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South Korean Fans Bid Farewell to Internet-famous Panda

A convoy carrying giant panda Fu Bao leaves after a farewell ceremony at Everland amusement park in Yongin on April 3, 2024. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
A convoy carrying giant panda Fu Bao leaves after a farewell ceremony at Everland amusement park in Yongin on April 3, 2024. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
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South Korean Fans Bid Farewell to Internet-famous Panda

A convoy carrying giant panda Fu Bao leaves after a farewell ceremony at Everland amusement park in Yongin on April 3, 2024. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
A convoy carrying giant panda Fu Bao leaves after a farewell ceremony at Everland amusement park in Yongin on April 3, 2024. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)

Thousands of well-wishers gathered Wednesday to bid farewell to the first giant panda born in South Korea, Fu Bao, who left for China in a high-tech non-vibrating vehicle typically used for transporting semi-conductors.

Beijing has long used "panda diplomacy" as a form of soft power, and Fu Bao's parents -- Ai Bao and Le Bao -- were gifted to South Korea in 2016 by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Fu Bao -- which means "treasure that gives happiness" -- was born in 2020 and is a celebrity in South Korea, with her videos on the zoo's YouTube channel attracting around 500 million views, Agence France Presse reported.

The Everland amusement park, where Fu Bao lived, says approximately 5.5 million people -- around one-tenth of the entire South Korean population -- have visited the park to see her.

Thanks to her popularity, the number of visitors to Everland's Panda World doubled last year to 2.15 million, compared to 1.07 million in 2020 before Fu Bao's arrival, the theme park said.

Fu Bao welcomed her younger twin sisters last year, named Rui Bao and Hui Bao, whose births also triggered an outpouring of excitement online in South Korea.

Beijing only loans pandas to foreign zoos, which must usually return any offspring within a few years of their birth to join the country's breeding programme.

Under an agreement between Seoul and Beijing, Fu Bao's parents can stay in South Korea until 2031, but her twin sisters, like Fu Bao herself, must return to China before they turn four years old.

"Fu Bao left Everland at around 11 am," the zoo said in a statement, adding the panda will leave for China via the Incheon International Airport on a chartered plane.

Before leaving Everland, the panda bid farewell to some 6,000 South Korean fans at a brief ceremony.

She was moved on a special non-vibrating vehicle typically used for semiconductor transportation, the facility added.

Zookeeper Kang Cheol-won, who is famous in the South for his bonding with Everland's pandas and is widely referred to as their "grandpa", read out a letter at the ceremony, the park said.

Kang is accompanying the panda on the journey to China until Fu Bao arrives at the country's Shenshuping Panda Base in Sichuan Province, Everland said.

"You will be forever (my) baby panda, even after 10 or 100 years. Thank you for coming to grandpa. I love you Fu Bao," Kang said in his letter, referring to himself as her grandpa.

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Varieties

GEA Chairman Unveils New Promotional Video for Riyadh Season 2026

The seventh edition of Riyadh Season kicks off on October 21. (SPA)
The seventh edition of Riyadh Season kicks off on October 21. (SPA)
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GEA Chairman Unveils New Promotional Video for Riyadh Season 2026

The seventh edition of Riyadh Season kicks off on October 21. (SPA)
The seventh edition of Riyadh Season kicks off on October 21. (SPA)

Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA) Turki Alalshikh unveiled a new promotional video for the seventh edition of Riyadh Season, creatively showcasing some of the experiences and events awaiting visitors from Saudi Arabia and around the world.

The video takes viewers on a journey through a number of Riyadh Season zones and events, featuring the atmosphere of Boulevard World alongside major international sporting events, including tennis and boxing, through visual storytelling that highlights the variety of experiences brought together in the Saudi capital.

The video focuses on the emotions that accompany the Riyadh Season visitor experience, capturing the excitement, enjoyment, and joy of the journey from the moment of arrival, through exploring its different zones, events, and experiences, to the lasting memories visitors take away with them.

The seventh edition of Riyadh Season, which kicks off on October 21, features a diverse lineup of entertainment and sporting events and experiences, including boxing, wrestling, UFC events, and the Six Kings Slam tennis tournament, alongside concerts, comedy shows, and experiences for children and families.

It also features a number of zones and destinations, including Boulevard World, Boulevard City, The Groves, Via Riyadh, Al Suwaidi Park, Wonder Garden, Dirah Winter, and Farm Market.

Varieties

Food Giants in India Call for Reconsidering Red Color of Warning Labels

A man walks near a grocery shop in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, September 18, 2026. REUTERS/Priyanshu Singh
A man walks near a grocery shop in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, September 18, 2026. REUTERS/Priyanshu Singh
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Food Giants in India Call for Reconsidering Red Color of Warning Labels

A man walks near a grocery shop in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, September 18, 2026. REUTERS/Priyanshu Singh
A man walks near a grocery shop in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, September 18, 2026. REUTERS/Priyanshu Singh

India should reconsider the red color of its proposed food warning labels as it can confuse consumers who associate the color with non-vegetarian ingredient markings, food companies in India have told the Supreme Court.

India is in the midst of an unprecedented food safety crackdown, including nationwide raids against eateries, amid concern over poor hygiene and standards. The government's plan for front-of-pack red warning labels came after heated public debate on the lack of ⁠such measures.

The warning ⁠labels proposal has coincided with India's push to ban junk food sales to children in schools and within 50 meters (164 feet) of schools, measures that will take India close to stricter food regulation approaches adopted in Chile and Mexico.

In India, the food regulator has proposed a red hexagon warning label system to mark high salt, sugar or fat in packaged items, despite the more than $100 billion industry's multi-year campaign to ⁠oppose the labels.

In a court filing dated September 24, All India Food Processors Association, which represents dozens of Indian and foreign food giants, said the color and symbol used for the warnings "require careful consideration in the Indian context.”

"The average Indian consumer is habituated to associating the color red with the mandatory non-vegetarian identification mark," the industry group said in the filing, which was reviewed by Reuters.

The group said it had told the food regulator that "introducing another prominent red warning symbol may create confusion among consumers," the filing said.

A modified label pasted over the original nutrition facts information on a packet of Maggi, during a raid by the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at a warehouse in Turbhe, India, August 25, 2026. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

India is a top growth market for global consumer giants like PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Mondelez and Nestle, and also ⁠thousands of small Indian ⁠companies which sell traditional savories and sweets.

The lobby group told the Supreme Court it was not against front-of-pack warning labels, but the thresholds must be decided in a scientific manner. It said it objected to the "indiscriminate application of the thresholds presently proposed.”

India is proposing a red warning if added sugar is in excess of 3% of solid products by weight, and fat in excess of 4.2% - stricter than many foreign markets.

The industry also reiterated its concerns that warnings should be decided on consumption of a single serving of a product, and not 100 grams as currently proposed.

"Indian foods are eaten in widely varying quantities, including approximately 10g of pickle, 15-20g of spread of condiments, 30g of bread," the industry group said.

The Supreme Court is set to review the government's proposal on Monday.

Varieties

Scientists Find New Clues to Reversal of Alzheimer's Brain Damage

Elderly women sit at a park in downtown Shanghai March 16, 2012. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
Elderly women sit at a park in downtown Shanghai March 16, 2012. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
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Scientists Find New Clues to Reversal of Alzheimer's Brain Damage

Elderly women sit at a park in downtown Shanghai March 16, 2012. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
Elderly women sit at a park in downtown Shanghai March 16, 2012. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

Scientists studying the strongest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease say they have new clues to how it works and how its damaging effects on the brain could potentially be reversed.

Researchers have found a noninvasive way to identify and study cells in the body that contribute to age-related disorders ⁠such as cancer, tissue degeneration, and inflammatory diseases.

These so-called senescent cells have stopped dividing and growing but for some reason have not died, as would be expected of old cells. Instead, they undergo significant changes to their shape, metabolic processes, and gene activity, according to Reuters.

Earlier methods of studying these cells would destroy them, the researchers noted in a report of the study in Nature Aging.

Using an analytical technique known as Raman microscopy, which reveals the biochemical composition of cells without harming them, and analyzing individual cells’ ⁠genetic activity, the researchers were able to identify unique “barcodes” of senescent cells.

The study was done in mouse cells. The researchers are now working on adapting it for use with human tissue.

“You can imagine that one day we may develop an endoscope that can look inside your body and identify cellular senescence,” Jeon Woong Kang of MIT, one of the senior authors of the study, said in a statement.

Study leader Peter So of MIT noted that senescence “is ⁠not just a pathological condition.”

While it can also contribute to sagging skin and muscle weakness in aging individuals, cellular senescence plays critical beneficial roles in embryonic development and tissue regeneration, the researchers noted.

The research is part of a National Institutes of Health initiative called the Cellular Senescence Network.

“The idea behind the NIH Cellular Senescence Network is to take a very comprehensive approach to understand senescence and identify senescent cells, because it plays a role in so many normal physiological conditions and many pathological conditions,” So said.