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KAUST Unveils Landmark Coral Facility on Red Sea, Advancing Saudi Scientific Expertise and Marine Conservation

Varieties KCRI is designed to restore the Red Sea reefscape and offer a framework that coral restoration programs worldwide can adopt. (SPA)

KAUST Unveils Landmark Coral Facility on Red Sea, Advancing Saudi Scientific Expertise and Marine Conservation

The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) launched the KAUST Coral Restoration Initiative’s large-scale coral facility, restoring and…

Varieties Heavy machinery clears the debris from a landslide along the Marocos road in Machico municipality, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, due to severe weather caused by the passage of Storm Charles, 11 November 2026. (EPA)

Portugal Closes All Schools and Non-Essential Services Ahead of a Major Atlantic Storm

Portugal closed all schools and shuttered non-essential public services on Wednesday as a major Atlantic storm headed for the country's mainland. Streets…

Varieties The S.S. United States crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times. (Getty Images)

Once the World's Fastest, Ocean Liner Will Become Largest Artificial Reef

An ocean liner that is longer than the Titanic and was once the fastest on the seas is headed to a final home on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico as the world's…

Varieties Celine Dion. (AFP)

Medical Breakthrough for People with Same Disorder as Celine Dion

People suffering from stiff person syndrome (SPS), which affects Celine Dion, the singer, could soon benefit from a new medicine which improves symptoms. …

Varieties View of a flooded area after storm Leo passed by Alcacer do Sal, Portugal, February 5, 2026. (Reuters)

Portugal Storm Alert Closes Schools

Portugal will shut schools and non-essential public services on Wednesday, with the government urging people to shelter from winds potentially reaching 140…


Varieties People watch the flames during a wildfire near the northeastern town of Alexandroupolis, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023. (AP)

More Villages Evacuated as Large Wildfire in Northern Greece Rages for Second Day

Greek authorities evacuated another five villages near the northeastern border with Türkiye on Sunday where a large summer wildfire that has already destroyed…

Varieties Aug. 19, 2023 11:38 a.m. EDT satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Hurricane Hilary, right, off Mexico’s Pacific coast.  (NOAA via AP)

Hilary Weakens to Category 1 Hurricane as Storm Moves within Striking Distance of Mexican Peninsula

Hurricane Hilary moved closer to the coast of Mexico early Sunday on a continued path to the Baja California peninsula as a weakened but dangerous Category 1…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties  In this image made from video released by Roskosmos State Space Corporation, the Soyuz-2.1b rocket with the moon lander Luna-25 automatic station takes off from a launch pad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023. (Roskosmos State Space Corporation via AP, File)

Russia’s Luna-25 Smashes into Moon in Failure

Russia's first moon mission in 47 years failed after its Luna-25 space craft spun out of control and smashed into moon. Russia's state space corporation,…

Varieties People stand on a dock as smoke fills the sky while wildfires continue to burn in Kelowna, British Columbia, on August 19, 2023. (AP)

Firefighters Curb Blazes Threatening 2 Cities in Western Canada

Firefighters kept wildfires at bay near the capital of Canada's Northwest Territories as well as a threatened city in British Columbia, though no one claimed…

Varieties A woman on a donkey carrying wood from trees cut at the Mount Abdulaziz nature reserve outside Hasakeh. Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP

Illegal Logging Turns Syria's Forests into 'Barren Land'

On a riverbank in war-ravaged Syria's north, felling has reduced what was once a lush forest to dispersed trees and decimated trunks poking out from dry,…

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Varieties This handout photograph taken by the Luna-25 rover (Moon-25) and released by Russian Space Agency Roscosmos on August 17, 2023, shows the Zeeman lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. (Photo by Handout / Russian Space Agency Roscosmos / AFP)

Russia's Luna-25 Spacecraft Suffers Technical Glitch

An "abnormal situation" occurred at Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft on Saturday as it was preparing to transfer to its pre-landing orbit, Russia's national space…

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Varieties FILE - Trainer Marcia Hinton pets Lolita at the Miami Seaquarium in Miami, March 9, 1995. (Nuri Vallbona/Miami Herald via AP, File)

Lolita the Orca Dies at US Seaquarium after Half-century in Captivity

Lolita, an orca whale held captive for more than a half-century, died Friday at the Miami Seaquarium as caregivers prepared to move her from the theme park in…

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Varieties Men perform a traditional dance during the Sebeiba Festival, a
yearly celebration of Tuareg culture, in the oasis town of Djanet in
southeastern Algeria, July 29, 2023. (AFP Photo)

Algeria’s Djanet Oasis Captivates Visitors with Unique Charm

The Algerian oasis of Djanet has attracted an increasing number of foreign tourists who have come to explore a unique desert landscape that brings inner peace…

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Varieties A CDC sign stands at the entrance of the agency's offices in
Atlanta. (AP Photo/Ron Harris, File)

US Tracks New Strain of Covid-19

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Thursday that it was tracking a new, highly mutated lineage of the virus that causes COVID-19,…

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Varieties Musk Visits Japan for First Time in Nine Years

Musk Visits Japan for First Time in Nine Years

Elon Musk was in Japan on Friday, prompting social media speculation on the purpose of his first known trip to the country in nine years, according to AFP. …

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Varieties The online meeting aimed at discussing key mechanisms for drawing genetic maps of wild plants. SPA

NCVC, KAUST Discuss Mechanisms to Establish Genetic Data Bank for Saudi Arabia's Wild Plants

Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Combating Desertification (NCVC) is cooperating with King Abdullah University of Science…

Asharq Al Awsat (Riyadh)
Varieties Chang Juben, chairman of Taiwan's Association of Jade Collectors, shows a Yuan dynasty jade belt ornament featuring a carving of a dragon among clouds. Sam Yeh / AFP

Taiwan's Antique Jade Dealers See Trade Losing Luster

Tracing a palm-sized jade pig resting on its haunches, an antique trader in Taiwan said the ears on the nearly 400-year-old piece are a marker of its…

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Varieties Palestinians gather for the opening ceremony of Meow Cafe in Gaza City, Thursday, Aug 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Gaza Strip Gets its First Cat Cafe

The global cat cafe trend, where people pay to have coffee and hang out with cats, has finally come to the besieged Gaza Strip. In the impoverished Palestinian…

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Varieties Men cool off with a mist dispenser set up in a street in central Baghdad amid soaring temperatures - AFP

Where Summer Heat Strikes: Mideast and North Africa

Climate change has impacted the Middle East and North Africa where summer is already very hot. Heat is a tool of the trade for blacksmith Murad Haddad in…

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Varieties The Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF) is dedicated to developing the film industry in the region and in Saudi Arabia

Red Sea Fund Selects 33 Cinema Projects to Receive Funding

The Red Sea Fund has announced its selection of 33 promising projects from the Kingdom, the Arab region, and Africa to receive support and financial grants. …

Asharq Al Awsat (Jeddah)
Varieties In this photo provided by the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, a memorial stands at the site where "Oetzi the Iceman" was found in the Italian Alps. (South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology via AP)

Fresh Look at DNA from Oetzi the Iceman Traces His Roots to Present Day Türkiye

Oetzi the Iceman has a new look. Decades after the famous glacier mummy was discovered in the Italian Alps, scientists have dug back into his DNA to paint a…

Varieties A Soyuz-2.1b rocket booster with a Fregat upper stage and the lunar landing spacecraft Luna-25 blasts off from a launchpad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, August 11, 2023. (Roskosmos/Vostochny Space Center/Handout via Reuters)

Russia’s Luna-25 Spacecraft Enters Lunar Orbit

Russia's lunar spacecraft entered the moon's orbit on Wednesday, a major step towards the country's ambition of being the first to land on the moon's south…

Varieties An employee cleans the enclosure an elephant that has its leg chained at the Hanoi Zoo in Hanoi on August 16, 2023. (AFP)

Push to Free Chained Elephants at Hanoi Zoo 

Legs in iron chains and unable to roam freely, the treatment of two elderly elephants at the Hanoi public zoo has drawn outrage in Vietnam, with animal rights…

Varieties The blue crab risks putting Italian clam and mussel farmers out of business. Piero CRUCIATTI / AFP

Italy's Clam Farmers Fear Blue Crab 'Invasion'

In the shallow waters of the Scardovari lagoon, fishermen catch clams for Italy's beloved spaghetti alle vongole, alongside mussels and oysters. But an invader…

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Varieties  A Siberian tiger cools off amid sweltering temperatures at the Baghdad Zoo in the Iraqi capital on August 8, 2023. (AFP)

Baghdad Zoo Animals Suffer as Mercury Hits 50 Degrees

A pair of Siberian tigers pant incessantly beside a pond at their zoo enclosure in the scorching summer heat of the Iraqi capital. Temperatures on Monday…

Varieties People sit at a community vaccination center , ahead of an expected border reopening with China, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Hong Kong, China, January 4, 2023. (Reuters)

What Is ‘Eris’, the New COVID Variant? 

COVID infections and hospitalizations are on the rise in the US, Europe and Asia. Health officials are pointing at the EG.5 "Eris" coronavirus, a subvariant of…

Varieties Mount Etna, Europe's most active volcano, lights up the night sky with eruptions as seen from Rocca Della Valle, Italy, August 13, 2023. (Etna Walk/Marco Restivo/ Handout via Reuters)

Mount Etna Eruption Disrupts Sicily’s Troubled Catania Airport 

Flights serving the eastern Sicilian city of Catania were halted on Monday after an eruption from nearby Mount Etna, local authorities said, bringing fresh…

Varieties In this photo provided by Gyeongbuk Fire Station Service Headquarters, a lioness is seen in a forest in Goryeong, South Korea, Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. (Gyeongbuk Fire Station Service Headquarters via AP)

Lioness Shot Dead After Escaping from Farm in South Korea 

A lioness escaped from a farm in South Korea, touching off an emergency search before she was killed by a hunter Monday, officials said. The owner of the…

Varieties Shoppers crowd at a flea market in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, July 9, 2023. Jae C. Hong/AP

A Cherished Weekend Flea Market in the Ukrainian Capital Survives despite War

The Pochaina neighborhood in the Ukrainian capital comes alive every weekend as hundreds of people flock to its famous flea market, looking for finds. Antique…

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