Filipino Conjoined Twins Arrive in Riyadh for Potential Separation Procedure

The Filipino Siamese twins arrived in Riyadh on Sunday. SPA
The Filipino Siamese twins arrived in Riyadh on Sunday. SPA
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Filipino Conjoined Twins Arrive in Riyadh for Potential Separation Procedure

The Filipino Siamese twins arrived in Riyadh on Sunday. SPA
The Filipino Siamese twins arrived in Riyadh on Sunday. SPA

Filipino Siamese twins Akhizah and Ayeesha Yosoph arrived on Sunday in Riyadh via a Saudi evacuation plan facilitated by the Ministry of Health.

After arriving at King Khalid International Airport along with their parents, the twins were promptly transferred to the King Abdullah Specialized Children's Hospital (KASCH) under the Ministry of National Guard. At KASCH, a medical team is assessing the twins' condition to determine the feasibility of performing a separation surgery.

This initiative came upon the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, and Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister.

The Advisor at the Royal Court, Supervisor General of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief), and head of the medical team overseeing the case, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Rabeeah, expressed his gratitude to the King and the Crown Prince for their unwavering support. He commended their support and care to the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program and humanitarian endeavors at large.

Al Rabeeah highlighted the program's significance on a global scale, serving as a milestone in the field while aligning with the ambitious goals of Saudi Vision 2030 to enhance the Kingdom's healthcare services to a prominent position.

The parents of Akhizah and Ayeesha expressed their heartfelt appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Crown Prince for the warm welcome and generous hospitality extended to them since their arrival in the Kingdom.



NASA's Parker Solar Probe Aims to Fly Closer to the Sun Like Never Before

The sun sets in Santiago, Chile, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, as a forest fires burns on the outskirts of the capital. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
The sun sets in Santiago, Chile, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, as a forest fires burns on the outskirts of the capital. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
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NASA's Parker Solar Probe Aims to Fly Closer to the Sun Like Never Before

The sun sets in Santiago, Chile, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, as a forest fires burns on the outskirts of the capital. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
The sun sets in Santiago, Chile, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, as a forest fires burns on the outskirts of the capital. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

A NASA spacecraft aims to fly closer to the sun than any object sent before.
The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 to get a close-up look at the sun. Since then, it has flown straight through the sun's corona: the outer atmosphere visible during a total solar eclipse.

The next milestone: closest approach to the sun. Plans call for Parker on Tuesday to hurtle through the sizzling solar atmosphere and pass within a record-breaking 3.8 million miles (6 million kilometers) of the sun's surface, The Associated Press reported.
At that moment, if the sun and Earth were at opposite ends of a football field, Parker "would be on the 4-yard line,” said NASA's Joe Westlake.
Mission managers won't know how Parker fared until days after the flyby since the spacecraft will be out of communication range.

Parker planned to get more than seven times closer to the sun than previous spacecraft, hitting 430,000 mph (690,000 kph) at closest approach. It's the fastest spacecraft ever built and is outfitted with a heat shield that can withstand scorching temperatures up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,371 degrees Celsius).

It'll continue circling the sun at this distance until at least September.

Scientists hope to better understand why the corona is hundreds of times hotter than the sun’s surface and what drives the solar wind, the supersonic stream of charged particles constantly blasting away from the sun.

The sun's warming rays make life possible on Earth. But severe solar storms can temporarily scramble radio communications and disrupt power.
The sun is currently at the maximum phase of its 11-year cycle, triggering colorful auroras in unexpected places.

“It both is our closest, friendliest neighbor,” Westlake said, “but also at times is a little angry.”