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Britain's Princess Kate: Love is the Greatest Christmas Gift

Visitors walk through the 'Cathedral' on the Christmas light trail as it returns for its12th year with a showcase of new installations set within the UNESCO World Heritage Site landscape of Kew Gardens in London, England, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Visitors walk through the 'Cathedral' on the Christmas light trail as it returns for its12th year with a showcase of new installations set within the UNESCO World Heritage Site landscape of Kew Gardens in London, England, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
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Britain's Princess Kate: Love is the Greatest Christmas Gift

Visitors walk through the 'Cathedral' on the Christmas light trail as it returns for its12th year with a showcase of new installations set within the UNESCO World Heritage Site landscape of Kew Gardens in London, England, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Visitors walk through the 'Cathedral' on the Christmas light trail as it returns for its12th year with a showcase of new installations set within the UNESCO World Heritage Site landscape of Kew Gardens in London, England, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Kate, Britain's Princess of Wales, says love is the greatest gift people can give each other in a message to guests who will attend her annual Christmas carol service next week at London's Westminster Abbey.
The Dec. 6 carol concert, the fourth she has hosted, marks Kate's most prominent return to royal engagements since she underwent a course of preventative chemotherapy for cancer.
In a letter to the 1,600 invited guests, Kate, 42, the wife of heir to the throne Prince William, returned to themes of love and the need for empathy about which she has spoken in previous very personal statements and video updates on her health.
Christmas, her letter said, was not only a time for celebration, but also for reflection and relief from the pressures of daily life.
She said the Christmas story reflected "our own vulnerabilities", and how much people needed each other despite their differences.
"Above all else it encourages us to turn to love, not fear," she wrote. "It is this love which is the greatest gift we can receive. Not just at Christmas, but every day of our lives," Reuters quoted her as saying.
William, who earlier this month said the year had been "brutal" for the royal family with Kate's treatment coming in the wake of his father King Charles' own cancer diagnosis, will give a reading at the service.
Six-time Olympic track cycling champion Chris Hoy, who revealed he had terminal cancer himself in October, will light a candle.
The "Together At Christmas" service will be broadcast on Britain's ITV on Christmas Eve.

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Reintroduction of Wildlife Species at Saudi Arabia’s Hegra Reserve to Enhance Ecological Balance

The initiative forms part of RCU's strategy to rehabilitate wildlife and achieve environmental sustainability.
The initiative forms part of RCU's strategy to rehabilitate wildlife and achieve environmental sustainability.
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Reintroduction of Wildlife Species at Saudi Arabia’s Hegra Reserve to Enhance Ecological Balance

The initiative forms part of RCU's strategy to rehabilitate wildlife and achieve environmental sustainability.
The initiative forms part of RCU's strategy to rehabilitate wildlife and achieve environmental sustainability.

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), in cooperation with the National Center for Wildlife, has reintroduced 37 wildlife species at the Hegra Nature Reserve in AlUla as part of its efforts to enhance ecological balance and preserve the region's natural biodiversity.

The initiative forms part of RCU's strategy to rehabilitate wildlife and achieve environmental sustainability.

It also supports eco-tourism by increasing the presence of wildlife species and enriching visitors' natural experiences, in line with AlUla's vision to develop its natural resources and strengthen its environmental values.

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WHO Reaffirms No Link between Vaccines and Autism

The logo of the World Health Organization is seen at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, January 28, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
The logo of the World Health Organization is seen at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, January 28, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
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WHO Reaffirms No Link between Vaccines and Autism

The logo of the World Health Organization is seen at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, January 28, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
The logo of the World Health Organization is seen at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, January 28, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

The World Health Organization's vaccine safety committee said on Thursday that new reviews of scientific evidence found no link between vaccines and autism spectrum disorder, reaffirming conclusions reached more than two decades ago.

The WHO Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety assessed two systematic reviews covering studies published between 2010 and August 2025, according to Reuters.

The reviews examined vaccines in general and those containing thiomersal, a mercury-based preservative that has long been accused by critics of contributing to autism - a claim repeatedly dismissed by scientific studies.

A causal link between vaccines and health outcomes is considered only when several high-quality studies consistently show a statistical association, the committee said.

Twenty out of 31 studies found no evidence of an association between vaccines and autism, according to the WHO.

Eleven studies that suggested a possible link were deemed to have major methodological flaws and a high risk of bias, the committee said.

Last month, US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in an interview with the New York Times that he had personally instructed the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to change its long-standing position that vaccines do not cause autism.

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Vietnam's Capital Chokes Through Week of Toxic Smog

This picture shows vehicles driving on a highway amid heavy air pollution conditions in Hanoi on December 11, 2025. (Photo by NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)
This picture shows vehicles driving on a highway amid heavy air pollution conditions in Hanoi on December 11, 2025. (Photo by NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)
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Vietnam's Capital Chokes Through Week of Toxic Smog

This picture shows vehicles driving on a highway amid heavy air pollution conditions in Hanoi on December 11, 2025. (Photo by NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)
This picture shows vehicles driving on a highway amid heavy air pollution conditions in Hanoi on December 11, 2025. (Photo by NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)

Toxic smog has blanketed Vietnam's capital for more than a week, blotting out the skyline and leaving residents wheezing as Hanoi's air quality dipped to among the world's worst on Thursday.

The city of nine million ranked second only to India's New Delhi on IQAir's ranking of most polluted cities on Thursday morning, improving slightly in the afternoon.

According to the Swiss monitoring company, levels of PM2.5 pollutants -- cancer-causing microparticles small enough to enter the bloodstream through the lungs -- were vastly higher than the World Health Organization's recommended daily exposure limit.

"I have experienced difficulty in breathing out on the streets these days," resident Dang Thuy told AFP on Thursday, adding she had bought two new air purifiers for her apartment.

Hanoi authorities, in an administrative order made public Thursday, urged people to limit time outdoors and said schools can close if the situation deteriorates.

The order instructed officials to crack down on illegal waste burning and take measures to control the dispersion of dust at construction sites, including covering trucks and spraying water to keep tiny particles from becoming airborne.

However, AFP reporters observed construction sites operating normally, with trucks arriving and departing without the required coverings.

"Authorities have been quite active on paper only. Nothing has worked yet and the terribly toxic air remains in our city," said Thuy.

According to the WHO, a number of serious health conditions, including strokes, heart disease and lung cancer, are linked to air pollution exposure.

Experts say pollution in Hanoi is a result of widespread construction, as well as emissions from the huge number of motorbikes and cars that criss-cross the capital every day.

Emissions from coal plants to the north and agricultural burning exacerbate the problem.

Authorities have announced plans to ban gas motorbikes from central Hanoi during certain hours starting in July next year.