Category: General

ABU DHABI, General Secretariat of Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation (KIDPAI) has announced the winners of the seventh edition of “Date Palm International Poetry” competition, which is held under the patronage of Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence and Chairman of the Award’s Board of Trustees.

In the first category (Official Arabic), the first place went to Ashraf Mohamed Abdel Aziz Mohamed. Hawraa Ali Yousef Al-Hamili won the second place and Reem Yassin Qaziz the third place.

The second Category’s (Nabatti) first-place winner is Youssef Obaid Khamis Al Falasi. Saleh Awad Al-Nabaa and Saleh bin Ali Al-Hatemi won the second and the third places, respectively.

About 716 poets from 17 Arab countries participated in the competition, who wrote their poems in the official Arabic language and the Nabati tradition, expressing their love for the date palm tree.

Dr. Abdelouahhab Zaid, Award’s Secretary-General, announced the winners in a press statement after receiving the results from the jury specialising in Nabati poetry and literary criticism.

The Secretary-General said that the competition aims to use Nabati poetry as an important medium to develop public awareness of date palm trees’ importance in heritage, agriculture, food and economy. This also helps promote the culture related to the date palm. The competition may also enrich the Arab library and the poetry scene with a distinctive quality of poems on date palm tree.

Source: Emirates News Agency

ABU DHABI, CNN will go live from its new state-of-the-art broadcast facility in Abu Dhabi on Monday, marking a new chapter in the network’s commitment to the Middle East.

Situated in twofour54’s Yas Creative Hub, the new CNN bureau increases the scale and scope of its operation in the UAE. As one of the network’s key international production hubs, alongside Atlanta, New York, London, and Hong Kong, it also marks the latest of several major investments in technology and editorial production for CNN.

Mike McCarthy, EVP and General Manager of CNN International, commented, “CNN Abu Dhabi is a vital part of our global news-gathering and programming operation. This new investment underscores that importance, and we are excited to share what it will bring to our audiences worldwide.”

The new multi-million-dollar Abu Dhabi hub incorporates the latest broadcast technology. Its 80 square metre studio, which will be home to CNN International’s flagship current affairs programme, Connect the World with Becky Anderson, incorporates 10 million pixels of video wall and a suite of fully robotic cameras.

The facility also has four dedicated craft edit suites and utilises hybrid digital and IP video/audio workflows to enable the highest quality, fully integrated production.

Becky Anderson, Anchor and Managing Editor of CNN Abu Dhabi, said, “This new facility really supercharges our operation in Abu Dhabi. Everything we have built here enhances our ability to tell stories from this region and beyond, from the state-of-the-art studio and production facilities, to the workspace itself, which is geared towards collaborative, multi-platform content creation. We’re also delighted to be part of the new creative community developing here in the Yas Creative Hub.”

Abu Dhabi has been a key hub in CNN’s global operation since 2009 when the network first opened its bureau in the Emirate at twofour54’s previous campus. It is also home to CNN Academy Abu Dhabi, which recently welcomed its second cohort of academicians.

Source: Emirates News Agency

BEIJING, A 5.1-magnitude earthquake jolted Wensu County of Aksu Prefecture in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region at 7:58 am Monday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre (CENC).

The epicentre, with a depth of 10 km, was monitored at 41.87 degrees north latitude and 79.85 degrees east longitude, reported state news agency (Xinhua).

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), in collaboration with international partners, has announced a new launch date for UAE Mission 2, the longest space mission in Arab history.

The next available launch attempt will be made on Thursday, 2nd March, at 09:34 local time, pending the resolution of the technical issue that prevented today’s launch, according to MBRSC.

Due to a ground systems issue, respective mission teams unanimously agreed to investigate the issue that prevented data from confirming a full load of the ignition source for the Falcon 9 rocket.

A media teleconference prior to the next launch attempt will be arranged, and more details will be provided as available.

Source: Emirates News Agency

GENEVA, The United Arab Emirates is participating in the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council, which started today and will continue until 4th April. The head of the UAE delegation, Ahmed Abdul Rahman Al-Jarman, Permanent Representative of the UAE to the United Nations and other international organisations in Geneva, will deliver a statement in the session attended by heads of government and ministers of various countries.

In this statement, Al-Jarman will highlight key UAE achievements and the prominent role the country plays in human rights globally.

Al-Jarman will hold meetings with heads of delegations to exchange views on common issues. The UAE will also participate in panel discussions organised during the session and will deliver statements highlighting the country’s efforts to promote human rights, including the rights of children and people of determination, freedom of religion, and environmental protection.

Ahead of his participation, Al-Jarman stated that over the years, the UAE has enacted a series of laws and regulations, which enshrine fundamental rights that provide fair treatment of all its citizens and residents, particularly women, children, workers and people of determination, as outlined in the UAE Constitution.

He also noted that the UAE is a party to many international human rights conventions, and is steadfast in working closely with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in order to strengthen and protect human rights globally.

The Permanent Mission of the UAE in Geneva, in cooperation with the Office of the UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change, will organise a briefing on COP28 UAE, which will be held in Dubai in November.

Moreover, Al-Jarman will inaugurate an art exhibition on environmental diversity in the UAE at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva. The event will be attended by delegations and UN officials.

Source: Emirates News Agency