Saudi Arabia to send its first female astronaut into space
Rayyanah Barnawi will join the crew of the AX-2 space mission, Axiom Space’s second all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station in the second quarter of 2023.
Middle East
Saudi Arabia hosts its first international football tournament for women
Saudi Arabia launched it’s national women’s football team last year. Last week, Anoud Al Asmari made history by becoming the first Saudi female referee to be accredited by Fifa.
Turkish companies go solar at record pace
More than 300 Turkish companies have applied for approval to install solar panels in the past two weeks alone.
Israel and Jordan agree to team up to save Jordan River
The agreement, struck at COP27 in Egypt, where world leaders are discussing how to mitigate the climate crisis, marks an important, albeit initial, step in cooperation.
Abu Dhabi start-up invents method to produce fresh water from the ocean without electricity
The novel evaporation method produces no waste and can be performed without electricity, and does not generate any carbon emissions or produce toxic by-products like brine.
Bahrain welcomes first solar panel manufacturer
Solar One has already contributed over two megawatts of solar to the country’s energy mix enough to power around 380 US homes.
Kuwait overturns law used to prosecute transgender people
The law had criminalized “imitation of the opposite sex”, giving Kuwaiti authorities free rein to arrest and prosecute people whose appearance did not match the gender on their official identification card.
Israel formally bans LGBTQ+ conversion therapy
While the Health Ministry has advised against conversion therapy for years, no formal prohibition had been issued against the practice until now.
Israel lifts surrogacy ban for same-sex parents
The new law will also grant equal access to surrogate pregnancy for all, including single men and transgender individuals.
Dubai becomes world’s first paperless government, saves over 336 million papers
With the Dubai Paperless Strategy fully implemented, no employee or customer of the Dubai Government will need to print any paper documents or transactions, unless they personally prefer to do so.