French former culture minister Audrey Azoulay was named to head the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) yesterday. Azoulay, 49, came from behind after six rounds of voting to defeat Qatar’s candidate HE Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kuwari. The vote was 30 to 28. Dr al-Kuwari’s programme had included a new vision to restore the cultural renaissance of the organisation under the slogan “Towards a New Beginning for Unesco.” The campaign to succeed Unesco’s outgoing chief Irina Bokova was overshadowed by Washington’s announcement on Thursday that it planned to withdraw from the Paris-based body. Israel itself announced shortly afterwards that it would follow suit.