Israel is one week away from sending the Rakia mission into space, with astronaut Eitan Stibbe set to take an unprecedented 35 different experiments to the International Space Station.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Israel to return to space with 35 groundbreaking experiments
Top Israel Police official ignored bleeding man in chance encounter
Asst.-Ch. Jamal Hacrush, head of the police's Saif Branch, was seen in a video stepping over a dying man without offering help and has been put on leave, in yet another scandal linked to the police.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Top Israel Police official ignored bleeding man in chance encounter
Netanyahu rejects plea deal with Mandelblit
Reports have circulated for the past two weeks about developments to the plea deal that would see Netanyahu in ch away from politics.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Netanyahu rejects plea deal with Mandelblit
In move that could delay Lebanon elections, Hariri bows out of political life
Hariri said he was “suspending his work in political life” and urged fellow members of his Future party to leave the political arena..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: In move that could delay Lebanon elections, Hariri bows out of political life
Another ‘large eruption’ detected at Tonga volcano: Monitor
Another “large eruption” has been detected at the Tonga volcano, a Darwin-based monitoring station said Monday, two days after a massive eruption triggered tsunami waves around the Pacific.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The latest eruption was detected at 2210 GMT Sunday, according to an alert by the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre also said it had detected large waves in the area: “This might be from another explosion of Tonga volcano. There are no known earthquakes of significant size to generate this wave.”Read more: Tsunami waves hit Tonga following eruption as New Zealand issues national advisoryAcid rain warning issued to Tongans after volcanic eruptionIndonesia volcano death toll rises to 13
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Another ‘large eruption’ detected at Tonga volcano: Monitor
Scientists struggle to monitor Tonga volcano after massive eruption
Scientists are struggling to monitor an active volcano that erupted off the South Pacific island of Tonga over the weekend, after the explosion destroyed its sea-level crater and drowned its mass, obscuring it from satellites.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The eruption of Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano, which sits on the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, sent tsunami waves across the Pacific Ocean and was heard some 2,300 kilometers (1,430 miles) away in New Zealand.“The concern at the moment is how little information we have and that’s scary,” said Janine Krippner, a New Zealand-based volcanologist with the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program.“When the vent is below water, nothing can tell us what will happen next.”Krippner said on-site instruments were likely destroyed in the eruption and the volcanology community was pooling together the best available data and expertise to review the explosion and predict anticipated future activity.Saturday’s eruption was so powerful that space satellites captured not only huge clouds of ash but also an atmospheric shockwave that radiated out from the volcano at close to the speed of sound.Photographs and videos showed gray ash clouds billowing over the South Pacific and meter-high waves surging onto the coast of Tonga.There are no official reports of injuries or deaths in Tonga yet, but internet and telephone communications are extremely limited and outlying coastal areas remain cut off.Experts said the volcano, which last erupted in 2014, had been puffing away for about a month before rising magma, superheated to around 1,000 degrees Celsius, met with 20-degree seawater on Saturday, causing an instantaneous and massive explosion.The unusual “astounding” speed and force of the eruption indicated a greater force at play than simply magma meeting water, scientists said.As the superheated magma rose quickly and met the cool seawater, so did a huge volume of volcanic gasses, intensifying the explosion, said Raymond Cas, a professor of volcanology at Australia’s Monash University.Some volcanologists are likening the eruption to the 1991 Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines, the second-largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, which killed around 800 people.The Tonga Geological Services agency, which was monitoring the volcano, was unreachable on Monday. Most communications to Tonga have been cut after the main undersea communications cable lost power.Lightning strikesAmerican meteorologist, Chris Vagasky, studied lightning around the volcano and found it increasing to about 30,000 strikes in the days leading up to the eruption. On the day of the eruption, he detected 400,000 lightning events in just three hours, which comes down to 100 lightning events per second.That compared with 8,000 strikes per hour during the Anak Krakatau eruption in 2018, caused part of the crater to collapse into the Sunda Strait and send a tsunami crashing into western Java, which killed hundreds of people.Cas said it is difficult to predict follow-up activity and that the volcano’s vents could continue to release gasses and other material for weeks or months.“It wouldn’t be unusual to get a few more eruptions, though maybe not as big as Saturday,” he said. “Once the volcano is de-gassed, it will settle down.”Read more: Another ‘large eruption’ detected at Tonga volcano: MonitorTsunami waves hit Tonga following eruption as New Zealand issues national advisoryAcid rain warning issued to Tongans after volcanic eruption
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Scientists struggle to monitor Tonga volcano after massive eruption
Taliban stage show of strength with parade after protests
Taliban fighters paraded through a northwest Afghan city in a show of strength at the weekend, days after reinforcements were sent to quell unrest over the detention of a popular commander.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Protests erupted last week in Maymana, capital of Faryab province, after an Uzbek Taliban commander was detained for alleged links to a kidnapping plot.The unrest sparked fears of tensions between Uzbek and Pashtun civilians and Taliban fighters, with unconfirmed reports that members of both ethnic groups had been killed in isolated clashes.“We deployed hundreds of forces from neighboring provinces and the situation is under control now,” Latifullah Hakimi, a senior defense ministry official, told AFP at the weekend.Sunday’s parade included columns of masked fighters clad in matching white shalwar kameez tunics, khaki combat vests, and headscarves inscribed with the Muslim declaration of faith.Dozens more heavily armed fighters in jungle camouflage rode on the back of pick-up trucks and armored vehicles, seized from Afghan government and US forces during the Taliban’s lightning-fast summer takeover.Residents of Maymana lined the route, many stony-faced as they filmed the parade with their phone cameras.“Two days ago the situation was not good because of the demonstration, but now the situation is normal,” said Rohullah, a 20-year-old shopkeeper.“The only problem we have is that people don’t have jobs... but they are very happy with the security.”The show of force comes as Afghanistan’s new rulers struggle to evolve from an insurgency to a governing power in a country on the brink of economic collapse, with the United Nations estimating more than half the population is facing acute hunger.Discipline among the rank and file -- particularly in remote areas -- is becoming a problem, with local commanders ignoring edicts from Kabul or implementing orders to their own whim.Promising a softer rule than their 1996-2001 regime, the Taliban have launched a commission to identify members flouting regulations -- dismissing almost 3,000 people.“We had a military parade in the city to assure the people that we will not let anyone interrupt security,” said Jaweed, a Maymana commander who like many goes by only one name.Read more: Taliban fighters pepper spray women protesters calling for rightsTaliban dismiss 3,000 members for committing abuses in AfghanistanTaliban official meets son of ‘lion of Panjshir’ in Iran
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Taliban stage show of strength with parade after protests
Three dead, six injured in Abu Dhabi tanker fire; Iran-backed Houthis claim attack
Three people were killed and six injured in a fuel tanker explosion in Abu Dhabi, state news agency WAM reported.One Pakistani and two Indian nationals were killed, and six others were wounded with injuries ranging from light to medium, when the incident took place at 10am on Monday, according to WAM and ADNOC.Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said they launched an attack on the United Arab Emirates, Reuters reported on Monday.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The explosion at the Mussafah Fuel Depot and a separate fire at the emirate’s new airport extension were potentially caused by drones, Abu Dhabi police said in a statement carried by the official WAM news agency.Read more: Iran-backed Houthis launch a number of explosive-laden drones from Sanaa: CoalitionThe Houthis plan to announce details about a military operation in the UAE on Monday afternoon, according to a post from a Twitter account linked to the militia’s spokesperson Yahya Saree.A full investigation has been launched into the cause of the fires.An ADNOC spokesperson said the company was “deeply saddened” by the incident and extended its sympathies to the families of those affected, in a press statement released on Monday.The UAE intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015 as part of the Arab Coalition. It scaled down its operations in 2019.A UAE cargo ship, the Rwabee, was hijacked by Houthi forces on the night of January 1.The ship was on its way from Socotra Island in Yemen to the port of Jazan in Saudi Arabia, carrying equipment leased by a Saudi company used in a field hospital on the island, according to the Arab Coalition.The Houthis claimed that the vessel was carrying military equipment.Onboard were seven Indian sailors, an Ethiopian, and Indonesian, a Filipino, and a sailor from Myanmar.With ReutersRead more: UAE calls for immediate release of ship hijacked by HouthisHouthi piracy of ships off Yemen coast was planned by Iran's IRGC: Arab CoalitionUS condemns Houthis’ seizure of UAE flagged vessel: Threatens international trade
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Three dead, six injured in Abu Dhabi tanker fire; Iran-backed Houthis claim attack
Arab Coalition intercepts three drones aimed at Saudi Arabia’s southern region
Three drones aimed at Saudi Arabia’s southern region were intercepted on Monday, an Arab Coalition spokesperson said.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Several explosive-laden drones were launched from Sanaa’s airport in Yemen, the Arab Coalition said in an earlier statement Monday, after the Iran-backed Houthi militia claimed to have attacked the United Arab Emirates.Abu Dhabi police confirmed that two fires had broken out at ADNOC tankers and the new Abu Dhabi International Airport extension, and that a preliminary investigation suggested these were caused by drones.It was not immediately clear whether the drone launch from Sanaa was related to the fires in Abu Dhabi.The Houthis have launched regular attacks on Saudi Arabia since the Kingdom intervened in the Yemeni civil war as part of the Arab Coalition in 2015.Read more: Three dead, six injured in Abu Dhabi tanker fire; Iran-backed Houthis claim attackUAE calls for immediate release of ship hijacked by HouthisHouthi piracy of ships off Yemen coast was planned by Iran's IRGC: Arab Coalition
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Arab Coalition intercepts three drones aimed at Saudi Arabia’s southern region
Qatar joins third edition of Arab Gulf Security drills in Saudi Arabia
The State of Qatar sent Lekhwiya and the Ministry of Interior forces to participate in the annual security force training event..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Qatar joins third edition of Arab Gulf Security drills in Saudi Arabia