The deadly missile attack by Houthi rebels on Riyadh’s international airport earlier this month has “exposed vulnerabilities” in Saudi Arabia’s defenses that have “heaped pressure” on its royal family, said The Observer. This assault on the heart of Saudi power has “shattered the kingdom’s effort to establish its reputation as a secure global investment hub” and “diversify away from a dependence on oil.”

What did the commentators say?
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s bold Saudi Vision 2030 aims to turn his oil-rich country into a hub for tourism, international events and multinational enterprises. But Iran’s attacks on U.S. allies in the Gulf have already “dealt a blow” to that plan, said Agence France-Presse. And with the Houthi attacks on Saudi soil, it “now faces an existential hurdle.”

The attacks led to the cancellation of a series of major events and summits, most notably the Future Investment Initiative, nicknamed Davos in the Desert, which forms the centrepiece of the Saudi diversification drive. And the kingdom’s scheduled hosting of football’s Asian Cup in January and February is “being questioned,” said Rob Draper at The Guardian.

Recent events “highlight the profound dilemma” facing the crown prince, who “must juggle immediate security imperatives and long-term economic interests,” said The Washington Post. For Saudi Arabia’s “economic transformation to succeed, it needs to welcome global talent, investment and tourists.” But “you can’t do that when people can’t land in your country safely,” said Kristen Smith Diwan, of the Arab Gulf States Institute think tank, to the outlet.

What next?
Even before the war against Iran began in February, some international investors and Wall Street firms were “questioning whether there was enough money to be made in Saudi Arabia,” said Bloomberg. Analysts now fear the “fallout from the war will hurt the kingdom’s attractiveness” further.

Saudi Arabia can “reduce its exposure” in the short term through “diplomacy and a serious Yemeni political process,” said Amine Ayoub, of the Middle East Forum think tank, at Ynet Global. “But a ceasefire cannot endure if it leaves the country’s power struggle unresolved.”

Heart disease poses a significant threat to women, but research into the issue has been lacking for years. Now, four medical societies have published a shared framework and clinical guidance to help doctors identify and treat cardiovascular risk throughout a woman’s life.

What did the group outline?
The American Heart Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine have created a system to help redefine heart health. The group outlines four “Female Life Stages” during which hormones could affect women: perimenarche (ages 8 to 15), regular ovarian cycling (ages 15 to 44), perimenopause (ages 45 to 51) and postmenopause (age 51 and older). Pregnancy at any life stage is also included. Three manuscripts published in the AHA’s flagship journal, Circulation, include guidelines for navigating these stages.

The coalition asserts that because “female-specific biology” affects girls’ and women’s hearts “throughout their lives,” it requires “connected, holistic care starting in adolescence” to reflect “transitions not found in the male models,” said Stat. What happens in adolescence and young adulthood “impacts your life for decades to come,” said Sadiya Khan, a professor of cardiovascular epidemiology at Northwestern University, to the outlet. Keeping the various aspects of women’s healthcare “all connected and not siloed,” even though that’s “typically how we have approached care,” will require an “integrative approach.”

Why was a new framework needed?
Heart disease is already the number-one killer of women globally, and both heart disease and stroke are “projected to rise significantly in women over the next two decades,” said NBC News. Still, very little is known about how female biology affects heart health. 

Scientists were “not required to include women in clinical trials on heart disease until 1993,” and today, “fewer women are still included in the trials than men,” said NBC News. Women’s healthcare is also “often uniquely fragmented across different specialties” throughout their lifetime.

Ultimately, girls and women “represent half the population,” and “every clinician, every specialty and every health system” has a role to play in their well-being, said Khan at Time. Women can “do much to protect their health,” but they should not have to “connect the dots in their care alone.”

A man tends to graves at a cemetery in the Philippine city of Antipolo ahead of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day on Sunday and Monday, respectively. Millions of people nationwide travel to their hometowns for the annual Undas that pay tribute to ancestors through prayers and offerings.
Ryan Eduard Benaid / ZUMA Press Wire / Shutterstock

Science fiction’s greatest books peer into the future and ask readers to imagine life beyond our own — for both better and worse. These are the essential works by visionary authors.

‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ (1968)
Set in 2021, after a world war that wiped out millions, Philip K. Dick’s darkly prescient novel inspired the blockbuster film “Blade Runner.” It follows bounty hunter Rick Deckard as he hunts rogue androids hiding among Earth’s humans. “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” is a “weighty foray” into what makes us human and will “linger with you for a long time,” said Esquire. ($18, Penguin Random House)

‘Ender’s Game’ (1985)
Orson Scott Card’s “Ender” series, a gateway into the genre, has captivated many burgeoning science-fiction fans. The first book, “Ender’s Game,” is a “high-stakes, militaristic twist on sci-fi,” said Reader’s Digest. The series will appeal to those who “enjoy reading historical fiction and novels about war.” ($20, Macmillan)

‘Parable of the Sower’ (1993)
Octavia E. Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” follows teenage prophet Lauren Oya Olamina as she navigates creating a new religion in an eerily familiar postapocalyptic California of 2024. This first half of a duology feels like a “plea to America, echoing through time and begging us to remember principles we are all weaker for having forgotten,” said The New York Times. ($24, Seven Stories Press)

‘The Three-Body Problem’ (2006)
Cixin Liu’s Hugo Award-winning “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” trilogy starts with “The Three-Body Problem,” a thrilling tale of extraterrestrial contact set against China’s Cultural Revolution. The book marks the rise of an author who has become “every bit as canonical” as other famous novelists of the genre, said Esquire. ($19, Macmillan)