National Geographic Broadcasts KAUST’s Journey to Becoming ‘Global’

Divers explore the depths of the Red Sea
Divers explore the depths of the Red Sea
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National Geographic Broadcasts KAUST’s Journey to Becoming ‘Global’

Divers explore the depths of the Red Sea
Divers explore the depths of the Red Sea

National Geographic Abu Dhabi is shining the spotlight on Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Chasing Answers, a new four-part series that explores the emergence of the Thuwal-based institution as a hub for groundbreaking scientific research and development in the region and the world.

Home to elite scientists from all over the world, KAUST focuses on research that applies science and technology to areas of global concern.

The series delves into three areas in particular - human need, social advancement, and environmental sustainability - highlighting important projects with significant impact on both nature and mankind.

Episodes include Powering the Future, which will take a look at a team of KAUST researchers, as they spend countless hours tackling climate change and testing alternative energy solutions. The Red Sea Explored is a deep dive into projects that include underwater internet and coral spawning.

The episode (Feeding) The 10 Billion Challenge shows the inroads being made by the KAUST team in answering the ever-daunting question of how to feed the world’s growing population.

We Are Doers focuses on a group of problem-solvers as they look for ways to use technology to help overcome issues ranging from the global microchip shortage to filling knowledge gaps in our understanding of the past and our ambitions for the future.

Chasing Answers will air at 9 pm KSA time each Wednesday for four weeks starting June 1st.



Iraq Sandstorm Closes Airports, Puts 3,700 People in Hospital 

A wheelchair-bound person is assisted by others to cross to a traffic island in the middle of a road in low visibility conditions amidst a massive dust storm in Iraq's southern city of Basra on April 14, 2025. (AFP)
A wheelchair-bound person is assisted by others to cross to a traffic island in the middle of a road in low visibility conditions amidst a massive dust storm in Iraq's southern city of Basra on April 14, 2025. (AFP)
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Iraq Sandstorm Closes Airports, Puts 3,700 People in Hospital 

A wheelchair-bound person is assisted by others to cross to a traffic island in the middle of a road in low visibility conditions amidst a massive dust storm in Iraq's southern city of Basra on April 14, 2025. (AFP)
A wheelchair-bound person is assisted by others to cross to a traffic island in the middle of a road in low visibility conditions amidst a massive dust storm in Iraq's southern city of Basra on April 14, 2025. (AFP)

A sandstorm swept through Iraq, filling the air with choking dust that closed airports and put more than 3,700 people in hospital with breathing difficulties, the health ministry said Tuesday.

Visibility fell to less than one kilometer (barely half a mile) in central and southern cities as the storm cloaked the region in an eerie orange haze, AFP photographers reported.

Basra and Najaf airports both closed for the duration of the storm, which began to dissipate on Tuesday morning.

Health ministry spokesperson Saif al-Badr said Basra was the worst-hit province, accounting for more than 1,000 of the 3,747 hospital admissions attributed to the sandstorm.

Many of those who dared to venture out in Basra wore face masks to protect themselves from the choking dust, an AFP photographer reported.

Sandstorms are a perennial feature of life in central and southern Iraq but the environment ministry has warned the country can expect to suffer a rising number of "dust days" in coming decades due to the impact of global warming.

A heavy sandstorm in 2022 saw one person die and more than 5,000 treated in hospital for breathing difficulties.