Author: Mahdeehassan

RIYADH: Countries and international organizations have condemned Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia’s airports, including Saturday’s strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh that killed 12 people and injured 309 others, according to Saudi authorities. The condemnations, carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), came as the Iran-backed Yemeni militia continued its attacks on the Kingdom’s civilian aviation infrastructure, prompting calls for international action to protect civilians and prevent further escalation. Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation said early Sunday that the dead included four Saudi citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, Palestine, the US, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Sudan.…

JEDDAH: Long before AlUla became a thriving tourism and commercial hub, archeologists quietly spent decades searching, researching and meticulously documenting the remnants of ancient prosperous civilizations that flourished in the region. Among them was Dr. Laila Nehmé, a French archeologist who has worked in AlUla since 2002 on various projects as a research fellow with the French National Centre for Scientific Research, in cooperation with the Saudi Ministry of Culture. The now 60-year-old expert’s main research interest is the civilization of the Nabataeans, an ancient Arab people. “Working at Hegra was a dream for someone specialized in the Nabataeans,” she…

JEDDAH: More than 40 years after he last visited Jeddah, Graham Duncan, from Edinburgh, returned last week to the city he knew as a child — this time accompanied by his 20-year-old son, Joey, who wanted to see the legacy that Graham’s father, George, helped build. Graham left Jeddah in 1982 at the age of 18. His return on Oct. 5 was not just a journey into his own past, but an opportunity to introduce Joey to the city where his grandfather spent almost 15 years. Dr. George Duncan was an architect and town planner who worked with Jeddah’s former…

COPENHAGEN: Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Denmark Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Hadithi met with Susanne Hyldelund, state secretary for trade and investment at the Danish foreign ministry, in Copenhagen on Friday. They reviewed bilateral relations and ways to strengthen them, particularly in trade and investment, the Saudi Embassy stated on X. Meanwhile, Saudi Ambassador to Sweden Aseil Al-Shehail recently met Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard to discuss shared priorities and ways to strengthen dialogue and cooperation.

RIYADH: Twelve people were killed and over 300 more were wounded in Saturday's missile attack targeting King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) in the Kingdom's capital, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announced early Sunday. In a statement, GACA said the dead included four Saudi citizens as well as two Bangladeshi nationals, a Palestinian, a US citizen, an Egyptian, a Jordanian, a Syrian and a Sudanese. "The attack also left (309) others injured, including individuals in critical condition," the statement said. Hours after the attack, the spokesman for the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen announced that the King Fahd…

RIYADH: The Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen announced on Friday that it had launched large-scale operations against the Houthi militia. Different elements and capabilities were being targeted, coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki said. He added that strikes destroyed 136 military targets in areas under the control of the Houthis. “We are working to dismantle and destroy the ballistic missile network of the terrorist Houthi militia,” Al-Maliki said in a post on X with a video of strikes. Al-Maliki added that the coalition was providing air support to Yemen’s armed forces “around the clock, 24 hours a day.”

NEW YORK: Saudi Arabia will not allow Yemen to become a launchpad for attacks against the Kingdom or threats to shipping in the Red Sea, the Kingdom’s Permanent Representative to the UN Abdulaziz Alwasil told the Security Council on Friday. Addressing an emergency meeting on the Middle East, Alwasil reiterated that Saudi Arabia would take all necessary measures to protect its sovereignty and citizens as the Iran-backed Houthis intensified attacks on Saudi cities, airports and vital infrastructure. “The Kingdom affirms that it will not allow Yemen to be turned into a staging ground for threats to its security or to…

AL-JUBAIL: Five schools in Jubail have joined the UNESCO Associated Schools Network, or ASPnet, in coordination with the Ministry of Education and the Saudi National Committee for Education, Culture and Science. The move integrates the schools, which are affiliated with the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, into an international network spanning more than 10,000 institutions across 166 countries. The commission’s director of the General Education Department overseeing the Jubail region, Abdulrahman Al-Ghamdi, told the Saudi Press Agency the milestone marked a strategic step in advancing the local education sector and elevating Saudi schools internationally. The network centers on sustainable…

RIYADH: Women aged 40 and above in Saudi Arabia will have access to 600 free mammograms as part of a new initiative launched during Breast Cancer Awareness Month to encourage early detection. The screenings are being offered by Hyundai Motor Company in partnership with Saudi German Health as part of a three-month campaign titled “She Drives the World.” The initiative comes as research conducted by Hyundai and YouGov found that only 17 percent of women surveyed had undergone breast cancer screening in the previous 12 months, while 35 percent said they planned to do so. The ‘She Drives the World’…

ALKHOBAR: Every school morning, Sara Al-Qahtani faces a small negotiation at her kitchen counter. Her 8-year-old son wants something he will actually eat. She wants something that will survive several hours in a lunchbox, give him enough energy for the school day and return home with as few leftovers as possible. The result is usually simple: a small sandwich or wrap, fruit, vegetables, a dairy item and sometimes dates or another snack. But Al-Qahtani says considerably more thought goes into that box than she remembers from her own school days. In January 2026, the Ministry of Health’s Live Well initiative,…