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The Groves Opens at Riyadh Season 2025 with Exceptional Experiences

The Groves opens at Riyadh Season 2025 with exceptional experiences. (SPA)
The Groves opens at Riyadh Season 2025 with exceptional experiences. (SPA)
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The Groves Opens at Riyadh Season 2025 with Exceptional Experiences

The Groves opens at Riyadh Season 2025 with exceptional experiences. (SPA)
The Groves opens at Riyadh Season 2025 with exceptional experiences. (SPA)

The Groves welcomed visitors on Wednesday as part of Riyadh Season 2025, unveiling a new chapter of luxury and creativity in the heart of Al-Rafiah District and transforming into a global destination that blends flavors, art, music and nature.

The venue, which offers dining concepts to live entertainment, art, and nature-inspired design, drew large crowds who enjoyed an exceptional atmosphere filled with diverse culinary experiences, interactive performances and live music, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.

The venue reflects the growing popularity of Riyadh Season’s signature attractions each year.

Now in its fourth edition, The Groves introduces a range of innovative concepts, including the first Saudi-born Persian dining concept that fuses refined taste with rich heritage. Visitors can also immerse themselves in a live dramatic journey set amid the charm of old Damascus.

The destination further offers a unique world of candy and interactive theatrical performances in a family-friendly atmosphere, complemented by Italian and Japanese flavors served in a contemporary style inspired by the world of stars.

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Varieties

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.

Varieties

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.