Why UAE climate scientists have their heads in the clouds

Why UAE climate scientists have their heads in the clouds
Decades of work and millions of dollars have been ploughed into easing endless drought in the UAE. (AFP)
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Updated 26 February 2025
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Why UAE climate scientists have their heads in the clouds

Why UAE climate scientists have their heads in the clouds
  • $1.5 million three-year project will deploy artificial intelligence to increase annual rainfall

DUBAI: Artificial intelligence and “the cloud” seem to be everywhere these days — now scientists in the UAE are putting them together in an attempt to increase the country’s minuscule 100mm annual rainfall.

A three-year project funded with $1.5 million from the UAE’s rain enhancement program will feed satellite, radar and weather data into an algorithm that predicts where seedable clouds will form in the next six hours. It promises to improve on the current method of cloud-seeding flights directed by human experts studying satellite images.
Cloud seeding, using planes to fire salt or other chemicals into clouds, can increase rainfall by up to 15 percent — but it works only with certain types of puffy, cumulus clouds, and can even suppress rainfall if not done properly.
“You’ve got to do it in the right place at the right time. That’s why we use artificial intelligence,” said Luca Delle Monache, a climate scientist at the University of California San Diego.


Egypt backs ‘pressure on Israel’ but says Gaza actions need approval

Egypt backs ‘pressure on Israel’ but says Gaza actions need approval
Updated 6 sec ago
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Egypt backs ‘pressure on Israel’ but says Gaza actions need approval

Egypt backs ‘pressure on Israel’ but says Gaza actions need approval
CAIRO: Egypt said on Wednesday that it backs efforts to put “pressure on Israel” to lift its blockade on Gaza, but added that any foreign delegations seeking to visit the border area must receive prior approval through official channels.
Egypt “asserts the importance of putting pressure on Israel to end the blockade on the (Gaza) Strip,” the foreign ministry said as hundreds of activists in a Gaza-bound convoy head to the Egyptian border on their way to the besieged Palestinian territory, but added “we will not consider any requests or respond to any invitations submitted outside the framework defined by the regulatory guidelines and the mechanisms followed in this regard.”

Israeli strike kills one in Lebanon’s south

Israeli strike kills one in Lebanon’s south
Updated 8 min 42 sec ago
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Israeli strike kills one in Lebanon’s south

Israeli strike kills one in Lebanon’s south
  • Health ministry says Israeli drone strike hit the town of Beit Lif

BEIRUT: One person was killed on Wednesday in an Israeli strike on a village in southern Lebanon, the health ministry reported, the latest deadly attack despite a November ceasefire.
“The raid carried out by an enemy Israeli drone on the town of Beit Lif, in the Bint Jbeil district, resulted in one martyr and three people injured,” read a statement from the ministry.
The official National News Agency said the strike targeted a house’s courtyard in the town, adding that a missile hit the homeowner’s car.
Israel has regularly bombed its northern neighbor since the November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with militant group Hezbollah including two months of full-blown war.
The agreement required Hezbollah fighters to withdraw north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle all military infrastructure to its south.
It also required Israel to withdraw all of its troops from Lebanon, but it has kept them in five positions it deems “strategic.”


US prepares to order departure of Baghdad embassy staff

US prepares to order departure of Baghdad embassy staff
Updated 28 min 58 sec ago
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US prepares to order departure of Baghdad embassy staff

US prepares to order departure of Baghdad embassy staff
  • State Department prepares to order departure of all nonessential personnel from US Embassy in Baghdad, officials tell AP

WASHINGTON: The State Department is preparing to order the departure of all nonessential personnel from the US Embassy in Baghdad due to the potential for regional unrest, two US officials said Wednesday.
The Baghdad embassy has already been on limited staffing, and the order will not affect a large number of personnel, but the department also is authorizing the departure of nonessential personnel and family members from Bahrain and Kuwait.
That gives them an option on whether to leave the country.
The Pentagon is standing by to support a potential evacuation of US personnel from US Embassy Baghdad, another US official said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to detail plans that have not been made public.


Former Lebanese economy minister arrested on corruption charges

Former Lebanese economy minister arrested on corruption charges
Updated 11 June 2025
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Former Lebanese economy minister arrested on corruption charges

Former Lebanese economy minister arrested on corruption charges
  • Former Economy Minister Amin Salam was detained after three-hour interrogation

BEIRUT: A former Lebanese Cabinet minister has been arrested and charged after an investigation into alleged financial crimes, judicial and security officials told The Associated Press.
Former Economy Minister Amin Salam was detained after a three-hour interrogation about illegal use of ministry funds and use of suspicious contracts. The three judicial officials and one security official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
Lebanon has been trying to reform its battered economy, which for decades has been rife with profiteering.
Salam has been charged with forgery, embezzlement, and misuse of public funds. Local media said it was related to alleged extortion of private insurance companies and using funds from a committee that supervises those companies for his own expenses.
Salam did not directly comment. On Monday, however, he shared a video on social media that denied the reports and asserted that his use of those funds was to increase the committee’s efficacy and transparency.
Salam was economy minister for over three years. He was appointed in 2021 at a time when Lebanon’s economy had plummeted and the country was plagued by severe power outages, fuel shortages and stark food inflation.


Israel urges Egypt to block Gaza-bound activist convoy

Israel urges Egypt to block Gaza-bound activist convoy
Updated 11 June 2025
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Israel urges Egypt to block Gaza-bound activist convoy

Israel urges Egypt to block Gaza-bound activist convoy
  • Pro-Palestinian activist convoy, bound for Gaza, arrived in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Wednesday

JERUSALEM: Israel’s defense minister on Wednesday called on Egypt to block a hundreds-strong pro-Palestinian activist convoy from reaching Gaza, as the group arrived in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.
“I expect the Egyptian authorities to prevent the arrival of jihadist protesters at the Egypt-Israel border and not to allow them to carry out provocations or attempt to enter Gaza — an act that would endanger the safety of (Israeli) soldiers and will not be allowed,” Israel Katz said in a statement.