" during a biannual human tower competition in Tarragona, Spain, October 2, 2022. REUTERS/Albert Gea

Catalans Compete to Build the Biggest Human Towers in Spain

Spain's biggest human towers competition took place on Sunday, with some 11,000 spectators packing the bullring in the northeastern city of Tarragona to watch the daring Catalan tradition. Human…

03, Oct 2022

Governments Grapple with Visibility of Disability

The prevalence of disability is matched by its impact. A staggering one billion people across the globe live with a physical or mental condition that limits their movements, senses, or abilities,…

Luisa Markides 15, Jul 2022

“What Lies Behind the Walls”, by Zahrah Alghamdi

Photo Story: California’s Desert X Coming to Saudi Arabia

Recently, Saudi Arabian newspapers and media outlets said that the famous California’s Coachella Valley Desert X’s Art in the Desert will be shown in Saudi Arabia in February. Also, besides the…

Mohammad Ali Salih 16, Jan 2022

A Syrian policeman patrols the ancient oasis city of Palmyra in March. Many Syrian antiquities have been looted and smuggled out of the country during the past three years of civil war/ Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images

Antiquities Smuggling: New Source of Funding for Syrian Militias

Qamishli- Iran’s military influence in Syria has moved through different forms and levels since the beginning of Tehran’s intervention in the Syrian crisis years ago to support Syrian President…

Jiwan Soz 14, Jan 2022

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Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (C-R) gestures to Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian (5th-R) and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C-L) after a group picture during the D-8 summit in Cairo on December 19, 2024.

AFP

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Geopolitical faultlines begin to show in a post-Assad region

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Key regional powers—Türkiye, Egypt, Iran—do not see eye to eye over what transpired in Syria. One emerges as a winner, the other a loser, and Syria's new Islamist-leaning leaders unsettle the third.

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Four key challenges for Syria's new government

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Integrating armed factions, particularly the SDF, will be key, as well as agreeing on an inclusive new government that can unify a country that has been plagued by division

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Business & Economy

After difficult year, OPEC malaise likely to persist

26 December 2024

With Trump's return to the White House, his planned tariffs could bring down international trade, which in turn would reduce the demand for crude oil

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A crucifix in a lattice of the Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene atop the Mount of Olives looks out at the Dome of the Rock in the Aqsa mosque complex in the old city of Jerusalem.

AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP

Culture & Social Affairs

Religious intolerance isn't intrinsic to Islam but came later

25 December 2024

Earlier eras have been characterised by peaceful coexistence in Islam, when people from different religions lived side by side, with equal rights, at a time when violence raged around other faiths

Abdullah Al-Rashid