Saudi Arabia, 10 Arab Countries to Cooperate on Space Program

Pan-Arab body for space program announced. (AFP)
Pan-Arab body for space program announced. (AFP)
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Saudi Arabia, 10 Arab Countries to Cooperate on Space Program

Pan-Arab body for space program announced. (AFP)
Pan-Arab body for space program announced. (AFP)

Eleven Arab states including Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Morocco on Tuesday signed on to the first regional team to cooperate on a space program, the UAE said.

"Today at the Global Space Congress in Abu Dhabi, we attended the signing of a charter to establish the first Arab body for space cooperation, bringing together 11 Arab states," said Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum in comments carried by the government media office.

The pan-Arab team's first project is "a satellite that Arab scientists will work on from here in the UAE", he said, according to AFP.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed, the UAE's vice president and prime minister, vowed in 2017 to send four Emirati astronauts to the International Space Station by 2022.

The UAE announced last month that its first astronaut will blast off on a mission to the station on September 25.

The oil-rich Gulf state has two astronauts in training as it looks to get an ambitious space program aimed at exploring Mars off the ground.

The astronaut program would make the UAE one of only a handful of states in the Middle East to have sent a person into space, as it looks to make good on a pledge to become a global leader in space exploration.

The first Arab in outer space was Saudi Arabia's Sultan bin Salman Al-Saud, who flew on a US shuttle mission in 1985.

Two years later, Syrian air force pilot Muhammed Faris spent a week aboard the Soviet Union's Mir space station.



South Korean President Takes up Golf Again to Forge a Bond with Trump

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives for a news conference at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea, 07 November 2024. (EPA)
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives for a news conference at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea, 07 November 2024. (EPA)
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South Korean President Takes up Golf Again to Forge a Bond with Trump

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives for a news conference at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea, 07 November 2024. (EPA)
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives for a news conference at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea, 07 November 2024. (EPA)

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has dusted off his golf clubs in an attempt to forge a bond with President-elect Donald Trump, an avid lover of the game.

The presidential office said Tuesday that Yoon began practicing the game for the first time in eight years in preparation for a possible round of golf with Trump.

Since his election, Trump’s "America first" approach has raised concerns it could negatively affect the US defense commitment to South Korea and hurt the trade interests of the Northeast Asian country in various ways, including increased tariffs.

Some experts say it’s important to build a close personal friendship with Trump during the transition period before he formally takes office in January.

"Much could depend on whether Yoon is able to strike up positive chemistry with Trump immediately during the transition and foster a close personal friendship to convince him to want to support and advance Seoul’s interests," said Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at the Center for a New American Security in Washington.

Yoon and Trump discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation and agreed to hold an in-person meeting soon during a phone call on Thursday. The South Korean president told reporters later that while things couldn't remain the same as under the Biden administration, "we have been preparing to hedge these risks for a long time."

And apparently, a game of golf may be what's needed.

Local media said Yoon went to a Seoul golf course on Saturday, but the presidential office said it couldn't confirm the reports.

A senior presidential official, speaking on condition of anonymity in a background briefing, said that while he didn’t know how hard Yoon practiced golf, training was necessary as "our president also has to hit a ball properly to get conversations going on" with Trump, who has "outstanding" golf skills.

Yoon isn’t the first world leader to try to use golf to develop relations with Trump.

When he was in office, Japan’s assassinated prime minister, Shinzo Abe, struck up a personal friendship with then-President Trump, on the greens of golf clubs both in Japan and the US. In 2017, Abe said that a round of golf with Trump was a good chance to relax and discuss difficult issues.