Smartphone Radiation Does not Cause Health Problems

A man holds an Apple iPhone as he walks on a street in New York, US, August 1, 2018. (Reuters)
A man holds an Apple iPhone as he walks on a street in New York, US, August 1, 2018. (Reuters)
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Smartphone Radiation Does not Cause Health Problems

A man holds an Apple iPhone as he walks on a street in New York, US, August 1, 2018. (Reuters)
A man holds an Apple iPhone as he walks on a street in New York, US, August 1, 2018. (Reuters)

With 5G technology beginning to roll out across the world, fears that smartphone radiation could have negative health effects are beginning to flare up.

A recent report raised further concerns by suggesting that some phones are leaking more radiation than expected. Facebook groups and YouTube comments sections are filled with people voicing their concerns about radiofrequency (RF) radiation used in our communication networks.

Though the scientific evidence has consistently shown there's little reason to be worried, many believe RF radiation could be harming us, the CNET.com website reported.

According to the German news agency, there is a huge amount of scientific data on the issue, making it increasingly complex for both consumers and health professionals to untangle.

A new comment piece, appearing in the New Zealand Medical Journal, agrees the topic is complex but says any potentially harmful biological effects are more commonly seen in low-quality scientific studies.

According to Mark Elwood, first author of the piece, New Zealand's Ministry of Health asked for an independent, objective response after an article was published in the same journal.

Scientists have been studying the effect of RF radiation on the human body for decades, demonstrating that the major biological effect appears to be heating of human tissue. RF radiation is non-ionizing, which means it does not have the energy to do damage to DNA.



Japanese Patent Office Honors Manga Arabia

Dr. Issam Bukhari, General Director and Editor-in-Chief of Manga Arabia, receives the honor. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Dr. Issam Bukhari, General Director and Editor-in-Chief of Manga Arabia, receives the honor. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Japanese Patent Office Honors Manga Arabia

Dr. Issam Bukhari, General Director and Editor-in-Chief of Manga Arabia, receives the honor. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Dr. Issam Bukhari, General Director and Editor-in-Chief of Manga Arabia, receives the honor. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Manga Arabia Company, affiliated with the Saudi Research and Media Group, was honored by the Japanese Patent Office for participating in a digital awareness campaign to combat electronic piracy and protect intellectual property (IP).
The campaign was organized by the patent office and the International Intellectual Property Protection Forum (IIPPF), managed by the Japanese External Trade Organization (JETRO).
Manga Arabia participated in the campaign by translating visual materials into Arabic and sharing them on its digital platforms.
The company has a significant online presence in the Middle East, with over 1.2 billion appearances on various digital platforms and over 7.5 million application downloads across 190 countries. The extensive reach positioned Manga Arabia as an influential asset for reaching and educating young people.
Manga Arabia’s editor-in-chief, Issam Bukhari, emphasized the company’s commitment to supporting anti-piracy measures and promoting IP values. He highlighted the company’s goal of creating a safe and reliable environment for its products to inspire and empower imagination in the Arab world.


‘Adopt a Penguin Egg’ Easter Campaign Helps Endangered African Birds

A penguin carer feeds a chick at South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds rehabilitation center, where the center has been incubating over 200 eggs of the endangered African penguin that were rescued from two penguin colonies, since the start of the year and they are soliciting donations by inviting people to "adopt an egg", in Cape Town, South Africa, March 27, 2024. (Reuters)
A penguin carer feeds a chick at South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds rehabilitation center, where the center has been incubating over 200 eggs of the endangered African penguin that were rescued from two penguin colonies, since the start of the year and they are soliciting donations by inviting people to "adopt an egg", in Cape Town, South Africa, March 27, 2024. (Reuters)
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‘Adopt a Penguin Egg’ Easter Campaign Helps Endangered African Birds

A penguin carer feeds a chick at South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds rehabilitation center, where the center has been incubating over 200 eggs of the endangered African penguin that were rescued from two penguin colonies, since the start of the year and they are soliciting donations by inviting people to "adopt an egg", in Cape Town, South Africa, March 27, 2024. (Reuters)
A penguin carer feeds a chick at South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds rehabilitation center, where the center has been incubating over 200 eggs of the endangered African penguin that were rescued from two penguin colonies, since the start of the year and they are soliciting donations by inviting people to "adopt an egg", in Cape Town, South Africa, March 27, 2024. (Reuters)

Bored of buying eggs made of chocolate and wrapped in foil with predictable bunny motifs? This Easter in South Africa you could instead spend your cash an egg that will hatch a live penguin.

But these ones are not for taking home.

Since the start of the year, a South African conservation group has been incubating over 200 eggs of the endangered African penguin that were previously rescued from two colonies.

The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) is soliciting donations to meet the cost of incubating them by inviting people to "adopt an egg."

The African penguin -- the only species that breeds on the continent, and which is also found in Namibia -- was once South Africa's most abundant seabird.

No longer. The population has plunged to less than 10,000 breeding pairs in 2024, according to SANCCOB resources manager, Ronnis Daniels, meaning there is only 1% left of the 1 million that were in existence a century earlier.

"At the current trajectory, which is an 8% loss every year, we are looking at extinction by 2035," she told Reuters. "There won't be enough (for) the wild population to save itself."

Threats to the birds are legion, but the main culprit is commercial fishing, which has ravaged stocks of sardines and anchovies that the penguins depend on to live.

"That would be the top of the list," Daniels said. "The sad part is that fish is exported mostly as fishmeal."

Other threats include all the noise and pollution from the shipping routes around South Africa, especially when the ships stop to refuel in Algoa bay, she said.

On one day, volunteer Nicky Shadbolt was walking along an enclosure for the downy baby penguins.

"Over this time, when everybody is also thinking about chocolates and fluffy bunnies, we would like you ... to adopt a penguin egg," she said, punctuated by baby penguin squeaks.

"It is really expensive for us to raise that little penguin from egg or all the way to maturity," she added, a process that takes four months until they are released back into the wild.


King Charles Hopes to Visit The Bahamas Next Year, Prime Minister’s Office Says

Britain's King Charles reads cards and messages, sent by well-wishers following his cancer diagnosis, in the 18th Century Room of the Belgian Suite in Buckingham Palace, London, Britain, February 21, 2024. (Reuters)
Britain's King Charles reads cards and messages, sent by well-wishers following his cancer diagnosis, in the 18th Century Room of the Belgian Suite in Buckingham Palace, London, Britain, February 21, 2024. (Reuters)
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King Charles Hopes to Visit The Bahamas Next Year, Prime Minister’s Office Says

Britain's King Charles reads cards and messages, sent by well-wishers following his cancer diagnosis, in the 18th Century Room of the Belgian Suite in Buckingham Palace, London, Britain, February 21, 2024. (Reuters)
Britain's King Charles reads cards and messages, sent by well-wishers following his cancer diagnosis, in the 18th Century Room of the Belgian Suite in Buckingham Palace, London, Britain, February 21, 2024. (Reuters)

King Charles, who is undergoing treatment for cancer, told Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis on Thursday that he hopes to visit the Commonwealth nation next year, the prime minister's office said in a statement.

The visit would possibly coincide with The Bahamas' independence celebration in July 2025, the statement said.

Charles, who serves as monarch of The Bahamas, called the Bahamian prime minister to tell him of the possible visit, the prime minister's office said, and Davis wished "good health" to Charles and Kate, the Princess of Wales, who is also undergoing treatment for cancer.

"After offering wishes for a Happy and Blessed Easter, the King offered profuse apologies for not being able to attend the 50th Anniversary Independence celebrations," the statement said, referring to last year's marking of The Bahamas gaining independence from Britain in 1973.

Both of Charles' sons have made royal visits to The Bahamas in recent years. Prince Henry visited in 2012 during a tour to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, and Prince William visited in 2022 for the then monarch's Platinum Jubilee.

A visit by Charles would mark the first visit by a reigning monarch since Queen Elizabeth visited in 1994 for the eighth Conference of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth.

Queen Elizabeth visited The Bahamas five times during her reign.


Dogs Can Associate Words with Objects, Study Finds

Owner Franciska Furik puts electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes on Cuki, a 12-year-old Fox Terrier, during a test that found dogs can associate words with objects, at the Ethology Department of the Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, Hungary, March 27, 2024. (Reuters)
Owner Franciska Furik puts electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes on Cuki, a 12-year-old Fox Terrier, during a test that found dogs can associate words with objects, at the Ethology Department of the Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, Hungary, March 27, 2024. (Reuters)
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Dogs Can Associate Words with Objects, Study Finds

Owner Franciska Furik puts electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes on Cuki, a 12-year-old Fox Terrier, during a test that found dogs can associate words with objects, at the Ethology Department of the Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, Hungary, March 27, 2024. (Reuters)
Owner Franciska Furik puts electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes on Cuki, a 12-year-old Fox Terrier, during a test that found dogs can associate words with objects, at the Ethology Department of the Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, Hungary, March 27, 2024. (Reuters)

Dogs are able to understand that some words refer to objects in a way that is similar to humans, a small study of canine brain waves has found, offering insight into the way the minds of man's best friends work.

That our four-legged companions are able to recognize words that prompt actions will come as no surprise to dog owners who tell their pets to "sit" or "fetch".

However, the study, which analyzed brain activity in 18 dogs, provided evidence that they can activate a memory of an object when they hear its name. The study was carried out at the Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest and published in the journal Current Biology.

"There has been a long debate on a non-human animal's ability to understand words referentially," said Marianna Boros who co-authored the study.

"While there have been behavioral reports, these were always exceptional cases. Our study is the first where we claim that this is a species-wide capacity."

During the study, dog owners said words for objects their pets knew. Then in some cases they would present the dog with an object that matched the word, while in other cases the object didn't match.

The results found that the patterns in the dogs' brains when the words matched the objects were different compared to when they didn't. This is similar to what can be observed in humans.

"Dogs can understand that words stand for things... So they activate mental representations and they link the meaning of the word to a mental representation and not just the context," said Boros.

The researchers plan to examine if this ability to understand referential language is specific to dogs or might be present in other mammals as well.


Calls for 'Smartphone Free' Childhood Grow in UK

Children are pressuring their parents to get smartphones at a young age. JUNG YEON-JE / AFP
Children are pressuring their parents to get smartphones at a young age. JUNG YEON-JE / AFP
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Calls for 'Smartphone Free' Childhood Grow in UK

Children are pressuring their parents to get smartphones at a young age. JUNG YEON-JE / AFP
Children are pressuring their parents to get smartphones at a young age. JUNG YEON-JE / AFP

It is the question many adults dread being asked by their children: when can I have a smartphone? But as fears grow about the impact of the gadgets on young minds, some UK parents are fighting back.
The challenge is being led by mother-of-three Daisy Greenwell after a casual school gate conversation spurred her into action, AFP said.
Greenwell, who had been privately mulling the issue with a close friend for some time, was told by another mother that her own 11-year-old son already had a smartphone, as did a third of the boy's class.
"This conversation has filled me with terror. I don't want to give my child something that I know will damage her mental health and make her addicted," she wrote on Instagram.
"But I also know that the pressure to do so, if the rest of her class have one, will be massive," added the journalist from Woodbridge, eastern England.
The post in February triggered a tidal wave of reaction from parents similarly gripped by anxiety about providing their children with a device they fear will open them up to predators, online bullying, social pressure and harmful content.
Greenwell and her friend Clare Reynolds have now launched the Parents United for a Smartphone Free Childhood campaign.
Academic research combined with parents' own experiences have created a sense of dread about a child's request for a phone.
At the same time parents say they feel powerless to refuse, with phones for school-age children "normalized", supposedly on safety grounds.
'Snowballed'
UK schools minister Damian Hinds told a parliamentary committee recently that almost all pupils now got a mobile phone around the age of 11 or 12.
"There seems to be something of a rite of passage about that," he told MPs, adding that some children got one "quite a lot earlier".
After Greenwell finally broached the subject on Instagram, a WhatsApp group she set up to discuss the issue with Reynolds quickly filled with like-minded parents relieved that others felt the same way.
Then the reaction just "snowballed", she added.
Greenwell said there is now a group in every area of the country as well as a few working groups for people with professional expertise on the issue.
"We've got an education one which has got lots of headteachers from across the country," she added.
"They are talking about how we can roll this out, how we can help parents and schools to collaborate and stop people from getting a smartphone at such a young age."
Other working groups are full of people who "are really knowledgeable and experienced in their fields", including an advocacy group to talk about policy change.
Those signed up include a tech company policy director and a staffer at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's 10 Downing Street office.
"They're people who really, really know the lie of the land," she said.
Childhood rewired
Many of the parents' concerns are echoed in US social psychologist Jonathan Haidt's just-published book "The Anxious Generation".
In it, Haidt argues that the "complete transformation of childhood that took place between 2010 and 2015" as smartphones really took off has led to a "great rewiring of childhood".
He links the rise of the "phone-based childhood", continual supervision by adults and the loss of "free play" to spikes in mental illness in young people.
"Things were getting better and better in mental health and then everything goes haywire in 2013.... we have to basically rip the smartphone out of the lives of kids," he said.
According to American College Health Association figures highlighted by Haidt, since 2010 the percentage of US undergraduates diagnosed with anxiety has soared by 134 percent while the number being diagnosed with depression has also spiked, by 104 percent.
A similar picture has also emerged, Haidt says, in all major English-speaking countries and many other European countries as well.
He advocates no smartphones before the age of 14 or social media before 16.
Crucially, he says, parents must act together to prevent them caving in when a child "breaks our heart" by telling us they are excluded from their peer group by being the only one without a phone.
"These things are hard to do as one parent. But if we all do it together -- if even half of us do it together -- then it becomes much easier for our kids," he said.


A $15 Toll to Drive Into Part of Manhattan Approved. That's a 1st for US Cities

FILE - Commuters wait to drive through the Holland Tunnel into New York City during morning rush hour traffic in Jersey City, N.J., on Wednesday, March 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
FILE - Commuters wait to drive through the Holland Tunnel into New York City during morning rush hour traffic in Jersey City, N.J., on Wednesday, March 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
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A $15 Toll to Drive Into Part of Manhattan Approved. That's a 1st for US Cities

FILE - Commuters wait to drive through the Holland Tunnel into New York City during morning rush hour traffic in Jersey City, N.J., on Wednesday, March 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
FILE - Commuters wait to drive through the Holland Tunnel into New York City during morning rush hour traffic in Jersey City, N.J., on Wednesday, March 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

New York is on track to become the first US city with congestion tolls on drivers entering its central business district after transit officials approved a $15 fee for most motorists headed to the busiest part of Manhattan.
Members of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board on Wednesday voted to greenlight the congestion pricing plan, expected to go into effect in June. The board approved only minor changes to a plan presented to the public months ago, and brushed off requests for exceptions by dozens of groups of commuters.
The vote authorizes a $15 toll on most commuter passenger vehicles that drive into Manhattan south of 60th Street, a zone that's south of Central Park, during daytime hours. Tolls are higher for larger vehicles, and lower for late-night entries into the city, as well as for motorcycles, The Associated Press reported.
Supporters of the new tolls say it will push more people to use public transport, reduce congestion to speed up public buses and emergency vehicles, reduce pollution, and raise money needed to improve the subway system. Opponents say the fees are a burden on workers and will increase the prices of staple goods that are driven to the city by truck.
To enter Manhattan, commuters from other states and boroughs already pay around $15 in bridge and tunnel tolls — and the congestion fee will come on top of that. Daily parking costs already run $25 to $50 in the congestion zone, which includes a dozen neighborhoods in Manhattan that are south of 60th street.
New York’s plan has drawn lawsuits from small business owners and the state of New Jersey which demand more thorough environmental assessments before the plan moves forward. In court documents, state officials argue the plan will cost its commuters millions but won't fund improvements in New Jersey transit agencies, even as it funds public transit in New York and Connecticut.
The state Legislature approved the tolls in 2019, mandating that the program should raise $1 billion per year to fund public subway and bus systems for the city’s 4 million daily riders. It also established the boundaries of the zone, which covers the busiest part of the city, and scaled back early proposals to include the area up to 86th Street. The pandemic and lack of federal regulation stalled the project.
Tolls will vary based on the time of day and the size of the vehicle, ranging from $1.75 for motorcycles crossing overnight to $36 for sightseeing buses and trucks with trailers during the day. The overnight period runs from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weekdays, and from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. on weekends.
Visitors without E-ZPasses — a device that collects toll information remotely — will pay more. And as on bridges, license plate readers are expected to identify other drivers, so that they can be billed by mail.
Taxis will charge passengers $1.25 per trip that touches the zone, while app-based rides will charge $2.50.


German Mail Service Stops Using Domestic Flights to Transport Letters after Nearly 63 Years

WISAG employees load a Eurowings Airbus A320-214 bound for Stuttgart with plastic boxes full of mail, at Berlin Brandenburg Airport, in Schönefeld, Germany, Thursday, March 28, 2024. (Soeren Stache/dpa via AP)
WISAG employees load a Eurowings Airbus A320-214 bound for Stuttgart with plastic boxes full of mail, at Berlin Brandenburg Airport, in Schönefeld, Germany, Thursday, March 28, 2024. (Soeren Stache/dpa via AP)
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German Mail Service Stops Using Domestic Flights to Transport Letters after Nearly 63 Years

WISAG employees load a Eurowings Airbus A320-214 bound for Stuttgart with plastic boxes full of mail, at Berlin Brandenburg Airport, in Schönefeld, Germany, Thursday, March 28, 2024. (Soeren Stache/dpa via AP)
WISAG employees load a Eurowings Airbus A320-214 bound for Stuttgart with plastic boxes full of mail, at Berlin Brandenburg Airport, in Schönefeld, Germany, Thursday, March 28, 2024. (Soeren Stache/dpa via AP)

Germany's main national postal carrier on Thursday stopped using domestic flights to transport letters after nearly 63 years, a move that reflects the declining significance of letter mail and allows it to improve its climate footprint.
Deutsche Post said the last planes carrying letters between northern and southern Germany, operated by Lufthansa unit Eurowings and Tui Fly, flew overnight on the Stuttgart-Berlin, Hannover-Munich and Hannover-Stuttgart routes, the Associated Press said.
The company said letters between those destinations will now be transported by road, allowing the company to reduce transport-related carbon dioxide emissions on the routes by over 80%.
“In times of climate change, airmail for domestic letters within Germany can no longer be justified — also because there is no longer the same urgency associated with letter mail as in decades past,” Marc Hitschfeld, chief operations officer of parent company DHL Group's German mail and parcel division, said in a statement.
Draft legislation approved by the German Cabinet in December, which still needs parliamentary approval, is set to reduce pressure on Deutsche Post to deliver letters quickly, allowing it to cut costs.
At present, the mail service is supposed to deliver at least 80% of letters on the working day after they are mailed. Under the planned new rules, it will have to deliver 95% by the third working day.
German domestic mail flights started in September 1961. Both the volume of mail carried by air and the number of destinations served have declined drastically since the mid-1990s.


‘Jood Regions’ Provides Homes for 10,000 Saudi Families

A donors gathering in Makkah, Saudi Arabia (SPA)
A donors gathering in Makkah, Saudi Arabia (SPA)
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‘Jood Regions’ Provides Homes for 10,000 Saudi Families

A donors gathering in Makkah, Saudi Arabia (SPA)
A donors gathering in Makkah, Saudi Arabia (SPA)

Each year during Ramadan, the holy month of fasting in Islam, Saudi Arabia's non-profit Housing Development Organization “Sakan” launches its annual Jood Regions campaign.

It aims to provide over 10,000 housing units for the neediest families across Saudi cities. The campaign launch includes events to raise awareness and encourage community participation.

These events, organized by local authorities, bring together entrepreneurs, leaders, and others to ensure citizens get suitable housing with ease and reliability, fulfilling the goals of developmental housing initiatives.

Abdulaziz Al-Kreedies, the Secretary-General Sakan, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Jood Regions campaign aims to provide housing solutions through partnerships with different sectors.

Moreover, the campaign wants to support non-profit housing efforts and local housing associations. The goal is to encourage communities to help the neediest families in their areas creatively, fostering social support and ensuring housing security for them.

The campaign organized diverse events across Saudi Arabia’s regions and provinces, involving government bodies, private sectors, universities, malls, and public spaces, totaling over 257 activities.

They used creative advertising, including local billboards, to reach communities.

The “Jood Eskan” platform is another project by Sakan. Chaired by Saudi Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, Majid Al-Hogail, Sakan aims to encourage community participation through innovative initiatives.

They also lead efforts to empower the non-profit housing sector for sustainable solutions.


'Saudi Reef' Contributes to Planting 13 Million Trees as Part of Saudi Green Initiative

The Sustainable Agricultural Rural Development Program announced that it has contributed to planting 13 million trees in various regions of the Kingdom. (SPA)
The Sustainable Agricultural Rural Development Program announced that it has contributed to planting 13 million trees in various regions of the Kingdom. (SPA)
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'Saudi Reef' Contributes to Planting 13 Million Trees as Part of Saudi Green Initiative

The Sustainable Agricultural Rural Development Program announced that it has contributed to planting 13 million trees in various regions of the Kingdom. (SPA)
The Sustainable Agricultural Rural Development Program announced that it has contributed to planting 13 million trees in various regions of the Kingdom. (SPA)

The Sustainable Agricultural Rural Development Program, known as Saudi Reef, announced that it has contributed to planting 13 million trees in various regions of the Kingdom, the Saudi Press Agency said on Wednesday.
The project is part of the Saudi Green Initiative which aims to plant 10 billion trees across the Kingdom.
The program is part of the efforts to support small farmers by providing financial subsidies to improve their livelihoods. Additionally, the program trains farmers to develop agricultural methods, including afforestation programs.
A close to 6,754 beneficiaries have received support as part of the Saudi Green Initiative.
The supported items include coffee, flowers, roses, henna, safflower, and various fruits such as bajali almonds, apricots, pomegranates, Bukhari, and peaches.


King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Contributes to Saudi Green Initiative’s Goals

CEO of the King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Development Authority Eng. Maher bin Abdullah Al-Gothmi. (SPA)
CEO of the King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Development Authority Eng. Maher bin Abdullah Al-Gothmi. (SPA)
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King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Contributes to Saudi Green Initiative’s Goals

CEO of the King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Development Authority Eng. Maher bin Abdullah Al-Gothmi. (SPA)
CEO of the King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Development Authority Eng. Maher bin Abdullah Al-Gothmi. (SPA)

The CEO of the King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Development Authority, Eng. Maher bin Abdullah Al-Gothmi, described Saudi Green Initiative Day as a celebration of Saudi Arabia's achievements in the field of climate action and addressing various environmental challenges.
Al-Gothmi added that the event, which falls on March 27, is an opportunity to unify the efforts of Saudi society members and activate their role in building a sustainable future, the Saudi Press Agency said on Thursday.
"Thank God and under the guidance and follow-up of Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, the chairman of the board of directors of the King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Development Authority, has succeeded in aligning its projects, initiatives, and outputs with the targets of the Saudi Green Initiative since its launch by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince on March 27, 2021”, said Al-Gothmi.
This was achieved through integrated partnerships with government entities, the private sector, non-profit third-sector organizations, and particularly voluntary environmental associations, to ensure their sustainability for the current and future generations, he said.
The King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve is one of the seven reserves established by a royal decree. It is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and has an independent authority led by Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz.