Month: February 2022

Britain’s Prince William visited an Abu Dhabi mangrove park at the start of a climate-focused visit to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.

The duke of Cambridge will also learn about efforts to fight the illegal wildlife trade and will tour Dubai’s Expo site on his first official visit to the wealthy Gulf state.

“Excited to be arriving in Dubai,” he tweeted on Wednesday, along with a picture taken from an aircraft window.

William will discuss his Earthshot Prize, which rewards innovative solutions to environmental problems, and his United for Wildlife scheme with UAE officials.

His visit also aims to bolster ties between the two countries after the UAE, a former British protectorate, marked 50 years since its founding in 1971.

The two governments announced in September that the UAE will invest billions into the UK.

The five-year investment worth £10 billion ($13.8 billion, 11.7 billion euros) will focus on technology, infrastructure and climate-focused energy transition.

It was announced following talks in London between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, the UAE’s de facto ruler.

The Johnson government had pledged to boost trade with the rest of the world, including the Middle East, after Britain left the European Union last year.

The two countries’ partnership also encompasses strong military ties. The UAE’s relations with Gulf neighbour Iran are tense, and it has suffered missile attacks from Yemen rebels in recent weeks.

Source: National News Agency

ABU DHABI, The UAE Space Agency, Israeli Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology and the Israel Space Agency are inviting universities and research institutes in the UAE and Israel to submit joint research proposals based on data collected from the Israeli Vegetation and Environment Monitoring New Micro Satellite (VENµS), which monitors the environment and vegetation on earth.

This joint call for proposals is an outcome of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the governments of UAE and Israel in October 2021, in Dubai.

The proposals will form part of the Environment Monitoring Joint Research Project, an earth observation programme that collects data using space-based remote sensing, which plays a crucial part in valuable scientific research about our planet. Using various sensors, the method enables monitoring and exploration of different phenomena and fosters better water resources monitoring, precision agriculture, vegetation exploration, land mapping and more.

The selected research project, which will receive $200,000 of funding from the UAE Space Agency and Israel Space Agency, will leverage big data analytics, informatics, and related techniques to expand humanity’s collective scientific knowledge about earth and how we can live more sustainably. Successful proposals will be selected by a joint UAE-Israel committee, who will choose one project to be funded.

“Global collaboration is key to leveraging space to protect our planet. By partnering alongside other leading nations in the space sector, we are contributing to expanding the global base of scientific knowledge to help humanity develop solutions to its greatest challenges,” said Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technology and Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency.

“On the occasion of UAE Innovation Month 2022, we draw upon homegrown talent, by inviting local researchers to submit joint project proposals. In doing so, we are contributing to a more robust space economy and driving even greater collaboration in the space sector. We are also supporting global effort to leverage science and technology to solve environmental and climate challenges.”

Orit Farkash-Hacohen, Israel’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, said, “The important space cooperation between Israel and the UAE shows how technology connects nations. The VENµS satellite is helping find solutions to deal with climate change.?The joint research will help advance shared issues between the UAE and Israel, including those in the field of agri-tech, climate change and others. ?I would like to express my gratitude to Minister Al Amiri for the cooperation and shared vision. Governments sign agreements, but it is the people who make the peace. The cooperation which gets underway today is another proof of that.”

The proposals must be based on data from the VENµS satellite, Environment Monitoring Joint Research Project, a joint programme between the Israel Space Agency and CNES, the French Space Agency, monitoring vegetation and the environment on earth from a micro satellite. Proposals must be in the field of earth observation with focus on agriculture and water research.

Source: Emirates News Agency

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan denounced an attempted drone attack Thursday by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels at Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport and said global allies will hold the rebels accountable.

Twelve people were injured at the airport by shrapnel from a drone intercepted by air defenses on Thursday, according to the Saudi-led coalition that has been battling the rebels since early 2015, after the group ousted Yemen’s globally recognized government from power.

Hours later, the rebels claimed responsibility for the attack.

“We will work with our Saudi and international partners to hold them accountable,” Sullivan said in a statement released by the White House. “As the President told His Majesty King Salman yesterday, we are committed to supporting Saudi Arabia in the defense of its people and territory from these attacks.”

U.S. General Frank McKenzie, head of the U.S. Central Command overseeing American forces in the Middle East, has been in the United Arab Emirates helping the country strengthen its defenses after being targeted with a series of missile and drone attacks by the rebels.

Speaking from the UAE earlier this week, McKenzie said battlefield setbacks in Yemen by the rebels may have sparked recent attacks on UAE’s capital, Abu Dhabi, where a military base also hosts U.S. troops.

The war has pit Houthis against government forces supported by Saudi Arabia and an Arab coalition, including the UAE. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis, triggering one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Source: Voice of America