RIYADH: The Transport General Authority has announced the seizure of many foreign trucks found violating transportation regulations and legislation while transporting goods between cities in the Kingdom.
This initiative, undertaken in collaboration with relevant authorities, reflects the authority’s commitment to regulating the sector, promoting compliance, ensuring fair competition, enhancing the security and safety of transportation services, and preserving public resources and road infrastructure.
The authority said that the mechanism adopted to control foreign truck transport operations — in coordination with various government entities — prohibits traders, factories, importers, institutions and companies from contracting with non-Saudi vehicles.
Foreign trucks are restricted to transporting goods from abroad to designated delivery points in Saudi cities or on their way back to their country of origin. This return must originate from the same delivery point or from any city along the return route. Such operations also require a permit issued by the authority.
Authorities enforce ban on non-compliant trucks
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Authorities enforce ban on non-compliant trucks
- This initiative reflects the authority’s commitment to regulating the sector
- Foreign trucks are restricted to transporting goods from abroad to designated delivery points
Madinah university launches ‘Legacy and Impact’ project
MADINAH: The Islamic University of Madinah has launched the “Irth Wa Athar” (Legacy and Impact) project, which aims to document its graduates’ educational impact and rectify data digitization.
The university said the initiative included documenting and rectifying graduates’ certificates from 1961-97 and collecting the data of 173,000 international scholarships offered by the university to its graduates from 179 countries since its establishment in 1961.
The international scholarships include more than 41,000 awarded to students in the fields of religious sciences, in addition to over 15,000 granted for studies in the principles and skills of Islamic preaching.
Some 27,000 scholarships were granted to students of Arabic language education, while 24,000 were offered for training specialists in other scientific fields.
Sakan wins Qassim excellence award
RIYADH: The National Developmental Housing Corporation, or Sakan, has won the Qassim Award for Excellence and Creativity in the National Excellence Branch in its fifth session.
Yazeed Al-Rasheed, vice president for shared services at Sakan, received the award on behalf of the organization. He expressed his gratitude to officials for their support and recognition of national initiatives, saying that this was an incentive to continue efforts in cooperation with all parties.
Abdulaziz Al-Karidis, secretary-general of Sakan, thanked the Qassim governor for his support for Sakan’s initiatives and for following up and encouraging activities that achieved the foundation’s goals. Receiving the award would inspire the foundation to further enhance its performance and reinforce its core values, he said.
The win marks a milestone in the foundation’s journey and its commitment to excellence and innovation. The foundation continues to strive toward creating a positive and sustainable impact in the developmental housing sector by offering the best solutions and practices.
Black mulberry and damask rose seedlings distributed to farmers in Baha
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s National Research and Development Center for Sustainable Agriculture — known as Estidamah — has distributed over 20,000 black mulberry and damask rose seedlings to farmers in Al-Baha.
The initiative, carried out through the center’s tissue culture laboratory, is part of efforts to support farmers and transfer modern agricultural techniques to areas with comparative advantages. It continues Estidamah’s contribution to a former agricultural project which saw 52,000 black mulberry, damask rose and strawberry seedlings distributed across the area.
The aim is to introduce new types of seedlings, increase production efficiency and achieve a qualitative leap in the region’s agricultural landscape.
It reflects the center’s keenness to support sustainable agricultural development by spreading highly economically viable plant varieties, which are propagated using tissue culture techniques to ensure quality, genetic purity and suitability to the targeted climatic and environmental conditions.
The center continues to implement several programs that aid farmers by providing research and technical solutions based on sustainable agricultural practices, achieving optimal efficiency in using resources and maximizing production value, in line with National Agriculture Strategy objectives.
Saudi authorities thwart attempt to smuggle amphetamines in Riyadh
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s counter-narcotics authority has dismantled a major amphetamine trafficking operation, seizing 1.52 million pills hidden within a table shipment in Riyadh and apprehending four suspects linked to the scheme.
The General Directorate of Narcotics Control executed the bust as part of broader Interior Ministry initiatives to disrupt drug networks threatening national security. Investigators tracked the contraband to recipients in both Riyadh and Eastern Province, culminating in the arrest of three Syrian expatriates and one Saudi national.
Security authorities urged the public to report drug smuggling or selling by calling 911 in Makkah, Madinah, Riyadh and the Eastern Province, or 999 in other regions.
Reports can also be made to the General Directorate of Narcotics Control at 995 or via email.
Aseer’s nature-sculpted basalt columns tell ancient volcanic tales
RIYADH: Deep within the mountains and plains of Aseer, nature unveils one of its most magnificent geological masterpieces in the form of the region’s basalt columns.
Meticulously shaped, they stand tall as timeless witnesses, narrating chapters of the province’s rich volcanic history.
These formations are not just rigid rock structures, but natural sculptures, shaped over millions of years, embodying a harmonious blend of natural beauty and scientific depth.
The basalt columns of Aseer are among the most remarkable and rarest geological phenomena in the Kingdom, captivating the attention of visitors and science enthusiasts.
Composed of volcanic rock formed from slowly cooled lava flows, these columns have shrunk and cracked over time, creating stunning geometric shapes, often hexagonal, pentagonal, or quadrilateral, with astonishing natural precision.
King Saud University Seismic Studies Center director and Saudi Society for Geosciences president Prof. Abdullah Al-Amri shared exciting insights.
He highlighted the Aseer region’s rich geological formations, which can be found in several captivating locations, including Muhayil Aseer, Jabal Mishrif in Al-Harajah, Qarn Mujal east of Tendha, Wadi Al-Asran, and the coastal area between Al-Qahma and Al-Barak, nestled within the Black Mountain range.
Al-Amri noted that these formations have been recognized since ancient times.
Renowned geographer Abu Muhammad Al-Hasan Al-Hamdani described them in his book “Sifat Jazirat Al-Arab” as part of the Sarat Janb range, stretching from the north of Dhahran Al-Janub to the north of Sarat Ubaida, now known as Harrat Al-Sarat.
A Cenozoic volcanic field, Harrat Al-Sarat covers around 700 square km and boasts towering mountains like Jabal Ferwa, which rises 3,004 meters above sea level, and Jabal Zalm, standing at 2,575 meters.
Saudi Geological Survey spokesperson Tariq Aba Al-Khail elaborated on the fascinating formation of basalt columns.
The unique structures arise from thermal contraction when lava cools and solidifies, resulting in vertical cracks at right angles to the cooling surface.
While the columns typically appear vertical, they may bend or tilt depending on the cooling conditions.
Aba Al-Khail likened the formations to the cracking of clay as it dries, but instead, they occur in igneous rocks, particularly basalt, and can also be found in andesite, trachyte, and rhyolite.
He explained that the remarkable formations date back around 30 million years and have been discovered in the southwestern volcanic lava fields, such as Harrat Al-Barak.
The phenomenon holds significant scientific value, offering researchers the opportunity to explore ancient volcanic activity in the Arabian Peninsula.
