Red Sea Global Opens its First Health and Safety Training Academy

This is Red Sea Global's first Health and Safety Training Academy - SPA
This is Red Sea Global's first Health and Safety Training Academy - SPA
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Red Sea Global Opens its First Health and Safety Training Academy

This is Red Sea Global's first Health and Safety Training Academy - SPA
This is Red Sea Global's first Health and Safety Training Academy - SPA

The Red Sea Global (RSG) has announced the opening of its first Health and Safety Training Academy in Saudi Arabia, following a pilot phase during which 1,000 workers were trained.
The academy offers free training for RSG's workforce, partners, and contractors, supporting the development of essential construction skills and safety capabilities. RSG's comprehensive training portfolio adheres to the highest international safety standards, including being certified by international organizations such as Highfield, IOSH, and NEBOSH, it said in a statement. 
Group Head of Health and Safety at RSG John Dunne stated that "by ensuring exemplary safety protocols across all RSG's developments, the academy aims to become the benchmark institution for health and safety training for Saudi Arabia and beyond."
"Our recent IOSH accreditation marks a significant milestone in RSG's commitment to safety excellence. As an approved partner and licensed provider of the IOSH Working Safely course in English and Hindi, we are equipping our workforce and partners with vital safety skills. This partnership with IOSH reflects our dedication to fostering a safe and inclusive work environment across all our projects," he added.
A unique aspect of the academy is its practical, construction-themed training, the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia. The curriculum includes vivid simulations to demonstrate the real consequences of safety violations, making it the first in the Kingdom to emphasize practical and visual learning over traditional classroom-based instruction. Equipped with modern indoor classrooms, outdoor training stations, and specialized safety areas, the facility enables trainees to build critical safety competencies through a mix of theoretical and comprehensive hands-on training. Practical equipment such as Scaffolding, Walking Work Platforms, Gantry Cranes, Confined Space chambers, and CPR training facilities enable trainees to develop critical safety skills, fostering a robust culture of safety.
"By ensuring exemplary safety protocols across all RSG's developments, the academy aims to become the benchmark institution for health and safety training for Saudi Arabia," the statement emphasized.
Furthermore, RSG has achieved another significant milestone by obtaining an official license to deliver IOSH Working Safety Training in both English and Hindi. This course focuses on mitigating hazards effectively, giving workers an understanding of why they must work safely. Following IOSH's thorough review of RSG's safety standards and facilities, RSG received authorization to deliver this training. This capability significantly elevates the developer's training standards, as it can now conduct these sessions in-house rather than relying on third-party providers.
The statement highlighted that last year, RSG hit remarkable milestones in health and safety. These included reaching 10 million hours worked without a Lost Time Injury (LTI) on Shura Island, set to open this year, and achieving 11 million hours worked without an LTI on Shebara Resort, which commenced operations in October 2024.



Beirut's 'Mother of Cats' Who Rescues Felines

Diana Abadi, known as "the mother of cats," sits with felines waiting for adoption at her small pet food and plant shop in Hadath, in Beirut's southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh, in Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Diana Abadi, known as "the mother of cats," sits with felines waiting for adoption at her small pet food and plant shop in Hadath, in Beirut's southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh, in Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
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Beirut's 'Mother of Cats' Who Rescues Felines

Diana Abadi, known as "the mother of cats," sits with felines waiting for adoption at her small pet food and plant shop in Hadath, in Beirut's southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh, in Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Diana Abadi, known as "the mother of cats," sits with felines waiting for adoption at her small pet food and plant shop in Hadath, in Beirut's southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh, in Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Diana Abadi is known in the southern suburbs of Beirut as the “Mother of Cats.”

For the past 12 years, she has turned her home and shop into a refuge for abandoned felines who now number between 50 and 70, and she often sleeps beside the cats as she cares for them full time.

Abadi began by taking in a single kitten.

Word spread, and residents started bringing her injured and unwanted animals, especially during periods of crisis. At its peak, the shelter housed more than 150 cats, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent Israel-Hezbollah war, when fear and displacement led many people to abandon their pets.

Her plant and pet food shop in the southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh serves as both her livelihood and the cats’ shelter. Among those currently in her care are Joujou, 13, the oldest, as well as cats named Loulou, Fluffy, Emma and Panda.

One of the most challenging cases involves a cat that was completely blind when abandoned. A woman offered to cover the animal’s expenses if Abadi would take him in. After months of treatment, the cat has partially regained vision in one eye.

Social media has recently helped improve adoption rates, reducing the number of cats under Abadi's care. Rising costs, however, threaten the shelter’s future. Monthly rent has climbed to $800, up from $250 before the war, forcing Abadi to cover most expenses herself.

“These are living beings,” she said. “I don’t take holidays or Sundays off.”


Face of 400-Year-Old 'Vampire' Recreated

Scientists have given a face to a decapitated skull which was uncovered in Croatia. (Croatia’s excavation team)
Scientists have given a face to a decapitated skull which was uncovered in Croatia. (Croatia’s excavation team)
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Face of 400-Year-Old 'Vampire' Recreated

Scientists have given a face to a decapitated skull which was uncovered in Croatia. (Croatia’s excavation team)
Scientists have given a face to a decapitated skull which was uncovered in Croatia. (Croatia’s excavation team)

The face of a "vampire", whose remains were posthumously mutilated to prevent them from rising from the dead, can be seen for the first time in more than 400 years, reported Sky News.

Discovered in a grave at Racesa, a fortress in eastern Croatia, the body had been exhumed, beheaded and reburied face down beneath heavy stones.

And since the desecration cannot be explained by environmental factors, experts believe it was done to stop the dead man returning as a vampire.

Now the face of the deceased can be seen for the first time in centuries, after scientists rebuilt his likeness from his skull.

Archaeologist Natasa Sarkic, part of the excavation team, said the fear inspired by the man in death may stem from the fear he inspired in life.

She said: “Bioarchaeological analysis showed that this man often participated in violent conflicts, and died a violent death. He experienced at least three episodes of serious interpersonal violence during his lifetime.”

“One of those attacks left his face disfigured, which could cause fear and repulsion, leading to social exclusion. Before even recovering from the penultimate trauma, he sustained a final fatal attack,” she revealed.

“Individuals who died violently, behaved violently in life, or were considered sinful or socially deviant, were believed to be at risk of becoming vampires,” she continued.

“He may have been regarded as a 'vampire', or a supernatural threat due to his facial disfigurement and his marginal lifestyle, characterized by repeated interpersonal violence,” Sarkic explained.

She said such beings were thought to be restless, vengeful, and capable of harming the living, spreading disease and killing people or livestock.

Sarkic said that, in the Slavic tradition, the soul remains attached to the body for about 40 days after death.


Caffeinated Beverages May Help Protect the Brain, Study Says

A cup of coffee and a cappuccino are seen at a Juan Valdez store in Bogota, Colombia June 5, 2019. (Reuters)
A cup of coffee and a cappuccino are seen at a Juan Valdez store in Bogota, Colombia June 5, 2019. (Reuters)
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Caffeinated Beverages May Help Protect the Brain, Study Says

A cup of coffee and a cappuccino are seen at a Juan Valdez store in Bogota, Colombia June 5, 2019. (Reuters)
A cup of coffee and a cappuccino are seen at a Juan Valdez store in Bogota, Colombia June 5, 2019. (Reuters)

Drinking a few cups of caffeinated coffee or tea every day may help in a small way to preserve brain power and prevent dementia, researchers reported on Monday.

People with the highest daily intake of caffeinated coffee had an 18% lower risk of developing dementia compared to those with the lowest such intake, according to a study based on responses to questionnaires by 132,000 U.S. adults spanning four decades.

The study, published in JAMA, also found that the people with the highest intake had a lower rate - by nearly 2 percentage points - of ‌self-perceived memory ‌or thinking problems compared to those with ‌the ⁠lowest intake.

Results were ‌similar with caffeinated tea, but not with decaffeinated beverages, the researchers said.

While the findings are encouraging, the study does not prove caffeine helps protect the brain, they said.

The magnitude of caffeine's effect, if any, was small, and there are other better-documented ways to protect cognitive function as people age, study leader Dr. Daniel Wang ⁠of Harvard Medical School said in a statement.

Lifestyle factors linked with lower risks of ‌dementia include physical exercise, a healthy diet ‍and adequate sleep, according to previous ‍research.

"Our study suggests that caffeinated coffee or tea consumption can ‍be one piece of that puzzle," Wang said.

The findings were most pronounced in participants who consumed two to three cups of caffeinated coffee or one to two cups of caffeinated tea daily, the researchers reported.

Those who drank caffeinated coffee also showed better performance on some objective tests of cognitive function, according to the ⁠study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Further research is needed to validate the factors and mechanisms responsible for the findings, the researchers said.

They noted that bioactive ingredients in coffee and tea such as caffeine and polyphenols have emerged as possible factors that reduce nerve cell inflammation and damage while protecting against cognitive decline.

"We also compared people with different genetic predispositions to developing dementia and saw the same results - meaning coffee or caffeine is likely equally beneficial for people with high and low genetic risk of developing ‌dementia," study coauthor Dr. Yu Zhang of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health said in a statement.