Riyadh Season Receives 17 Million Visitors

Photo by SPA
Photo by SPA
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Riyadh Season Receives 17 Million Visitors

Photo by SPA
Photo by SPA

The Riyadh Season announced that since the launch of its activities in late October, it has received 17 million visitors across all its regions, SPA said on Friday.
The event is filled with various entertainment options, games, shopping, festivals, and exhibitions to cater to all tastes. The theme for this year's event is "Big Time," which has successfully hosted several events, including the Riyadh Season Cup that concluded recently.
New and exciting events are also being held across several regions, including the Boulevard City area, which boasts international entertainment options, Boulevard World for various international cultures, and VIA Riyadh for cinema, cafes, restaurants, and global brands. Each area has a unique entertainment character that caters to visitors' diverse preferences.
Since its fourth edition launch, the Riyadh Season has attracted visitors from all walks of life to its events catering to various entertainment fields. During the event, several plays and artistic evenings by Arab artists have been held in theaters and restaurants.



Asteroid 2024 YR4 Is No Longer a Threat to Earth, Scientists Say

This handout image released by The European Southern Observatory (ESO) on February 25, 2025, shows an image of the asteroid "2024 YR4" taken by ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), showing a frame of the asteroid’s path through the night sky in January 2025, observed at infrared wavelengths with the HAWK-I instrument. (Handout / European Southern Observatory / AFP)
This handout image released by The European Southern Observatory (ESO) on February 25, 2025, shows an image of the asteroid "2024 YR4" taken by ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), showing a frame of the asteroid’s path through the night sky in January 2025, observed at infrared wavelengths with the HAWK-I instrument. (Handout / European Southern Observatory / AFP)
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Asteroid 2024 YR4 Is No Longer a Threat to Earth, Scientists Say

This handout image released by The European Southern Observatory (ESO) on February 25, 2025, shows an image of the asteroid "2024 YR4" taken by ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), showing a frame of the asteroid’s path through the night sky in January 2025, observed at infrared wavelengths with the HAWK-I instrument. (Handout / European Southern Observatory / AFP)
This handout image released by The European Southern Observatory (ESO) on February 25, 2025, shows an image of the asteroid "2024 YR4" taken by ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), showing a frame of the asteroid’s path through the night sky in January 2025, observed at infrared wavelengths with the HAWK-I instrument. (Handout / European Southern Observatory / AFP)

Scientists have finally given the all-clear to Earth from a newly discovered asteroid.

After two months of observations, scientists have almost fully ruled out any threat from the asteroid 2024 YR4, NASA and the European Space Agency said Tuesday.

At one point, the odds of a strike in 2032 were as high as about 3% and topped the world’s asteroid-risk lists.

ESA has since lowered the odds to 0.001%. NASA had it down to 0.0027% — meaning the asteroid will safely pass Earth in 2032 and there's no threat of impact for the next century.

Paul Chodas, who heads NASA’s Center for Near Earth Objects Studies, said there is no chance the odds will rise at this point and that an impact in 2032 has been ruled out.

"That’s the outcome we expected all along, although we couldn’t be 100% sure that it would happen," he said in an email.

But there’s still a 1.7% chance that asteroid could hit the moon on Dec. 22, 2032, according to NASA. Chodas expects the odds of a moon strike will also fade.

The world's telescopes will continue to track the asteroid as it heads away from us, with the Webb Space Telescope zooming in next month to pinpoint its size. It's expected to vanish from view in another month or two.

Discovered in December, the asteroid is an estimated 130 feet to 300 feet (40 meters to 90 meters) across, and swings our way every four years.

"While this asteroid no longer poses a significant impact hazard to Earth, 2024 YR4 provided an invaluable opportunity" for study, NASA said in a statement.