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Saudi Arabia Brings Together 19 Countries to Prepare a New Generation of Nuclear Scientists

The launch of the 3rd edition of INSO 2026 with students from 19 countries (Mawhiba)
The launch of the 3rd edition of INSO 2026 with students from 19 countries (Mawhiba)
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Saudi Arabia Brings Together 19 Countries to Prepare a New Generation of Nuclear Scientists

The launch of the 3rd edition of INSO 2026 with students from 19 countries (Mawhiba)
The launch of the 3rd edition of INSO 2026 with students from 19 countries (Mawhiba)

The city of Jeddah has become a global platform for young minds with the launch of the third edition of the International Nuclear Science Olympiad (INSO 2026), which Saudi Arabia is hosting for the first time.

The event, which brings together 120 students and experts from 19 countries, reflects the Kingdom’s commitment to strengthening its presence on the international scientific stage while developing national talent in one of the fields most closely linked to the future of development.

The International Nuclear Science Olympiad is the world’s leading competition for high school students in this field. It is organized under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in partnership with the Ministry of Education, the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba), King Abdulaziz University, and the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy.

The Olympiad aims to promote scientific excellence and international cooperation in the peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology.

During the opening ceremony, Minister of Education Yousef Al-Benyan stated that Saudi Arabia’s hosting of this global event reflects the strong support provided by the Kingdom’s leadership to education, research, and innovation.

He described the event as a practical expression of the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 and the Human Capability Development Program through investment in human capital, strengthening the Kingdom’s position as a global destination for knowledge, and attracting major scientific competitions.

He explained that the Olympiad, officially endorsed by the IAEA since 2024, brings together outstanding students and experts as a global platform for exchanging expertise and inspiring a new generation of scientists capable of developing solutions and innovations in the fields of peaceful nuclear energy applications, nuclear security, and nuclear technologies.

Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation at the IAEA Hua Liu said the third edition marks an important milestone in the development of INSO, which is rapidly evolving into an inspiring global platform for young people.

He noted that nuclear science and technology play a pivotal role in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through their peaceful applications in disease diagnosis and cancer treatment, strengthening food security, managing water resources, protecting the environment and cultural heritage, improving industrial processes, and generating reliable low-carbon energy.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Dr. Anas Al-Wafi, Chairman of the Scientific Committee for Hosting the Olympiad, said that Saudi Arabia’s hosting of this edition reflects the importance and support that the Kingdom’s leadership places on education, scientific research, and the development of national capabilities.

He added that the royal approval to host the event underscores the central role of science and innovation in Saudi Arabia’s development journey.

Al-Wafi explained that the scientific committee includes a distinguished group of local experts from King Abdulaziz University, several government agencies, and Saudi universities, alongside international experts from universities and research centers specializing in nuclear sciences and technologies.

This, he said, ensures that the examinations are prepared and judged according to the highest international standards while promoting fairness and transparency throughout all stages of the competition.

He added that the Olympiad’s examinations are designed to measure scientific thinking rather than rote memorization. Nuclear science is inherently multidisciplinary, combining physics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering, and computer science. Consequently, the competition evaluates a student’s ability to apply knowledge from multiple disciplines to solve real-world scientific problems rather than simply recall theoretical information.

Al-Wafi noted that the questions simulate practical applications in nuclear energy, nuclear medicine, environmental science, and industry.

He stressed that the student most likely to excel is “not the one who has memorized the most information, but the one who possesses scientific curiosity, logical reasoning skills, and the ability to transform fundamental knowledge into practical solutions.”

These are the skills that will shape the future of nuclear science and technology.

He also revealed that the Olympiad’s impact extends well beyond the announcement of results. He cited the example of a Saudi student who participated in the previous edition without winning a medal, yet whose experience became a turning point in his academic journey. The student is now studying nuclear engineering at one of the top universities in the United States.

Al-Wafi stressed that the true success of the Olympiad “is not measured by the number of medals won, but by the lasting impact it has on students’ futures.”

He added that the international committee maintains ongoing engagement among participants through events and activities that connect alumni from previous editions with new competitors, helping build a global scientific community that exchanges expertise and encourages collaboration among young people.

Al-Wafi further explained that King Abdulaziz University was chosen to host the Olympiad because of its scientific legacy spanning more than 50 years.

The university’s Department of Nuclear Engineering is the oldest specialized department of its kind in the region and has played a key role in developing highly qualified national talent, specialized academic and research expertise, and advanced laboratories that support education, training, and scientific research in nuclear engineering and technology.

He added that through hosting this edition, Saudi Arabia seeks to demonstrate not only its organizational capability to host global events, but also its scientific foundation and national expertise capable of leading the technical and academic dimensions of a highly specialized international event. This reflects the maturity of Saudi universities and institutions and their ability to integrate effectively with international expertise.

Al-Wafi linked the Olympiad to the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 and the Kingdom’s national atomic energy program, explaining that the event supports efforts to build human capabilities and prepare a new generation of scientists, engineers, and researchers capable of contributing to the future of peaceful nuclear energy and technology applications.

It also strengthens Saudi Arabia’s presence within the international scientific community and creates broader opportunities for collaboration among universities, research centers, and specialized institutions while fostering sustainable scientific partnerships.

He emphasized that nuclear science is no longer limited to energy production. It now plays an important role in medicine, agriculture, industry, environmental protection, and even the preservation of cultural heritage and archaeological sites.

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Varieties

New NASA Telescope to Probe Dark Energy, Dark Matter and Exoplanets

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope stands after engineers and technicians working inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility mated the observatory to its payload adapter and a strut payload attach fitting, a specialized piece of hardware designed for large, heavy loads at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape, Canaveral, Florida, US August 7, 2026 NASA/Jolearra Tshiteya via REUTERS
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope stands after engineers and technicians working inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility mated the observatory to its payload adapter and a strut payload attach fitting, a specialized piece of hardware designed for large, heavy loads at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape, Canaveral, Florida, US August 7, 2026 NASA/Jolearra Tshiteya via REUTERS
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New NASA Telescope to Probe Dark Energy, Dark Matter and Exoplanets

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope stands after engineers and technicians working inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility mated the observatory to its payload adapter and a strut payload attach fitting, a specialized piece of hardware designed for large, heavy loads at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape, Canaveral, Florida, US August 7, 2026 NASA/Jolearra Tshiteya via REUTERS
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope stands after engineers and technicians working inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility mated the observatory to its payload adapter and a strut payload attach fitting, a specialized piece of hardware designed for large, heavy loads at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape, Canaveral, Florida, US August 7, 2026 NASA/Jolearra Tshiteya via REUTERS

NASA is preparing to launch its next flagship space observatory, one that scientists plan to use to investigate some of the universe's biggest mysteries including dark energy and dark matter, while also testing gravity at vast scales and hunting for planets beyond our solar system.

The launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, a roughly $4 billion project, is planned for Sunday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with the observatory to be lofted into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The launch comes nine months ahead of schedule, according to US space agency officials.

Roman is a follow-on to the Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990, and the James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021, and has capabilities that can expand on the knowledge gained by those pioneering observatories, both of which continue to operate.

The new telescope's panoramic view of space and its rapid survey speeds offer the opportunity for scientists to study the cosmos as never before, with wide-field surveys examining its structure, composition and evolution.

"Roman's vast reach will allow us to find the weird, the rare and the unusual," Julie McEnery, Roman's senior project scientist ⁠at NASA's Goddard ⁠Space Flight Center in Maryland, told reporters.

"Roman's primary instrument combines exquisite performance and sensitivity with the ability to quickly and efficiently survey the large regions of the sky," Reuters quoted McEnery as saying.

The telescope's main survey will take more than a year, McEnery said.

"The survey will contain over two billion galaxies and enable us to study how the structures in our universe — the stars, the galaxies, the clusters of galaxies — grew and evolved. We'll also measure how our universe has expanded over time. And these are the keys that will allow us to unlock the fundamental nature of dark matter and dark energy and the fabric of the universe itself," McEnery said.

The Big Bang event roughly 13.8 billion years ago initiated the universe, and ⁠it has been expanding ever since. Scientists in 1998 disclosed that this expansion was actually accelerating, with an invisible force called dark energy as the hypothesized reason.

The universe's contents include ordinary matter — stars, planets, gas, dust and all the familiar stuff on Earth — as well as dark matter and dark energy, whose physical nature remains unknown. Ordinary matter represents perhaps 5% of the contents. Dark matter, known through its gravitational influences on galaxies and stars, may represent about 27%. Dark energy may represent about 68%.

"The key questions are: Is dark energy simply a property of empty space that remains constant over time, or does it evolve in time?" cosmologist Mustapha Ishak of the University of Texas at Dallas, a member of Roman's scientific collaboration, told Reuters.

"The recent results from the DESI — Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument — collaboration indicate tantalizing hints of a time evolution of dark energy.

Could the observed acceleration instead indicate that our theory of gravity needs modification on the largest scales? Answering these questions is one of the most important goals of modern cosmology," Ishak said.

Physicist Albert Einstein in 1915 presented his theory of general ⁠relativity explaining gravity, and it ⁠remains foundational.

Roman will map how galaxies cluster and how matter bends light through a phenomenon called gravitational lensing.

"These measurements allow us to test whether Einstein's theory remains valid across billions of light-years or whether modifications to gravity (theory) are required," said Ishak. "This is important because it addresses one of the most fundamental questions in physics: What law governs the universe on its largest scales?"

To date, more than 6,350 exoplanets — planets outside our solar system — have been discovered, as scientists search for evidence of potential life beyond Earth.

Roman will conduct one of the most comprehensive searches ever for exoplanets. It is expected to discover thousands of new ones and provide the first statistical census of planetary systems similar to our own. It also will demonstrate new technology to directly image some relatively nearby exoplanets.

After launch and separation from the rocket, the telescope will travel toward a location called Lagrange Point 2, situated about a million miles (1.6 million km) from Earth, about four times the distance to the moon. Webb also resides at this orbital location. Hubble is in low-Earth orbit.

Roman's mission is planned for five years, though NASA said the telescope may have enough fuel for five additional years. US President Donald Trump's administration tried during both his first and second terms to reduce or eliminate funding for Roman, but Congress preserved it.

The telescope is named after Nancy Grace Roman, NASA's first chief astronomer. Roman died in 2018 at age 93.

Varieties

Nepal PM Allowed to Wear Signature Sunglasses in Parliament

Newly appointed Prime Minister Balendra Shah, popularly known as "Balen," looks on during his oath ceremony at "Shital Niwas," presidential building in Kathmandu, Nepal, March 27, 2026. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar/File Photo
Newly appointed Prime Minister Balendra Shah, popularly known as "Balen," looks on during his oath ceremony at "Shital Niwas," presidential building in Kathmandu, Nepal, March 27, 2026. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar/File Photo
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Nepal PM Allowed to Wear Signature Sunglasses in Parliament

Newly appointed Prime Minister Balendra Shah, popularly known as "Balen," looks on during his oath ceremony at "Shital Niwas," presidential building in Kathmandu, Nepal, March 27, 2026. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar/File Photo
Newly appointed Prime Minister Balendra Shah, popularly known as "Balen," looks on during his oath ceremony at "Shital Niwas," presidential building in Kathmandu, Nepal, March 27, 2026. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar/File Photo

Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah may keep his signature dark sunglasses on in the legislature due to medical reasons, an official said Tuesday, after the parliament speaker had advised against it.

The rapper-turned-politician better known as "Balen" has rarely been seen in public without his trademark rectangular shades.

The 36-year-old premier has been seen wearing them everywhere from campaign rallies to official engagements and even in his formal portrait after taking office in March.

Earlier this month, Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal advised against wearing dark glasses in the chamber, citing criticism by the public that such eyewear is out of place in the national legislature.

But Shah appears to have won an exemption.

"A report has been submitted to the secretariat pointing to medical reasons for the respected prime minister to need sunglasses," the parliament secretariat's deputy spokesman Ananta Prasad Koirala told AFP.

Koirala said Shah would be allowed to wear the glasses in parliament if they were medically necessary in bright light.

Shah, who has kept a low profile since taking office, is expected to appear for a parliament session on Wednesday.

The dark glasses, often paired with an all-black outfit, have become a defining feature of Shah's public persona since his successful campaign to become the mayor of Kathmandu in 2022.

Their popularity has surged, with shops selling lookalike eyewear as "Balen sunglasses" to customers keen to emulate Shah's style.

Varieties

Indonesians Brave Choking Smoke to Pray for Rain as Country Battles Wildfires

Firetrucks parked near a wildfire burning through a peatland field in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Andri Rizky Agustian)
Firetrucks parked near a wildfire burning through a peatland field in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Andri Rizky Agustian)
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Indonesians Brave Choking Smoke to Pray for Rain as Country Battles Wildfires

Firetrucks parked near a wildfire burning through a peatland field in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Andri Rizky Agustian)
Firetrucks parked near a wildfire burning through a peatland field in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Andri Rizky Agustian)

Authorities in Indonesia’s South Sumatra province turned to spiritual measures on Tuesday as huge blazes in central and western regions scorched wide areas of forests and peatland, creating a choking haze that blanketed some cities in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.

The prayer gathering in one of the regions hardest hit by this year’s wildfire season comes as the province faces prolonged dry weather that has heightened the risk of forest and peatland fires.

The latest satellite data from the Environment Ministry showed West Kalimantan recorded the highest number of hot spots with 3,120, followed by Central Kalimantan on 2,314 and South Sumatra at 1,500. Forestry Ministry data showed that nearly 940 square kilometers (363 square miles) were burned in July alone, including over 20 square kilometers (8 square miles) in South Sumatra province.

About 3,000 residents gathered in Palembang, the capital of South Sumatra province, to take part in a special Islamic prayer for rain, known as “salat istisqa.” They prayed shoulder to shoulder in the courtyard of the governor’s office as thick smoke shrouded roads, buildings and public facilities, reducing visibility and forcing motorists to drive with their headlights on during the day.

“We have done everything we can and worked closely with all relevant parties,” The Associated Press quoted Gov. Herman Deru as saying before the prayer. “As people of faith, we are also praying to God to send rain so that life can return to normal.”

He also said the public prayer would complement ongoing firefighting and drought-mitigation measures and serve as a moment for residents to unite in confronting the environmental challenges facing the province.

A woman prays during a prayer requesting for rain following wildfires that burn through peatlands in several regions in Sumatra and Kalimantan Island, in Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Muhammad Fajri)

Emergency services have been battling wildfires driven by an intensifying El Nino pattern and a prolonged dry season, generating dense smoke that crossed into Malaysia and Brunei, according to the National Disaster Management Agency.

Indonesia is intensifying weather-modification operations to help more than 24,000 firefighters, who were deployed on Sumatra and Borneo islands to combat wildfires, by inducing rainfall through the dispersal of salt particles into suitable clouds, with 30 aircraft for cloud-seeding and water-bombing operations over Kalimantan, and another 22 helicopters covering Sumatra.

As fires continued to spread, the Forestry Ministry announced Tuesday it had sanctioned six forestry concession holders after finding that more than 15 square kilometers (5.8 square miles) of forest and land had burned within areas under their management in West, Central and East Kalimantan provinces on Borneo island.

Five companies were ordered to strengthen fire-control measures and rehabilitate burned land, while a sixth company had its permit suspended because fires on its concession were widespread and recurrent.

Forestry law enforcement director general Dwi Januanto Nugroho said the authorities could pursue criminal charges if investigations uncover evidence that companies or individuals deliberately caused fires or failed to meet their obligations to prevent them.

Indonesian police have arrested 72 people suspected of starting some of the forest and peatland fires.

Plantation owners and traditional farmers often start fires to clear land for farming at low cost, triggering hazardous haze that reduces visibility, disrupts land and air transportation and threatens public health.

Fires are a regular problem during the dry season in Indonesia, the vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, and the haze they generate has periodically drawn diplomatic complaints from neighboring countries in Southeast Asia.