African elephants, the planet’s largest land animals, are celebrated for their intelligence, complex social systems, and essential role in their ecosystems. However, they are now facing a severe crisis, as highlighted in a recent comprehensive study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study, which analysed data from 475 sites across 37 countries spanning from 1964 to 2016, reveals alarming population declines: savanna elephant numbers have fallen by an average of 70%, and forest elephants by a staggering 90%. These losses are especially pronounced in northern and eastern Africa due to intense poaching pressures and habitat loss.
Despite some success in conservation efforts within southern Africa, urgent action is needed to protect remaining populations and ensure the survival of these iconic animals, whose ecological role is critical to biodiversity.

African elephant populations are at risk of extinction

A comprehensive study has documented alarming declines in both African savanna and forest elephant populations. Researchers analysed data from 475 sites across 37 countries, covering a period from 1964 to 2016, making it the most thorough assessment of African elephants to date. The findings are troubling:

In total, the two species combined have seen a 77% population reduction across surveyed locations. “A lot of the lost populations won’t come back, and many low-density populations face continued pressures. We likely will lose more populations going forward,” said George Wittemyer, a professor of wildlife conservation at Colorado State University and chair of the scientific board for Save the Elephants, who co-led the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

African elephants population is declining due to poaching and habitat loss

African elephants are primarily threatened by poaching and habitat loss. Poaching for ivory remains a persistent issue, fuelled by demand in China and other parts of Asia. Meanwhile, agricultural expansion has significantly reduced their habitat, affecting their ability to forage and survive.
Forest elephants, which already have smaller populations compared to savanna elephants, have been disproportionately impacted by these pressures, especially in northern and eastern Africa. The study underscores distinct regional differences:

“We have lost a number of elephant populations across many countries, but the northern Sahel region has been particularly hard hit. High pressure and limited protection have culminated in populations being extirpated,” Wittemyer highlighted.

African elephant: Challenges and conservation efforts

Due to differing survey methods and timeframes, the study did not present a continent-wide population total. However, separate conservation estimates suggest the combined population of African elephants was between 415,000 and 540,000 as of 2016, establishing a vital baseline for ongoing conservation efforts.
“The loss of large mammals is a significant ecological issue for Africa and the planet,” said Dave Balfour, a conservation ecologist at Nelson Mandela University.
Despite the alarming trends, southern Africa’s conservation efforts demonstrate that targeted management can make a difference. “We have seen real success in several places across Africa, but particularly in southern Africa, with strong population growth,” Wittemyer noted.

The ecological importance of African elephants around the world

African elephants play a crucial ecological role, maintaining the balance between forests and grasslands and dispersing seeds that support other species’ survival. “While the trends are not good, it’s important to recognize both successes and challenges in conservation,” emphasized Wittemyer, co-leader of the study.
The slightly smaller Asian elephant, the world’s third existing elephant species, faces similar threats from habitat loss and poaching, underscoring the global need for coordinated conservation initiatives.
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Africa’s landmass is gradually splitting due to tectonic shifts that scientists predict could lead to the formation of a new ocean in about 50 million years. This phenomenon reflects Earth’s ancient geological transformations, such as the breakup of Pangea around 230 million years ago.
Fossil evidence, including the prehistoric Cynognathus found in both Africa and South America, supports the idea that these continents were once connected. At the core of this separation lies the East African Rift System (EARS), a vast fault line running through Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia, where the African continent is slowly dividing.
Over the last 25 million years, a rift has widened within the African tectonic plate, creating two distinct plates: the Nubian plate to the west and the Somalian plate to the east. As this division progresses, seawater could eventually flood in, forming a new ocean between these separating landmasses.

Experts weigh in on geological changes in Africa

Geologist David Adede notes that the East African Rift has a rich history of tectonic and volcanic activity. Though surface shifts are limited, deep underground forces create weaknesses that could eventually reach the surface. Researcher Stephen Hicks attributes a significant crack in Kenya’s Rift Valley to soil erosion from recent rainfall, suggesting it may not be directly linked to tectonic activity. Lucía Pérez Díaz, however, acknowledges that the rift’s movements may relate to underlying fault lines, though the precise cause remains under investigation.

The long-term impact on Africa’s landscape

According to National Geographic, Africa’s future could include a new landmass as the Somali plate drifts away from the Nubian plate, potentially creating a landmass similar to Madagascar. Though this transformation will unfold over millions of years, the East African Rift will continue to intrigue geologists, offering a unique glimpse into Earth’s ever-evolving geography.
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Johannesburg — After the world was caught largely unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists warned that lessons must be learned. Now, two more viral outbreaks are giving health officials sleepless nights.

Rwanda is still grappling with its first outbreak of Marburg virus. A cousin to the Ebola virus, Marburg is one of the deadliest viruses known to science, with a fatality rate of about 88%. According to Rwandan Health Minister Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana, there have been 62 cases of Marburg confirmed in Rwanda, with 38 recoveries and 15 deaths.

“Nine people remain in treatment, with most of them improving,” Nsanzimana said during a virtual media briefing on Thursday.

The outbreak was declared on Sept. 27, after health officials realized the treatment they were administering to people with suspected malaria cases wasn’t working. By then, some health officials had been infected, Nsanzimana said.

Nsanzimana said Thursday that Rwanda’s Marburg response had improved. 

“We are seeing a positive trend. This is the 3rd week new infections have reduced by more than 50% compared to the first two weeks, and in consecutive days this week we have had no new detections,” he said, adding: “In the past seven days, people recovering from treatment centers are now outnumbering people who die from the virus.” 

There are currently no licensed vaccines or treatments for Marburg, but several vaccines are in early-stage clinical trials. The Washington D.C.-based, non-profit Sabin Vaccine Institute has delivered 1,800 doses of its single-dose clinical trial vaccine to Rwanda.  

To date, 856 people in high-risk groups, including close contacts of known cases and health care workers, have been given one of those doses.

U.S. enhanced screening measures take effect

Under new measures announced last week, all travelers due to arrive in the U.S. from Oct. 15 onward, within 21 days of being in Rwanda, must ensure they fly directly into New York’s John F. Kennedy, Chicago O’Hare or Washington-Dulles International airports for immediate enhanced health screening.

“The risk of Marburg in the U.S. remains low, however, these measures are being taken out of an abundance of caution given the ongoing outbreak in Rwanda,” CDC spokesperson David Daigle said as the measures were announced on Oct. 7.

Passengers with recent travel history to Rwanda will have their temperatures checked upon arrival at one of the three designated U.S. airports and should expect to answer questions about symptoms and potential exposure to the virus in areas set aside for the screenings. 

The CDC said passengers who clear the checks but then experience fever, chills, headaches or other symptoms commonly associated with the disease should immediately isolate themselves from others and seek medical attention, ideally advising the health care facility in advance of their circumstances.

The Rwandan Health Minister said teams were working to trace the routes of infection in the country and that health workers had implemented “testing for all travelers both at Kigali International Airport and all land borders to make sure we protect everyone in Rwanda and beyond, as this virus has to be contained quickly to avoid going out of control.”

Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever is spread through contact with body fluids — saliva, semen, urine and sweat. The fact that it requires that close proximity to spread does make it easier to contain once detected. The virus is not airborne. Initially, it presents like many other viruses, with common symptoms including headache and fever. If untreated, that can turn into nausea, diarrhea and bleeding from their gums, nose and other orifices.

The Marburg and Ebola viruses are typically found in fruit bats. They can be passed on to humans by a bite, or by people eating infected bats.

Nsanzimana said once Rwanda had cleared its current cases and seen no deaths for several days, it would be able to take a step back and help with research to avoid future outbreaks. 

“We won’t drop our weapons as this is an alert,” he said. “What happened with Marburg in Rwanda, can happen anytime to anywhere in the world.”

Why deadly outbreaks are becoming more common

CBS News traveled with researchers in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo just before the COVID outbreak, and the scientists said deforestation and climate change were increasing the amount of human-to-animal contact, which was in turn increasing the number of deadly virus outbreaks in human populations.  

Marburg and Ebola used to pop up rarely, with outbreaks occurring about once per decade. Last year alone, Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania both dealt with Marburg outbreaks, as well as Ghana in 2022.

A Marburg outbreak can be declared over if there are no new cases reported for a period of at least 21 days — the incubation period of the virus, according to Africa CDC Director General Dr. Jean Kaseya.

In addition to the vaccines undergoing trials, Rwandan doctors have also been testing the antiviral drug Remdesivir, to see if it works as a treatment for Marburg. 

Mpox continues spreading in Africa

While Marburg is certainly the most concerning virus facing African health officials at the moment, another disease has continued spreading quietly on the continent.

Over the past week, both Zambia and Zimbabwe reported their first cases of the mpox virus, previously known as monkeypox. 

The World Health Organization declared mpox a global public health emergency in August for the second time in two years.

Health officials in the 17 countries where cases had already been confirmed are increasingly concerned about a new variant called Clade 1b, which is believed to spread more easily through close personal contact than previous strains.

“Mpox is going out of control,” Kaseya of the Africa CDC warned Thursday. “If we don’t act, a lot more than the current 1,100 people who have died, will be dead.”

So far, more than 900 African people, mainly children, have died of mpox this year, with the Democratic Republic of Congo being the current epicenter of the outbreak. Mpox has plagued Congo and its neighboring countries for several decades, but Kaseye said the overall caseload was up 380% compared to 2023, “which is huge.”

Scientists say the precipitous rise in cases is due largely to the new variant. That strain has not yet appeared in the U.S., but experts say it’s likely just a matter of time.

Kaseya said the Africa CDC needed roughly 10 million doses and $600 million to contain the outbreak, but African officials say a surge in the price of mpox vaccine and hoarding by rich, developed nations has delayed the response and allowed the virus to spread.  

“We are still talking about pledges made [by the international community], and we hope to finalize pledges into concrete money, tools and vaccines for our countries,” Kaseya said during the briefing with Nsanzimana and other officials.

Health officials in Congo also delayed asking for help as the vaccine had not undergone African trials or been endorsed, at the time, by the WHO. 

Kaseya said there were 42,238 reported mpox cases across the continent, 8,113 of which had been confirmed. Over the last week alone, 50 deaths and 3,051 new cases were reported.

Mpox is related to smallpox, and long-approved smallpox vaccines could have provided some protection to children, had their administration not been halted after the WHO deemed the disease to no longer pose a public health threat in the late 1970s. 

DR Congo and other countries stopped administering the vaccines early in the following decade. Scientists believe the lack of built up immunity is one of the main reasons the current outbreak is hitting children so hard, with the most cases and the highest numbers of deaths.

With Zambia and Zimbabwe reporting their first cases in recent days, 18 countries now have mpox outbreaks. 

Uganda reported two new cases, meanwhile, in a prison where staff initially thought inmates had chicken pox, until tests confirmed it was mpox. That has made all 1,874 inmates at the facility possible close contacts.

“Prisons, and IDP [internally displaced people] camps in eastern DRC, present a major challenge”, said Kaseya, warning that “countries need a vaccination plan immediately.”

DR Congo and Rwanda have already begun administering vaccines, and Nigeria plans to start on October 22.

“We don’t want to see all African countries being affected,” said Kaseya, calling on the world to “intensify its efforts.”

Editor’s Note: A version of this story appears in today’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, CNN’s three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Sign up here.

Abu Dhabi, UAE
CNN
 — 

It’s a partnership that’s been hailed as “history in the making.”

One of the world’s most famous soccer stars landed in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Tuesday, where Cristiano Ronaldo was received in an extravagant ceremony, with excited children sporting his new club’s yellow and blue jerseys.

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia’s success in luring the five-time Ballon d’Or winner on a two-year contract with the kingdom’s Al Nassr FC is the Gulf monarchy’s latest step in realizing its sporting ambitions – seemingly at any cost.

According to Saudi state-owned media, Ronaldo will earn an estimated $200 million a year with Al Nassr, making him the world’s highest-paid soccer player.

Shortly after the 37-year-old’s signing with Al Nassr, the club’s Instagram page gained over 5.3 million new followers. Its official website was inaccessible after exceeding its bandwidth limit due to the sudden surge in traffic, and the hashtag #HalaRonaldo – Hello, Ronaldo in Arabic – was trending for days across the Middle East on Twitter.

Analysts say that his recruitment in Saudi Arabia is part of a wider effort by the kingdom to diversify its sources of revenue and become a serious player in the international sporting scene.

It is also seen as a move by the kingdom to shore up its image after it was tarnished by the 2018 dismemberment and killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi agents, and a devastating war it started in Yemen in 2015.

Critics have decried the kingdom for “sportswashing,” an attempt to burnish one’s reputation through sport.

“I think Saudi Arabia has recognized a couple of years ago that to be a powerful nation internationally, you cannot just rely on hard power,” Danyel Reiche, a visiting research fellow and associate professor at Georgetown University Qatar, told CNN.

“You also need to invest in soft power, and the case of Qatar shows that this can work pretty well,” he said, adding that Saudi Arabia is following in the Qatari approach with sport, but with a delay of around 25 years.

Neighboring Qatar has also faced immense criticism since it won the bid to hosting last year’s FIFA World Cup in 2010.

Despite the smaller Gulf state facing similar accusations of “sportswashing,” the tournament has largely been viewed as a success, not least in exposing the world to a different view of the Middle East, thanks in part to Morocco’s success in reaching the semifinals and Saudi Arabia beating eventual World Cup champion Argentina in their opening group game.

Gulf nations engage in fierce competition to become the region’s premier entertainment and sporting hubs. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain, in close proximity to each other, each have their own Formula One racing event. But their competition hasn’t been confined to the region. Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have also bought trophy European soccer teams.

Riyadh is playing catchup with neighbors who have long realized the importance of investing in sports, said Simon Chadwick, professor of sport and geopolitical economy at SKEMA Business School in Lille, France, especially as its main source of income – oil – is being gradually shunned.

“This is part of an ongoing attempt to create more resilient economies that are more broadly based upon industries other than those that are derived from oil and gas,” Chadwick told CNN.

Ronaldo’s new club Al Nassr is backed by Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC), a subsidiary of the kingdom’s wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has played a pivotal role in Saudi Arabia’s diversification plans.

“It is also a sign of interconnectedness, of globalization and of opening up to the rest of the world,” said Georgetown University’s Reiche.

The move is part of “several recent high profile moves in the sports world, including hosting the Andy Ruiz Jr. and Anthony Joshua world heavywight boxing championship bout in 2019, and launching the LIV Golf championship,” said Omar Al-Ubaydli, director of research at the Bahrain-based Derasat think tank. “It is a significant piece of a large puzzle that represents their economic restructuring.”

The kingdom has been on a path to not only diversify its economy, but also shift its image amid a barrage of criticism over its human rights record and treatment of women. Saudi Arabia is today hosting everything from desert raves to teaming up with renowned soccer players. Argentina’s Lionel Messi last year signed a lucrative promotional deal with the kingdom.

Hailed as the world’s greatest player, 35-year-old Messi ended this year’s World Cup tournament in Qatar with his team’s win over France, making his ambassadorship of even greater value to the kingdom.

The acquisition of such key global figures will also help combat the monarchy’s decades-long reputation of being “secretive” and “ultra-conservative,” James Dorsey, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore and an expert on soccer in the Middle East, told CNN’s Eleni Giokos on Wednesday.

Al-Ubaydli said that the kingdom wants to use high profile international sports “as a vehicle for advertising to the world its openness.”

Saudi Arabia bought the English Premier league club Newcastle United in 2021 through a three-party consortium, with PIF being the largest stakeholder. The move proved controversial, as Amnesty International and other human rights defenders worried it would overshadow the kingdom’s human rights violations.

Ronaldo’s work with Saudi Arabia is already being criticized by rights groups who are urging the soccer player to “draw attention to human rights issues” in Saudi Arabia.

“Saudi Arabia has an image problem,” especially since Khashoggi’s killing, says Reiche. But the kingdom’s recent investments in sports and entertainment are “not about sportswashing but about developing the country, social change and opening up to the world.”

Saudi Arabia is reportedly weighing a 2030 World Cup bid with Egypt and Greece, but the kingdom’s tourism ministry noted in November that it has not yet submitted an official bid. Chadwick believes that Ronaldo’s deal with Al Nassr, however, may help boost the kingdom’s bid should it choose it pursue it.

Another way Saudi Arabia may benefit from Ronaldo’s acquisition is that it will be able to improve commercial performance, says Chadwick, especially if this collaboration attracts further international talent.

“It is important to see Ronaldo not just as a geopolitical instrument,” said Chadwick, “There is still a commercial component to him and to the purpose he is expected to serve in Saudi Arabia.”

What Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabia shows is that the kingdom aspires “to be seen as being the best” and that it wants to be perceived as a “contender and a legitimate member of the international football community,” said Chadwick.

UAE FM meets Syria’s Assad in Damascus in further sign of thawing ties

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad received the United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed in Damascus on Wednesday in the latest sign of thawing relations between Assad and the Gulf state. The meeting addressed developments in Syria and the wider Middle East, according to UAE state news agency WAM.

Turkish President Erdogan says he could meet with Assad

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech on Thursday that he could meet the Syrian leader “to establish peace.”

Iran shuts down French cultural center over Charlie Hebdo’s Khamenei cartoons

Iran announced on Thursday it had ended the activities of a Tehran-based French research institute, in reaction to cartoons mocking Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and fellow Shia Muslim clerics published by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo this week.

The prized legacy of iconic Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum re-emerged this year when Rolling Stone magazine featured her in its “200 Greatest Singers of All Time.”

Ranking 61st, Umm Kulthum was the only Arab artist to make it to the list, with the magazine saying that she “has no real equivalent among singers in the West.”

Born in a small village northeast of the Egyptian capital Cairo, Umm Kulthum rose to unmatched fame as she came to represent “the soul of the pan-Arab world,” the music magazine said.

“Her potent contralto, which could blur gender in its lower register, conveyed breathtaking emotional range in complex songs that, across theme and wildly-ornamented variations, could easily last an hour, as she worked crowds like a fiery preacher,” it wrote.

Nicknamed “the lady of Arab singing,” her music featured both classical Arabic poetry as well as colloquial songs still adored by younger generations. Her most famous pieces include “Inta Uumri” (you are my life), “Alf Leila Weileila” (a thousand and one nights), “Amal Hayati” (hope of my life) and “Daret al-Ayyam” (the days have come around). Some of her songs have been remixed to modern beats that have made their way to Middle Eastern nightclubs.

The singer remains an unmatched voice across the Arab World and her music can still be heard in many traditional coffee shops in Old Cairo’s neighborhoods and other parts of the Arab world.

Umm Kulthum’s death in 1975 brought millions of mourners to the streets of Cairo.

By Nadeen Ebrahim

CNN
 — 

Brad Binder had a front row seat for one of the most terrifying crashes motorsport has ever seen at this weekend’s Austrian MotoGP.

The South African was right behind Johann Zarco’s Ducati when it collided with Franco Morbidelli’s Yamaha with the riders racing at full throttle. Zarco and Morbidelli were sent flying, while their bikes carried on, becoming potentially lethal projectiles.

That both motorcycles missed hitting Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales was as miraculous as it was extraordinary. Rossi later admitted that the “saint of motorcyclists” must have been watching over him and his teammate.

“I think the luckiest guy in the world right now is Valentino Rossi,” Binder told CNN Sport. The 25-year-old KTM rider shudders when considering what might have happened.

“Honestly I prefer not to even think about,” he admits. “You know the bikes are probably still going at more than 200 kph, and a bike weighing in at 185kgs flying at close to 200 kph, if that hits somebody, I think we all know how that might end.”

Remarkably both Zarco and Morbidelli were able to walk away from the incident, though the Ducati rider has since told L’Equipe that he will undergo surgery for a fractured wrist later this week.

Binder says the risks of racing are always there.

“It’s a danger that everybody knows, that we really just try to keep in the back of our minds and not think about. Unfortunately, the only way to do this job is to approach things in that way. If you’re worried about the risks and the things that could happen, I don’t think you could ever do this job for a living.”

READ: Maverick Vinales – Top Gun by name, top rider by nature

Binder finished fourth after the red-flagged race eventually restarted, an impressive achievement from 17th on the grid. It capped the end of a rollercoaster week for the man born in Potchefstroom, in South Africa’s North West province.

Just seven days earlier, Binder became the first ever South African to win a premier class race, at the Czech Republic GP in Brno, riding in only his third MotoGP.

The victory was also KTM’s first ever MotoGP victory, and Binder was the first rookie to win a race since Marc Marquez’s maiden win at the GP of the Americas in 2013.

“It’s been absolutely fantastic,” he says. “I don’t think we quite expected it so soon, especially in only my third grand prix. It was honestly a dream come true, something that you work towards getting right your entire career as a motorcycle racer.”

READ: The power behind Marquez’s MotoGP throne

Rugby and cricket

Binder and his family moved to Krugersdorp, just outside Johannesburg, when he was 10 years old. He admits that motorsport is not something typically associated with South Africa.

“For sure, when you think of sport and South Africa you think of rugby and cricket or something like that,” he said.

“When I was younger and I started racing in South Africa it was a lot more busy, a lot of racing was going on there and a lot of support, but things died off a bit, but it is slowly coming back.”

The rookie’s success has been well-received at home.

“It’s really cool, because the news really blew up at home,” he says. “I must say, South Africans are always fantastic at backing anyone in sports, and especially their own, so it’s been great to see all the support I’ve had.”

READ: Will 2020 be Rossi’s final season in MotoGP?

Covid-19 has presented an extra challenge for Binder, and his younger brother Darryn, who competes in the Moto3 class.

“It’s really difficult at the moment with South Africa’s borders being closed,” Binder explains.

“It’s nearly impossible for us to go home. After this weekend’s race we have two weeks off and it would have been great to have shot home and caught up with friends and family for a week and come back. But unfortunately, the way things are at the moment, we’ll just be staying here.”

He admits to being a little homesick.

“South Africa in general is an amazing place, for sure. The main thing about South Africa, I don’t really know how to explain it, it’s just home, you know? It’s that place that I go to and I know exactly how everything works.

“It’s just amazing to go back and go to the places where I grew up and see all your friends and stuff, the stuff I’ve been doing my whole life. It’s all those things. I hope everything gets back to normal soon.”

Life on the road is, however, nothing new for the Binder brothers.

“We’ve both been spending most of our time in Europe and doing this together since 2014,” he says.

The older Binder has been racing in Europe since 2011, winning the Moto3 title in 2016, and finishing a close second to Alex Marquez in last season’s Moto2 championship.

When not competing, he is often found honing his skills in Spain.

“The good thing about Spain is that there are a lot of different tracks and it’s really good for training,” he added.

“The weather’s also good. Spain is always a place I try to go back to if I can’t go home.”

READ: Marc and Alex Marquez united in MotoGP

In spite of his nine years’ racing experience, Binder admits the step up to MotoGP was daunting.

“A MotoGP bike is a completely different beast to a Moto2 bike, you have more than double the horsepower and the bike’s actually even lighter, so it’s really tough to get your head around it at the beginning. Each time I get on the bike I feel more and more comfortable,” he said.

This year’s KTM looks to be a formidable package, and a serious challenger to the other factory teams. The arrival of Dani Pedrosa, Marc Marquez’s former Honda teammate, as a test rider is widely credited with turning the team into contenders.

“I actually had a ride on the 2019 bike at the end of last year,” Binder says. “When I got on the 2020 bike in Malaysia you could feel it was a huge step forward, much, much better and much easier to ride too. KTM have been working flat out, Dani has been working incredibly too.”

Ominously for the rest of the field, Binder sees that upward trajectory continuing.

“It’s awesome to see these huge steps forward, and in general I think there’s more to come,” he added.

For now, the exiled Binder is focused on building on his early success in this strangest of MotoGP seasons.

A return visit home would definitely be welcome, but he admits he does keep a little taste of South Africa with him.

“I try to keep a bit of biltong on me – but it’s not always easy to find!”