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First Sighting of White-Tailed Eagle in Saudi Arabia at Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve

The eagle was observed and photographed at Wadi Thalbah Wetland. (SPA)
The eagle was observed and photographed at Wadi Thalbah Wetland. (SPA)
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First Sighting of White-Tailed Eagle in Saudi Arabia at Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve

The eagle was observed and photographed at Wadi Thalbah Wetland. (SPA)
The eagle was observed and photographed at Wadi Thalbah Wetland. (SPA)

An extremely rare sighting of a juvenile, migratory white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) has been documented at Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve - the first confirmed record of this species in Saudi Arabia in over two decades, reported the Saudi Press Agency on Sunday.

The eagle was observed and photographed at Wadi Thalbah Wetland, one of the reserve’s key vegetated marshland sanctuaries, by Biodiversity Monitoring and Research Manager Ali AlFaqih. Its presence underscores the reserve’s growing significance as a refuge for migratory birdlife.

The sighting reflects the progress of its habitat-wide restoration strategy, supporting the Saudi Vision 2030 environmental objectives to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030, restore ecosystems, and enhance biodiversity.

The 24,500 km² marine and terrestrial reserve is home to fifteen distinct ecosystems and an exceptional level of biodiversity. More than 50% of all recorded species in the Kingdom have been documented within its boundaries.

Since 2021, the reserve has conducted six multi-season biodiversity studies with experts from Saudi Arabia and five other countries. To date, these studies have recorded 247 bird species, including seven new global range extensions. This represents 49% of all bird species documented in the Kingdom, a number that continues to grow through ongoing research.

The presence of the white-tailed eagle, outside its usual range across the northern hemisphere, highlights the importance of regular monitoring during migratory seasons. This data is critical not only for informing the reserve’s conservation strategies but also for supporting national and regional biodiversity initiatives.

One of eight royal reserves, the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve stretches from the lava plains of the Harrats to the deep Red Sea in the west, connecting NEOM, Red Sea Global, and AlUla. It is home to PIF’s Wadi Al Disah project and Red Sea Global’s Destination AMAALA.

The Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve is one of eight royal reserves established by royal decree and overseen by the Royal Reserves Council chaired by Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister. The reserve’s program is integrated with Saudi Arabia’s wider sustainability and conservation programs, including the Saudi Green and Middle East Green Initiatives.

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Independent Researcher Exposes Basic Blunder in Scores of Cancer Studies

Researchers at the laboratory. (Cancer Research UK, Cambridge Institute)
Researchers at the laboratory. (Cancer Research UK, Cambridge Institute)
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Independent Researcher Exposes Basic Blunder in Scores of Cancer Studies

Researchers at the laboratory. (Cancer Research UK, Cambridge Institute)
Researchers at the laboratory. (Cancer Research UK, Cambridge Institute)

An independent researcher has uncovered potential blunder in scores of scientific studies, including cancer-related research, as a result of inappropriate antibody use in laboratory experiments, raising questions about the reliability of some of the results published in prestigious scientific journals.

The researcher found that scientists at Cambridge, Oxford, Stanford and other universities appear to have accidentally used the wrong ingredient in their experiments, muddling two proteins with similar names but entirely different sequences and functions.

Several British media outlets said researcher Sholto David reviewed the full text of 334 research papers to determine whether the antibody used in the studies was correctly intended for p16-ARC or incorrectly used to try and bind p16-INK4a.

P16-INK4a acts as a tumor suppressor by halting the cell cycle and is widely studied in cancer biology and is considered a key biomarker of ageing.

He found astonishing result: 95% of these papers have got it wrong.

“The vast majority of researchers who purchased antibodies have tried to use them to investigate p16-INK4a expression. Only 17 used these p16-ARC antibodies correctly,” he said in his research.

David said the implications are not good, to put it mildly.

“And these are not just insignificant papers. There are papers with hundreds of citations in high impact journals claiming to probe for p16-INK4a with antibodies which do not bind p16-INK4a,” he noted.

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Indonesia Volcano Erupts, Forcing Airport to Close

Journalists photograph a screen showing the movement of volcanic ash from Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki at the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) office in Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, on June 5, 2026. (AFP)
Journalists photograph a screen showing the movement of volcanic ash from Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki at the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) office in Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, on June 5, 2026. (AFP)
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Indonesia Volcano Erupts, Forcing Airport to Close

Journalists photograph a screen showing the movement of volcanic ash from Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki at the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) office in Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, on June 5, 2026. (AFP)
Journalists photograph a screen showing the movement of volcanic ash from Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki at the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) office in Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, on June 5, 2026. (AFP)

A highly active volcano in eastern Indonesia erupted several times on Friday, spewing towering ash columns into the sky and forcing a local airport to close, authorities said.

Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores Island erupted at 11:15 am (0315 GMT), sending volcanic material 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) into the air, the national volcanology agency said in a statement.

It came after several other eruptions earlier on Friday.

Lewotobi Laki-Laki falls under Indonesia's second-highest alert level for volcanic activity, with a five-kilometer exclusion zone in force around its crater.

The volcanology agency said residents near rivers should also remain on alert for hazardous floods of volcanic material, known as lahar, if heavy rain occurs.

Authorities have suspended operations at a local airport in the town of Maumere, about 60 kilometers west of Lewotobi Laki-Laki, affecting five domestic flights, airport head Partahian Panjaitan told AFP.

Laki-Laki means "man" in Indonesian, and the 1,584-meter (5,197-foot) volcano is twinned with a calmer 1,703-meter one named Perempuan after the Indonesian word for "woman".

Last July, Lewotobi Laki-Laki spewed a colossal 18-kilometer tower of ash, forcing the cancellation of 24 flights at the international airport on the resort island of Bali.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire".

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Rescued Orphaned Elephant Highlights Nigeria's Conservation Fight

Only 40 elephants are thought to live in Nigeria's Okomu forest, as their population has collapsed across the country. John OKUNYOMIH / AFP
Only 40 elephants are thought to live in Nigeria's Okomu forest, as their population has collapsed across the country. John OKUNYOMIH / AFP
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Rescued Orphaned Elephant Highlights Nigeria's Conservation Fight

Only 40 elephants are thought to live in Nigeria's Okomu forest, as their population has collapsed across the country. John OKUNYOMIH / AFP
Only 40 elephants are thought to live in Nigeria's Okomu forest, as their population has collapsed across the country. John OKUNYOMIH / AFP

As dawn breaks over Nigeria's Okomu National Park, an exhausted wildlife caretaker prepares milk formula for Agbaibor, a months-old orphaned forest elephant rescued after wandering out of the rainforest alone.

"The baby elephant has to take two liters of this per meal," said Joshua Aribasoye, one of those responsible for feeding and monitoring the calf around the clock in a makeshift pen at a ranger outpost inside the park in southern Edo state.

Forest elephants, smaller and more elusive than their savannah cousins, are endangered and their population has collapsed in recent decades largely because of habitat loss and poaching, AFP said.

Agbaibor -- named after the ranger who helped rescue him -- was found near a palm oil plantation bordering the protected forest late last year after being separated from the herd.

Rangers and conservationists tried to reunite the calf with its family by taking it back into the forest, but it soon wandered out again.

Fearing it would die alone or be attacked, park authorities and conservation group African Nature Investors (ANI) launched an emergency effort to nurse the animal, flying in elephant rehabilitation specialists from Zambia and assigning caretakers to raise him.

It has become a costly operation. ANI spends between four and five million naira (about $2,900-$3,600) a month on his care, including 77 kilograms of milk powder, alongside oats and nutritional supplements.

Conservationists expect the rehabilitation process to take another three to five years. They are building a new enclosure deeper inside the park, within elephant habitat, where the calf will gradually be exposed to the sounds and movements of wild herds before an eventual reintroduction.

"The calf will be cared for there... until it is integrated into a group," said ANI project manager Peter Abanyam.

- 200 remain -

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists forest elephants as critically endangered, with conservationists estimating only around 200 remain in the country.

Roughly 40 are believed to live in and around Okomu -- one of Nigeria's last remaining rainforest ecosystems, covering about 24,000 hectares.

"Okomu is critical for conservation in Nigeria," said Abanyam.

"In a small ecosystem like this, housing 40 elephants is a huge number, and it needs to be protected at all costs."

But pressure on the forest is intensifying.

Logging, poaching, farming and expanding human settlements have fragmented large parts of the reserve, shrinking elephant corridors and increasing contact between wildlife and nearby communities.

Godstime Christopher, 26, once helped transport illegally logged timber out of the forest before being recruited as a ranger by ANI.

Today, he works with the organization's biomonitoring team, using camera traps to track elephant movements and identify poachers.

"When I became a ranger, I thought I would use that to exploit logging," he admitted. "But the training changed our mentality."

- 'Preserve what we have' -

Conservation groups say engaging local communities is essential if endangered wildlife is to survive in one of Africa's fastest-growing countries, where economic hardship often drives people deeper into protected forests in search of land, timber or bushmeat.

While the ranger program appears to have helped drive down poaching in the area, hunting for other species still disturbs the elephants and degrades their habitat, Christopher warned.

Back at the rehabilitation center, Agbaibor splashes in the mud, nudges his handler for attention and drinks from oversized bottles of milk formula.

For Aribasoye, the demanding work has become deeply personal.

"We are supposed to be like a mother to him," he said.

"Seeing him eating and playing is part of the joy... because I know we are working to preserve what we have left."