Day: April 13, 2024

NEW YORK: Humankind must get away from the Cold War concept of a ‘space race’, even as commercial competition hots up to exploit the potential of the cosmos, the head of the UN agency for outer space affairs (UNOOSA) has told UN News

Marking Friday’s International Day of Human Space Flight, when the former Soviet Union’s Yuri Gagarin reached orbit back in 1961, UNOOSA Director Aarti Holla-Maini said that everybody has a role to play in the peaceful exploration of space – ‘it’s not just for the geeks and the nerds who like engineering.

‘Now, we’re really looking at space science and space exploration and looking for the most innovative and pragmatic approaches to that, and that is why we are seeing more commercial companies getting involved.’

She said the private sector allows national space agencies like NASA in the United States, to spread their risk, keep costs down, be bolder in their ambition and increase the chances of success.

The UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space is the birthplace of
all space regulation and treaties, ‘which underpin everything that we see happening in the space economy today’, she said, urging a continuation of a ‘global convening dialogue’ in both the public and private sectors.

She said as space debris increases in the Earth’s orbit and beyond, the UN will bring stakeholders together to discuss potential new guidelines for international oversight.

Source: Emirates News Agency

BRUSSELS: In 2022, Road traffic accidents claimed the lives of 20 653 people in the EU in 2022, marking a 4% increase compared with 2021 (19 917 fatalities), according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. The number of fatalities has been increasing for 2 consecutive years after the unprecedented drop in 2020 (18 833), which was attributed to COVID-19 restrictions affecting passenger transport.

In 2022, there were on average 46 road traffic fatalities per million inhabitants in the EU. Taking into consideration the population of each EU country, the lowest rates of road fatalities in 2022 were registered in Sweden (22 road fatalities per million inhabitants), Denmark (26) and Ireland (31).

Source: Emirates News Agency

ABU DHABI: The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre (SZGMC) hosted the fourth edition of “Jusoor” (Bridges) programme during the holy month of Ramadan as part of its mission to foster cross-cultural communication and promote the spirit of volunteerism.

As part of efforts to bridge the gap between religions and cultures, and to promote harmony, the initiative invites people of various cultures, ethnicities, and beliefs as well as representatives of public and private sectors in the UAE to experience the spirit of Ramadan at the mosque, participate in the Centre’s annual ”Our Fasting Guests programme”, and learn about the mosque’s events and activities during the holy Month. By volunteering to distribute Iftar meals within the mosque, witnessing the firing of the Iftar cannon, and taking part in an array of cultural activities, the participants were introduced to the message and vision of the mosque. The event ended with a group Iftar, where participants gathered around a table in an atmosphere of coexistence an
d fraternity.

Dr. Yousef Al Obaidli, Director-General of the SZGMC), said:”The gatherings organised and supervised by the Centre provide opportunities for cultural and human interaction that goes beyond coexistence to positive interaction, especially in the United Arab Emirates, which embraces different religions and cultures on its land, where people live together in peace, within a harmonious social fabric and under ideal conditions of justice and equality. The experience of the centre, which adopts the visions of late founding father Sheikh Zayed for consolidating the concepts of human communication within a framework of noble values, is a source of inspiration for the world in promoting peace, harmony, and respect for all.”

The centre organised nine sessions of the programme in its fourth season, with more than 394 participants representing 13 embassies in the United Arab Emirates and a number of organisations and institutions. They distributed more than 1,750 Iftar meals at the mosque.

Source: Emir
ates News Agency

ABU DHABI: The Joint Operations Command of the Ministry of Defence announced the implementation of the 33rd airdrop of humanitarian and relief aid as part of the “Birds of Goodness” operation.

Two C17 aircraft belonging to the UAE Air Force and two C295 aircraft belonging to the Egyptian Air Force participated in the airdrop operation.

The airdrop was carried out over inaccessible isolated areas in the northern Gaza Strip via four aircraft carrying 82 tonnes of food and relief aid, bringing the total amount of aid airdrops to 2,107 tonnes since the beginning of the operation.

This brings the total amount of aid sent by the UAE to northern Gaza to over 2,477 tonnes, including both land shipments through the Kerem Shalom crossing and airdrops via ‘Birds of Goodness.’

The “Birds of Goodness” campaign is part of Operation ‘Chivalrous Knight 3’ to support the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Source: Emirates News Agency