DUBAI: The first Arab long-duration astronaut mission is scheduled to launch on Feb. 26, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center has announced.
A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket will carry UAE astronaut and mission specialist Sultan Al-Neyadi, along with two NASA astronauts — mission commander Stephen Bowen and pilot Warren Hoburg — and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.
Key mission information, such as the launch time and launch opportunities, was announced during the NASA Crew-6 mission overview media briefing, Emirates News Agency reported on Thursday.

CAIRO: Egypt’s most renowned archaeologist has announced the discovery of dozens of new finds, including two ancient tombs, at a Pharaonic necropolis just outside Cairo.

Zahi Hawass, a former government minister and director of the excavation, said the finds in Saqqara, close to the pyramids of Giza, dated back to the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of the Old Kingdom, which ran from about 2500-2100 B.C.

LONDON: Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Wednesday met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad in Doha to discuss bilateral relations and prospects for expanding political, economic, and investment cooperation.

“King Abdullah and Sheikh Tamim stressed the importance of maintaining consultation and coordination between the two countries on issues of mutual concern and in service of Arab causes and regional stability and cooperation,” Jordanian state news agency Petra reported, citing a royal court statement.

DUBAI: The UAE has become a global leader in gender balance because of the confidence the country’s leaders have shown in the abilities and potential of women, delegates at the eighth Dubai International Project Management Forum heard on Wednesday.
Mona Ghanem Al-Marri, vice president of the UAE Gender Balance Council, told the forum that the leadership’s vision for the empowerment of women ensures that they are considered equal participants and major contributors to sustainable development efforts in the nation.

RAMALLAH: Israeli forces on Wednesday shot dead a 21-year-old Palestinian in the occupied West Bank, while a boy wounded in clashes at a refugee camp in East Jerusalem died from his injuries.

Aref Lahlouh, from the Jenin refugee camp, was with his mother and brother near the Kedumim settlement, east of Qalqilya, in the northern West Bank, when he was killed. His body was then seized by Israeli troops.

Israel’s media claimed that Lahlouh had been carrying a knife for an attack.