RIYADH: The Riyadh International Book Fair, one of the region’s largest cultural events, will open on Wednesday with more than 900 Arab and global publishing houses taking part.
Bahrain is the guest of honor at the international cultural fair. More than 30 countries will be represented at the 10-day event, Mohammed Al-Marzouqi, chairman of the book fair’s media committee, told Arab News.
The fair will honor seven leading Saudi filmmakers — Saad Khadr, Ibrahim Al-Qadi, Khalil Al-Rawaf, Saad Al-Freih, Abdullah Al-Muhaisen, Haifa Al-Mansour and Ibrahim Al-Hasawi.
The annual book fair will also celebrate the life of Ghazi Al-Gosaibi, the Saudi politician, diplomat, poet and novelist who died in 2010.
After the opening ceremony on Wednesday, the book fair will be open to visitors on Thursday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The fair, held under the patronage of King Salman at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center, will provide a cultural bridge between the Arab region and the wider world, and serve as a networking platform for publishers, writers, scholars and academic institutions.
More than 500,000 books and publications will be displayed at the fair, which attracts over a million visitors every year.
The exhibition will also include a pavilion dedicated to Saudi Vision 2030 and displays for the NEOM, Red Sea and Qiddiya megaprojects.
The book fair, which started over a decade ago, features a large number of books on Islam, Arab culture, history, medicine, law, science and technology, mass media and communication, besides biographical accounts, fiction and novels available in popular languages including Arabic, English, French, Turkish, Urdu and Spanish.
Riyadh book fair starts 10-day run
Riyadh book fair starts 10-day run
- Bahrain guest of honor at the event
- More than 500,000 books and publications will be displayed at the fair, which attracts over a million visitors every year
KSrelief transfers Gaza girl to Jordan for cancer treatment
- Roza Al-Dreimli in Jordan because Israel destroyed Gaza hospitals
- Under assessment, monitoring at the King Hussein Cancer Center
AMMAN: A cancer-stricken Palestinian girl from Gaza is now undergoing clinical observation prior to treatment at a specialist hospital in Jordan, thanks to Saudi Arabia’s aid agency KSrelief.
Roza Al-Dreimli was transported to Amman from the Gaza Strip through the initiative of KSrelief, as a part of Saudi Arabia’s continued medical support for Palestinians, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday.
Al-Dreimli was prioritized because assessments indicated the need for advanced treatment of cancerous cells at the base of her brain. She is at the King Hussein Cancer Center, and being treated by a team of pediatricians.
She is currently undergoing “intensive clinical monitoring” to “ensure control of the condition, and prevent any potential neurological or visual complications resulting from the tumor’s location,” the SPA reported.
Al-Dreimli’s family expressed profound gratitude for KSrelief’s swift intervention, and hoped the specialized care would ensure a full recovery.
Such specialized care is currently unavailable in the Gaza Strip because of Israel’s alleged genocidal destruction of hospitals and killing of medical workers since Oct. 7, 2023.
Israel has systematically destroyed homes and commercial buildings and infrastructure in the Palestinian enclave, killing over 70,000 Palestinians, many of them unarmed men, women and children, and injuring more than 170,000.
Tel Aviv has stated that its actions were in retaliation to a raid by Hamas of Israeli border villages, during which the militant group reportedly killed more than 1,200 people and took 254 hostages.
