South Korea’s First Lady Joins Tree Planting Event in Riyadh

South Korea’s First Lady Kim Keon-hee during Monday's event. (SPA)
South Korea’s First Lady Kim Keon-hee during Monday's event. (SPA)
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South Korea’s First Lady Joins Tree Planting Event in Riyadh

South Korea’s First Lady Kim Keon-hee during Monday's event. (SPA)
South Korea’s First Lady Kim Keon-hee during Monday's event. (SPA)

South Korea’s First Lady Kim Keon-hee planted a tree in Riyadh on Monday to mark the 61st anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and South Korea.

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol had visited the Kingdom earlier this week.

The tree-planting event, organized by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC), took place at the Scientific Park in Riyadh.

Kim was received by Mayor of Riyadh Prince Faisal bin Ayyaf and Executive Director of Green Riyadh at RCRC Abdulaziz Al-Muqbel.

She was briefed on the Green Riyadh Project and its impact on improving the quality of life, on the remarkable growth that Riyadh is witnessing and on the various megaprojects being carried out in the city.

Green Riyadh is one of Riyadh’s megaprojects launched by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz with the aim of planting 7.5 million trees across the capital, increasing the per capita share of green space from 1.7 square meters to 28 square meters, and improving the urban landscape of the capital.

It also contributes to achieving one of the objectives of the Saudi Green Initiative and Vision 2030, which is to plant 10 billion trees across the Kingdom over the coming decades.



Beluga Whale Pair Move from Ukraine's Kharkiv to Spain's Valencia

TOPSHOT - This handout picture taken and released by Valencia's Oceanografic Oceanarium on June 19, 2024 shows veterinary staff members taking care of one of the two belugas on June 19, 2024. (Photo by Marc Domenech / Oceanografic Oceanarium of Valencia / AFP)
TOPSHOT - This handout picture taken and released by Valencia's Oceanografic Oceanarium on June 19, 2024 shows veterinary staff members taking care of one of the two belugas on June 19, 2024. (Photo by Marc Domenech / Oceanografic Oceanarium of Valencia / AFP)
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Beluga Whale Pair Move from Ukraine's Kharkiv to Spain's Valencia

TOPSHOT - This handout picture taken and released by Valencia's Oceanografic Oceanarium on June 19, 2024 shows veterinary staff members taking care of one of the two belugas on June 19, 2024. (Photo by Marc Domenech / Oceanografic Oceanarium of Valencia / AFP)
TOPSHOT - This handout picture taken and released by Valencia's Oceanografic Oceanarium on June 19, 2024 shows veterinary staff members taking care of one of the two belugas on June 19, 2024. (Photo by Marc Domenech / Oceanografic Oceanarium of Valencia / AFP)

Marine biologists have moved a pair of beluga whales from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv - the target of daily shelling by Russian forces - to the eastern Spanish city of Valencia, in what they described as a long and risky international rescue operation.
The animals, 15-year-old male Plombir and 14-year-old female Miranda, arrived at Valencia's famed Oceanografic complex late on Monday in a fragile state of health, according to a statement by the Spanish oceanarium.
They had endured a lengthy journey in fragile wooden crates that started with a 12-hour road trip from Kharkiv to the port city of Odesa. There, the belugas' Ukrainian keepers met with a team of veterinarians from the Oceanografic as well as the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta and SeaWorld theme parks.
After a quick check-up, they resumed the trip to the border with Moldova, which they crossed with the aid of the European Union's Anti-Fraud Office. From Chisinau they boarded a five-hour flight to Valencia, Reuters reported.
The regional leader of Valencia, Carlos Mazon, said the operation was "a historic feat of animal protection on a global level".
The Oceanografic's director of zoological operations, Daniel Garcia-Parraga, said that the whales' condition had been "suboptimal to undertake this kind of journey, but if they had continued in Kharkiv, their chances of survival would have been very slim".
Kharkiv's NEMO dolphinarium was just 800 meters (2,600 feet) away from a site that was frequently shelled and the shockwaves caused severe stress on animals with such sensitive hearing.
But, Garcia-Parraga said on Wednesday, the belugas were in much better shape than vets had initially expected and were adapting well to their new home.
Plombir was already eating - which in that species is unusual right after transportation - but Miranda had yet to try her first bite, he added.
The Oceanografic is the largest aquarium in Europe and the only one that houses beluga whales.
The white-hued mammals live in chilly waters in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. Males can reach a length of up to 5.5 meters and weigh up to 1.6 tons.