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Saudi Arabia Wins Four Awards at International Biology Olympiad in Lithuania

File photo of Saudi Arabia's flag.
File photo of Saudi Arabia's flag.
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Saudi Arabia Wins Four Awards at International Biology Olympiad in Lithuania

File photo of Saudi Arabia's flag.
File photo of Saudi Arabia's flag.

The Saudi Biology Team won four international awards at the 37th International Biology Olympiad (IBO 2026), held in Vilnius, Lithuania, from July 12 to 19. The competition brought together 312 students representing 80 countries from around the world, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday.

Taha Arshad Kadwai, from the General Administration of Education in Jeddah, won a silver medal. Hamza Mohammed Baissa, from the General Administration of Education in Riyadh, and Elyas Fawzi Asloub, from the General Administration of Education in Jeddah, each won a bronze medal, while Faisal Saad Al-Abdullatif, from the General Administration of Education in Riyadh, received a certificate of appreciation.

Represented by the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba), in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Saudi Arabia participated in the competition for the fifth time.

The latest achievement brings the Kingdom's total at the International Biology Olympiad to 19 awards, including five silver medals, nine bronze medals, and five certificates of appreciation. The result followed intensive preparation under the Mawhiba International Olympiads Program, which included training camps held inside and outside the Kingdom under the supervision of national and international experts.

The International Biology Olympiad is the world's leading competition for secondary school students in the life sciences. Held annually since its launch in 1989, it brings together some of the world's most gifted students to compete in advanced examinations that assess scientific knowledge, biological problem-solving, and laboratory skills.

Mawhiba is Saudi Arabia's leading national institution for identifying, nurturing, and empowering gifted students. It operates under a national strategy to develop talent in priority scientific fields.

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Greece Braces for Year’s First Heatwave

A drone view of one of the two fertile regions on the island, the dried-up village of Livadi on the island of Astypalaia, Greece, July 13, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view of one of the two fertile regions on the island, the dried-up village of Livadi on the island of Astypalaia, Greece, July 13, 2026. (Reuters)
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Greece Braces for Year’s First Heatwave

A drone view of one of the two fertile regions on the island, the dried-up village of Livadi on the island of Astypalaia, Greece, July 13, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view of one of the two fertile regions on the island, the dried-up village of Livadi on the island of Astypalaia, Greece, July 13, 2026. (Reuters)

Greece, which was spared the record hot weather that ravaged most of Europe in June, is finally bracing for its first heatwave of the year.

Maximum temperatures in Thessaly, parts of the Peloponnese and the greater Athens area "may hover around or exceed 40C" (104F), with a fall likely on Thursday, prominent meteorologist Theodoros Kolydas said Sunday on Facebook.

He said data for Monday to Wednesday showed that "we are not dealing with a simple warm spell, but with a heat episode with heatwave characteristics, mainly over the mainland."

Weather website meteo.gr on Saturday said the first measurement over 40C for the season had been recorded in the northwestern town of Konitsa, with a reading of 40.4C.

National weather service EMY on Sunday forecast temperatures of 40C to 41C on Monday and Tuesday in mainland Greece.

It is unusual for temperatures to rise so late in July in Greece. Rain spells in June and strong winds this month kept heatwaves at bay this season while heat record after record was broken across most of Europe.

Meteo.gr said it was the third most delayed 40-degree recording since 2011, after July 20 in 2015 and July 30 in 2013.

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Wildfire Scorches 12,000 Hectares North of Madrid

A seaplane battles a wildfire that started on Thursday in La Mierla, Guadalajara, July 18, 2026. (EPA)
A seaplane battles a wildfire that started on Thursday in La Mierla, Guadalajara, July 18, 2026. (EPA)
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Wildfire Scorches 12,000 Hectares North of Madrid

A seaplane battles a wildfire that started on Thursday in La Mierla, Guadalajara, July 18, 2026. (EPA)
A seaplane battles a wildfire that started on Thursday in La Mierla, Guadalajara, July 18, 2026. (EPA)

A wildfire raging 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Madrid has spread, burning more than 12,000 hectares and forcing several hundred people to evacuate, local authorities announced on Sunday.

The fire that started on Thursday in Guadalajara province, which includes the Sierra Norte Natural Park, has not caused any casualties so far but has been described as "difficult" by regional president Emiliano Garcia-Page and local authorities on X.

It broke out in a forest-covered, mountainous region that is home to endangered species including eagles, wolves and butterflies.

It comes hot on the heels of a blaze that started on Wednesday near Zaragoza, in the northeast, has burned nearly 16,000 hectares and is "far from under control", according to the latest update provided on Saturday evening by the regional government of Aragon.

No casualties have been reported.

Earlier this month, Spain witnessed one of the deadliest wildfires in its recent history, when a blaze in the southern province of Almeria killed 13 people and destroyed 7,000 hectares.

Spain is on the front line of climate change and has experienced increasingly long and frequent heatwaves in recent years, with temperatures well above 40C, creating conditions conducive to devastating fires.

Scientists say human-driven climate change is increasing the length, intensity and frequency of heatwaves, which dry out vegetation and contribute to the likelihood of wildfires.

Varieties

Cat Rescued from Ruins of Venezuela Quake Offers ‘Ray of Hope’

A volunteer rescuer holds a cat after pulling it out from under the rubble of a building damaged by the June 24 earthquakes, in Caraballeda, state of La Guaira; Venezuela, on July 18, 2026. (AFP)
A volunteer rescuer holds a cat after pulling it out from under the rubble of a building damaged by the June 24 earthquakes, in Caraballeda, state of La Guaira; Venezuela, on July 18, 2026. (AFP)
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Cat Rescued from Ruins of Venezuela Quake Offers ‘Ray of Hope’

A volunteer rescuer holds a cat after pulling it out from under the rubble of a building damaged by the June 24 earthquakes, in Caraballeda, state of La Guaira; Venezuela, on July 18, 2026. (AFP)
A volunteer rescuer holds a cat after pulling it out from under the rubble of a building damaged by the June 24 earthquakes, in Caraballeda, state of La Guaira; Venezuela, on July 18, 2026. (AFP)

A weakened cat was pulled from under the rubble of a collapsed residential complex in Venezuela on Saturday in what a rescuer described as a "ray of hope" in the aftermath of deadly earthquakes.

More than 5,100 people were killed when back-to-back quakes struck the South American nation on June 24, with the coastal state of La Guaira hit hardest.

Volunteer rescue worker Andres Carvajal said he spotted the cat during a search in a La Guaira housing complex that had been reduced to rubble.

"We saw the cat, it got scared and went back inside, deeper into the building," Carvajal told AFP. It was unclear when it had become trapped.

"I went in, took off my glove, put some cat food on my arm... It gradually came closer and, of course, ate with a bit of desperation," the 21-year-old university student said.

Carvajal had written "el gato" -- "the cat" -- on his helmet, which he said had been his nickname since elementary school.

He and other students from the Central University of Venezuela, in Caracas, formed an association to help with rescue operations.

Once rescued, the cat was handed over to a small camp where vets were on standby. It was given fluids and cleaned before being sent to a shelter.

"I'm very happy we found it," Carvajal said.

"It's impossible not to feel empathy for any life that's here. And finding this little cat is obviously a ray of light, a ray of hope."