United Arab Emirates
Historic first direct flight between Israel, UAE takes off
A high-ranking American and Israeli delegation took off Monday to Abu Dhabi in the first-ever direct commercial passenger flight to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Palestinians say UAE deal hinders quest for Mideast peace
Israel’s agreement to establish diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates marks a watershed moment in its relations with Arab countries, but the Palestinians say it puts a just resolution of the Middle East conflict even farther out of reach.
UN chief welcomes Israel-UAE agreement
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday welcomed an agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hoping that it will create an opportunity for the leaders of the two countries to establish diplomatic ties.
Indian cricket board invites bids for IPL title sponsorship
India’s Board of Control for Cricket is seeking a new title sponsor for the 2020 Indian Premier League season after the suspension of its five-year agreement with Chinese telecommunications company Vivo.
Indian Premier League set to start next month in UAE
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to be staged in the United Arab Emirates from Sept. 19 to Nov. 10, subject to government approval.
Hope Probe: Arab world’s 1st mission to Mars launched
A United Arab Emirates spacecraft rocketed away Monday on a seven-month journey to Mars, kicking off the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission.
Two previous attempts to launch the probe in the past week had to be called off because of adverse weather.
The liftoff of the Mars orbiter named Amal, or Hope, from Japan marked the start of a rush to fly to Earth’s neighbor that includes attempts by China and the United States, reports AP.
The UAE said its Amal was functioning after launch as it heads toward Mars.
Omran Sharaf, the project director of Emirates Mars Mission, told journalists in Dubai about an hour and a half after the liftoff that the probe was sending signals.
Sharaf said his team now would examine the data, but everything appeared good for now.
Hope is set to reach Mars in February 2021, the year the UAE celebrates 50 years since the country’s formation.
It blasted off from the Tanegashima Space Center on a small southern Japanese island aboard a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' H-IIA rocket, on time at 6:58 a.m. (2158 GMT Sunday) into the blue sky.
Mitsubishi said the probe has been successfully separated from the rocket and is now on its solo journey.
The launch had been delayed for five days because of stormy weather.
A newcomer in space development, the UAE has successfully put three Earth observation satellites into orbit.
Two were developed by South Korea and launched by Russia, and a third — its own — was launched by Japan.
A successful Hope mission to Mars would be a major step for the oil-dependent economy seeking a future in space, coming less than a year after the launch of the first UAE astronaut, Hazzaa Ali Almansoori.
He spent over a week at the International Space Station last fall.
The UAE has set a goal to build a human colony on Mars by 2117.
The Amal spacecraft, along with its launch, cost $200 million, according to Omran Sharaf, the UAE project manager.
Amal, about the size of a small car, carries three instruments to study the upper atmosphere and monitor climate change while circling the red planet for at least two years.
It is set to follow up on NASA’s Maven orbiter sent to Mars in 2014 to study how it went from a warm, wet world that may have harbored microbial life during its first billion years, to the cold, barren place of today.
Hope also plans to send back images of weather changes.
Japan, a U.S. ally, has already long collaborated in defense and space technology.
Two other Mars missions are planned in the coming days by the U.S. and China.
The U.S. plans to send a rover named Perseverance to search for signs of ancient life and collect rock and soil samples for return to Earth. Liftoff is targeted for July 30. China aims to explore Mars with an orbiter and rover to study the planet’s surface, and search for water and ice. This launch is set for around July 23.
Japan has its own Mars mission planned in 2024.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, plans to send a spacecraft to the Martian moon Phobos to collect samples to bring back to Earth in 2029.
Covid-19: US-Bangla brings back 153 Bangladeshis from UAE
A special flight of US-Bangla Airlines on Wednesday brought back 153 Bangladeshi nationals stranded in the United Arab Emirates.
COVID-19: Bangladesh urges UAE to protect Bangladeshi workers’ jobs
Bangladesh has urged the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to take necessary steps so that Bangladeshi workers do not need to return home losing their jobs there amid the coronavirus pandemic.
UAE grows rice in desert
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has witnessed an epoch-making success in growing rice in the desert and is looking forward to reshaping the agriculture of the country as well as of the region.
UAE provides medical aid to Bangladesh in fight against COVID-19
The United Arab Emirates has provided seven metric tonnes of medical supplies to Bangladesh to bolster the country’s efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19.
UAE Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Talal Mohammed AL Marzouqi handed over the medical aid to the Foreign Ministry officials at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Thursday evening.
Officials from the UAE Embassy, Dhaka and Ministry of Foreign Affairs were present.
Earlier, a special flight by Etihad Airways carrying the medical supplies landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 8:30pm, said the UAE Embassy on Friday.