RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Monday started vaccinating children aged 12 to 18, following approval from the Kingdom’s Food and Drug Authority based on scientific research announced on Sunday.
The health departments in Riyadh and Hafr Al-Batin said they had started inoculating children between the ages of 12 and 18 with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The health department in Al-Jawf has started giving the second dose of the vaccine to individuals aged 50 and over, while it said it is continuing to provide the first dose to those who have not received it yet.
The Kingdom recorded 14 new COVID-19 related deaths on Monday, raising the total number of fatalities to 7,789.
The Ministry of Health confirmed 1,318 new confirmed cases reported in the Kingdom in the previous 24 hours, meaning 484,539 people have now contracted the disease.
Of the total number of cases, 11,204 remain active and 1,438 in critical condition.
According to the ministry, the highest number of cases were recorded in Makkah with 345, followed by the Eastern Province with 302, the capital Riyadh with 247, Asir recorded 161, and Jazan confirmed 93 cases.
#الصحة تعلن عن تسجيل (1318) حالة إصابة جديدة بفيروس كورونا (كوفيد-19)، وتسجيل (14) حالات وفيات رحمهم الله، وتسجيل (1290) حالة تعافي ليصبح إجمالي عدد الحالات المتعافية (465,546) حالة ولله الحمد. pic.twitter.com/FQAkHhitGj
— و ز ا ر ة ا لـ صـ حـ ة السعودية (@SaudiMOH) June 28, 2021
The health ministry also announced that 1,290 patients had recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recoveries in the Kingdom to 465,546.
The ministry renewed its call on the public to register to receive the vaccine, and adhere to the measures and abide by instructions.
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs reopened nine mosques in four regions after temporarily evacuating and sterilizing them after nine people tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of mosques closed and reopened after being sterilized to 1,693 within 142 days.
The coronavirus pandemic has affected over 181 million people globally and the death toll has reached around 3.94 million.
LONDON: Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan met the UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen on Monday in Rome, as well as his counterparts from Europe and the Middle East.
They discussed the latest developments in the Syrian crisis and the political efforts exerted to resolve it, as well as strengthening joint coordination between the Kingdom and the UN to lay the foundations for regional and international security and stability, according to a statement from the Kingdom’s Foreign Ministry.
#Rome | Foreign Minister HH Prince @FaisalbinFarhan, met with United Nations Special Envoy for Syria @GeirOPedersen, on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting of the @coalition to Defeat #ISIS. pic.twitter.com/mqrYLHM33X
— Foreign Ministry (@KSAmofaEN) June 28, 2021
He also held talks with Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, to review ways to strengthen the “solid partnership” between the Kingdom and the 27-member bloc.
“The two sides also discussed the importance of supporting international efforts aimed at establishing security and stability in Syria, and supporting all peaceful solutions,” the ministry added. “They also discussed the need to stop all Iranian interference in Syria that fuels the conflict and destabilizes the country and the region.”
Prince Faisal met his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian to discuss aspects of the bilateral relationship and ways of enhancing it in various fields to serve common interests. They also exchanged views on regional and international issues.
He met his Dutch counterpart Sigrid Kaag and talked about ways to strengthen Saudi-Dutch relations.
#Rome | Foreign Minister HH Prince @FaisalbinFarhan, met with Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of the #Netherlands, @ministerBZ on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting of the @coalition against #ISIS. pic.twitter.com/YiBvn6oZNw
— Foreign Ministry (@KSAmofaEN) June 28, 2021
Prince Faisal met his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi and discussed ways of supporting international efforts aimed at establishing security and stability in Syria in a way that guaranteed the full rights of the Syrian people, and then he met Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush. Prince Faisal stressed the importance of supporting all means and international efforts to lay the foundations for security and stability in Libya and move forward toward further development and prosperity.
He also held similar talks with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein.
The Italian capital was hosting a ministerial meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s National e-Learning Center on Monday announced that it had launched a set of globally approved excellence standards.
The quality measures were co-developed and reviewed by international organizations and more than 40 experts from around the world.
The center’s board of directors adopted the e-education and e-training standards at its seventh meeting chaired by Saudi education minister and center chairman, Dr. Hamad bin Mohammed Al-Asheikh.
The Online Learning Consortium, one of the leading organizations in the field of e-learning, was among the bodies that worked with the center to prepare and develop the standards.
Experts from South Korea, China, the US, the UK, New Zealand, and a number of European countries, as well as a UNESCO committee, collaborated in the reviewing and arbitration process after making a comprehensive benchmarking assessment of global standards.
The standards cover all key sectors of public, higher and vocational education in addition to lifelong learning, focusing on the aspects of design and implementation of educational and training e-programs.
They also deal with integrated education, electronic course design, virtual classes, e-teaching, e-learning program management, standards of excellence for massive open online courses and e-learning platforms, educational video production, and e-learning management.
National e-Learning Center director general, Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammad Al-Walidi, said the new structure was aimed at promoting excellence and leadership in educational and training e-practices while raising competitiveness in terms of quality of services.
“Individuals wishing to access all the details related to these standards, the entities providing educational e-activities, and the related educational and training e-programs, can visit the center’s website,” he added.
The center recently launched basic criteria for obtaining the necessary licenses to enable entities and programs to provide e-education and e-training.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan held talks with his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio at the Italian Foreign Ministry in the capital, Rome, during his official visit to Italy.
During the meeting, the two sides reviewed aspects of Saudi-Italian relations and ways to strengthen them in various fields to serve the interests of the two countries, in addition to exchanging views on regional and international issues of common interest, the Kingdom’s foreign ministry said.
“The two sides also reviewed the initiatives and fruitful results of the Kingdom’s presidency of the G20 last year, and the importance of following up and completing them during Italy’s presidency of the alliance this year, including efforts made to address the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the adoption of important policies that would achieve economic recovery from the effects of the pandemic,” the ministry said.
They also agreed to activate efforts aimed at ensuring the global trading system works for everyone and create conditions for sustainable development.
The two sides also discussed the importance of promoting joint action in light of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
RIYADH: Gambian President Adama Barrow and his accompanying delegation arrived in Riyadh on Sunday on the latest stage of their visit to Saudi Arabia. They were received at King Khalid International Airport by Riyadh Gov. Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdul Aziz.
Earlier on Sunday, Barrow held talks with Yousef Al-Othaimeen, secretary-general of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC), where he assured him that The Gambia is “on track” to host the next summit in 2022.
“The president also affirmed his dedication to the OIC’s commitment to combatting terrorism and extremism,” the Gambian presidency said in a statement.
Following the meeting, Al-Othaimeen said their discussions focused on peace, security, and the Muslim nation’s anti-terrorism position, and praised the president and the Gambian government for their efforts in ensuring the summit’s success, the statement added.
Barrow arrived in the Kingdom on Wednesday and visited the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah. The next day, the president went to Makkah to perform Umrah at the Grand Mosque.
During his stay in Makkah, Barrow met the president of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Dr. Bandar Hajjar, and discussed relations between the two countries.
The meeting tackled the development cooperation between the IDB and The Gambia in various sectors.
The president expressed sincere thanks to the IDB for its continuous support to his country, noting that the projects of the bank are highly appreciated by the government and the people of The Gambia.
Hajjar was briefed by the Gambian president on the profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on all economic and social sectors in The Gambia, especially with regard to the tourism sector.
Hajjar welcomed Barrow in the Kingdom, expressing his hope that The Gambia will soon resume its growth after the outbreak of the coronavirus, stressing that the bank will continue to support the country to achieve the aspirations of the Gambian people.
During his visit to the Saudi capital, the president will inaugurate the new Gambian embassy and ambassador’s residence, in addition to other engagements.
DUBAI: Alwaleed Philanthropies has ridden the wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and is set to accelerate its strategy of “creative philanthropy” as the global recovery gathers pace, according to the woman in charge of the Riyadh-headquartered Saudi charitable organization.
Princess Lamia bint Majed Al-Saud, secretary-general of the 40-year-old organization set up by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, told Arab News that the pandemic had been a demanding time for the organization as it faced extraordinary demands on its resources, but that the time had come to apply the lessons learned during the humanitarian and economic crisis.
“The United Nations came out with a very unique name for doing good in the world, which is ‘creative economy.’ So, you have to be very creative moving forward after the pandemic — how you’re going to reach your beneficiaries, and how you can provide support, and how you can empower and do good in general,” she said.
Her comments came in the course of an interview with “Frankly Speaking,” the series of video interviews with leading policymakers and thinkers in the Middle East and the world.
Princess Lamia, who is regarded as a role model for the empowerment of women in Saudi Arabia under the reforms of the Vision 2030 strategy, also spoke of the progress women have made in the Kingdom, the place of art and culture in the global philanthropy scene, and the need to transcend the “clash of civilizations” approach to relations between the Islamic world and its international neighbors.
Alwaleed Philanthropies responded after the outbreak of the virus last year with a $30 million initiative to provide essential medical goods and services to poorer countries around the world struggling with their pandemic response.
This was on top of Alwaleed Philanthropies’ regular commitment to vaccination programs around the world, and its domestic and international program of medical and humanitarian assistance.
“We actually worked in some countries in Africa, we worked in Iraq, we worked in Syria, we worked in Tunisia, we worked in Yemen. We provided economic support — so, for example in Africa, we collaborated with the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) to build small factories to produce masks (and improve) sanitation. It was in favor of empowering women and youth,” said Princess Lamia.
“I think the pandemic shows the importance of having a house and to have a roof over your head. All you need to be safe from COVID is only a room and a roof over your head, and that’s why we worked with Habitat (a UN urban organization) in shelters in Yemen, Iraq and Syria.”
This was in addition to Alwaleed Philanthropies’ established collaboration with the World Health Organization, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
“I’d say it was a quite creative initiative that we covered, and we actually reached over 100 million people around the world,” Princess Lamia said.
Alwaleed Philanthropies works in four main areas — community development, empowering women and youth, providing vital disaster relief and bridging cultures — which combined have benefited close to 1 billion people around the world.
One big learning point from the pandemic was the move to online and digital philanthropic support, with projects in Myanmar and at home in Saudi Arabia going online as lockdowns hit.
“Believe it or not, from a money perspective or a budget perspective, it’s much easier and that’s why maybe this year we reached more people,” Princess Lamia said.
Some observers have been concerned that the intense focus on finding and administering a vaccine against the novel coronavirus might divert attention from other global inoculation programs against infectious diseases such as polio, where Alwaleed Philanthropies has played a big role in vaccination programs in developing countries.
Princess Lamia said there had only been a limited effect. “I agree that at Alwaleed Philanthropies, we transferred some of our funds to COVID-19 due to the urgency of the pandemic, but I don’t think it will have an effect in the long run,” she added. “I believe we’re in a good place now, after having the vaccine against COVID and doing much more research.”
She said Prince Alwaleed varied his contribution to the overall budget “if he sees it’s necessary.” Alwaleed Philanthropies works alongside other big global philanthropies such as the Gates Foundation as well as UN agencies, but is not in competition with them, she insisted.
“I wouldn’t say compete. I’d say we learn from each other, the methodology of this foundation, or the core spirit of this foundation. It’s built on partnership, and this is what Prince Alwaleed believes in — partnership,” she said.
Alwaleed Philanthropies’ international connections have direct benefits for its work in Saudi Arabia. “Maybe what differentiates us from a domestic perspective more than any other foundation in Saudi Arabia is that we have the international experience and expertise, and that’s what we’re trying to do in our projects in Saudi Arabia — transferring knowledge from what we did outside,” she said.
One example is the Turquoise Mountain initiative, backed by the UK’s prince of Wales, which seeks to encourage and promote traditional crafts in various parts of the world, including Saudi Arabia, where some 1,000 mainly female artisans are employed in craft workshops producing high-end goods, most recently under the Mizwada brand.
“We’re upscaling their knowledge. We’re taking the crafts from a very modest or very humble craft to a luxury brand,” Princess Lamia said.
Female empowerment has been one of the main themes of Alwaleed Philanthropies in the Kingdom, and she believes great strides have been made for women in recent years, with the freedom to drive, the relaxation of guardianship laws and greater female employment opportunities.
“I don’t think three or four years ago I’d be sitting and talking with you,” she said, adding that Western media had not given the Kingdom credit for the big advances.
The rise to prominence of a number of women in the Kingdom — such as Princess Reema bint Bandar, Saudi ambassador to Washington, and Sarah Al-Suhaimy, chairperson of the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) — is further evidence of female empowerment, Princess Lamia said.
Alwaleed Philanthropies is run by a 10-strong team of women appointed by Prince Alwaleed, and it has programs to cultivate the skills necessary for women to enter employment in the private and public sectors.
“It was very clearly announced from the government that we want to support women and we want to empower women. I think some of the entities or the companies took it to a next level in which they literally discarded the men, but I believe that we should empower humans,” she said.
One big part of Alwaleed Philanthropies’ work is the effort to promote better understanding between the Islamic world and other belief systems, which has been controversially called a “clash of civilizations.”
Pointing to the global confrontations after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US in 2001, Princess Lamia said: “I believe this clash isn’t that easy to resolve.” She spoke of how Prince Alwaleed — a well-known investor on Wall Street — was in New York at the time of the tragedy, and decided to do something to help ease long-term tensions.
“That’s why we collaborated with six of the most prominent, I’d say important, universities around the world. We actually created centers for research and promotion of tolerance and understanding,” she said.
There are now Alwaleed centers in six of the most prestigious universities in the US, Europe and the Middle East, part of what she called a “soft power” initiative to reconcile misunderstanding between people of different faiths around the world.
The other angle is Alwaleed Philanthropies’ promotion of art and culture as a bridge between religions. It has established partnerships with the Louvre in Paris and the Pergamon Museum in Berlin to showcase works of Islamic art, but with a universal message.
“That’s how you create awareness of how Islamic cultures were — leaning toward art and beauty,” Princess Lamia said.
Twitter: @frankkanedubai
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s air defenses intercepted two explosive-laden drones launched by Yemen’s Houthi militia toward the Kingdom’s southern region, state TV reported on Sunday.
The Arab coalition said the drones were targeting the city of Khamis Mushait, adding“the efficiency of the air defenses thwarted all hostile attempts toward Saudi Arabia.”
On Saturday, Saudi defenses destroyed 3 booby-trapped drones launched by the Iran-backed Houthis toward Khamis Mushait.
The coalition said that the Houthi militia deliberately targets civilians and civilian objects, adding that it is taking operational measures to protect civilians and deal with any threat.
The UAE strongly condemned the attack, saying it reflects the Houthis’ blatant defiance of the international community and its disregard for all international laws and norms.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation urged the international community to take “an immediate and decisive stance to stop these repeated actions that target vital and civil facilities, the security of the Kingdom, energy supplies and global economic stability,” adding that the continuation of these attacks in recent times is a dangerous escalation and new evidence of these militias’ efforts to undermine security and stability in the region.
CAIRO: Saudi Arabia is playing a pivotal role in pioneering initiatives to safeguard Arab national security and counter blatant interference in the affairs of Arab countries, Sheikh Dr. Abdullah Al-Asheikh, speaker of the Saudi Shoura Council, told the Arab Parliament in Cairo on Saturday.
Al-Asheikh’s comments came during a speech in a session of the Arab Parliament during which he received the Arab Excellence Medal.
He said that the Kingdom’s leadership has encouraged joint Arab action, “establishing a promising stage of solidarity and unity of positions, and confronting everything that threatens and targets the security and stability of our Arab societies.”
Al-Asheikh praised the role of the President of the Arab Parliament, Adel bin Abdulrahman Al-Asoumi, in commending Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Saudi Green and Middle East Green initiatives, which have been adopted by the parliament.
Referring to the crisis in Yemen, the speaker said that the humanitarian situation in the country demands a serious response from the international community “to put an end to this tragedy.”
He reiterated the Kingdom’s desire for a political solution to the conflict.
Al-Asheikh voiced his appreciation to the president of the Arab Parliament for awarding him the Arab Excellence Medal, adding that he considered the honor an appreciation of Saudi Arabia’s support for Arab countries and joint Arab action.
RIYADH: The Internet is home to some extremely malevolent behavior. A range of bad actors is intent on stealing people’s money, information and identities, and on crippling essential services.
Of the countless entities and individuals targeted, some of the more prominent are Saudi Aramco, Bangladesh Bank, Colonial Pipeline, the Democratic Party of the US, and the UK’s House of Commons. In 2015, the self-proclaimed Yemen Cyber Army attacked the Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In common with other GCC states, Saudi Arabia is a prime target of cybercrime, for several reasons. It is a wealthy country with a digitally active population, is positioned at the center of the global energy sector, and located in a region with no shortage of geopolitical tensions. It is also home to Saudi Aramco, among the world’s most valuable companies.
The Kingdom’s vulnerable position was highlighted in 2012 when the Shamoon virus crippled a significant portion of Saudi Aramco’s IT network. Shamoon was one of the most destructive cyberattacks on any business up to that time, and forced Aramco to shut down and literally replace a large proportion of its computers. The same malware has resurfaced over the years, causing further mayhem in every case.
Identifying perpetrators is fraught because they take great effort to conceal identities, and typically adopt the techniques, procedures and languages of other suspect actors. And when a virus is brought under control, a new one, or a more destructive mutation of the original, may be unleashed on unsuspecting populations and underprepared corporations.
Shamoon was highly publicized, but many GCC companies and organizations continue to face similar attacks from the likes of Morris Worm, Nimda, Iloveyou, Slammer and Stuxnet.
As the Internet claims an ever-greater share of people’s daily lives, the opportunity for cybercrime increases exponentially. The Internet of Things (IoT) may enable a fridge to order fresh milk from the supermarket automatically, and an expat’s currency to arrive in the form of blockchain, but this only broadens the range of potential cyber targets.
Khalid Al-Harbi, Saudi Aramco’s chief information security officer, was quoted by Reuters as saying: “The pattern of cyberattacks is cyclical. We are seeing that the magnitude is increasing, and I would suspect that this will continue to be a trend.”
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in cybercrime. As the contagion forced many companies to introduce working from home, malicious actors were able to take advantage of the typically reduced IT security of remote workers. The global police body Interpol reported a spike in both malware and spam in the months after the pandemic took hold — affecting the GCC as much as the rest of the world.
Remote staff are the weakest link of any network. No matter how many millions an organization may spend on developing a robust IT firewall at the office, that advanced security can be undone by the easy or predictable password of a negligent individual working from home, the click on a dubious link, or the unwise sharing of personal data on social media.
In a white paper released by the International Data Corporation, Uzair Mujtaba, its program manager for Saudi Arabia, observed that “as endpoints become increasingly disparate, the attack surface will expand significantly, and this is compelling technology and security leaders to adopt innovative approaches to cybersecurity.”
According to a new report by VMware, an American cloud computing and virtualization technology company, nearly 93 percent of the 252 organizations it surveyed in Saudi Arabia experienced a cyberattack in the past year.
The findings, a part of VMware’s Global Security Insights Report, came from an online survey conducted in December 2020 of 3,542 chief information security officers (CISOs), chief information officers (CIOs), and chief technology officers (CTOs).
The average number of breaches suffered by each organization was 2.47 over the past year, while 11 percent of respondents said their organizations had been breached between 5 to 10 times.
Some 80 percent of respondents agreed that they need to view security differently than they did in the past due to an expanded attack surface prompted by the pandemic.
* Among the viruses causing the biggest havoc are Stuxnet, NotPetya and Lockergoga.
* Perpetrators include Unit 74455 of Russia’s GRU military intelligence, North Korea’s Bureau 39, Iran’s Cyber Army.
Responding to this growing threat, the Kingdom has positioned itself at the global forefront of cyber defense. The Shamoon incident of 2012 was a wake-up call, prompting the Saudi government to focus and mobilize resources for the creation of an entire cybersecurity ecosystem to confront both local and foreign adversaries.
This is a key element of Vision 2030. The National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA) was established by a royal decree in October 2017 and is mandated with implementing the National Information Security Strategy — formalizing a Kingdom-wide framework for cybersecurity, risk mitigation, and resilience via governance policies, standards, cyber-defense operations, and development of human capital and local industry capabilities.
The NCA’s stated mission is to “work closely with public and private entities to improve the cybersecurity posture of the country in order to safeguard its vital interests, national security, critical infrastructures, high-priority sectors, and government services and activities in alignment with Vision 2030.”
That sounds like a tall order, but the Kingdom is already a leader in terms of cyber vigilance, with a formidable knowledge base. Indeed, in 2020, the World Competitiveness Center ranked Saudi Arabia as second globally in “the field of continuous improvement of corporate cybersecurity.”
Speaking to Arab News, Haider Pasha, chief technology officer at Symantec Middle East, said: “You need to really understand where your sensitive data is, where the assets are, and have a robust strategy or framework that you can abide by. I see that happening more and more in Saudi Arabia.”
Every country is facing the threat of cybercrime, but the Kingdom is at the front line of this battle given its rapid pace of transformation and already advanced IT and AI infrastructure. Saudi government ministries are designing proprietary cybersecurity programs as opposed to merely installing products and fixes.
An example of this combination of transformation and high-tech is the Kingdom’s push toward “smart cities” — in which citizens have online access to most, if not all, private and public services, and can easily interact with various government agencies.
Riyadh is one such place, while NEOM, the $500 billion development in the northwest of the Kingdom, is emerging as the first large-scale urban project to be designed and built from the ground up in the era of artificial intelligence.
NEOM, slated as a Belgium-sized cluster of smart urban spaces, can leapfrog older cities by using cutting-edge and integrated technologies, specifically in the realm of cyberspace.
“New smart megacities, such as NEOM, have the advantage of no legacy systems,” Mike Loginov, NEOM’s chief information security officer, told Arab News. “When you start from scratch, you can build in security functionality from the very beginning in every element that you need.”
Cyber resilience is critical to the ambitions of NEOM and other developments, whose expected dependence on AI, e-commerce, IoT and blockchain technology means that the Internet will remain a battleground in which national authorities must constantly enhance the defense of their populations from an evermore sophisticated criminal underworld.
Fortunately, the decision-makers of Saudi Arabia are doing just that.
RIYADH: An attempt to smuggle more than 14 million amphetamine pills from Lebanon into the Kingdom was foiled on Saturday, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
The drugs were hidden in a shipment of iron sheets and were seized by the General Directorate of Narcotics Control in coordination with the General Authority for Zakat and Tax and customs at Jeddah Islamic Port.
A citizen who was allegedly involved in the smuggling has been arrested in the Riyadh region and referred to Public Prosecution.
The attempt comes after the Kingdom banned the import and transit of fruit and vegetables from Lebanon in April after authorities foiled two large drug smuggling attempts involving narcotics hidden inside pomegranates.
JEDDAH: Gambian President Adama Barrow has performed the Umrah pilgrimage at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, during his official visit to Saudi Arabia, state-run SPA news agency reported on Thursday.
Upon his arrival, he was received by a number of officials from the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques and the Grand Mosque’s special security force.
Earlier, Barrow and his accompanying delegation arrived in Jeddah, coming from Madinah, where he visited the Prophet’s Mosque and performed prayers there.
Barrow arrived in the Kingdom on Wednesday to inaugurate the new Gambian embassy and ambassador’s residence, in addition to other engagements, the State House of The Gambia said in a statement.
