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The photographs in this post were taken by The Aviationist’s contributor Tony Lovelock at Cambridge airport on Jul. 5 and 7, 2017. They show one of the two Bombardier Global Express 6000 aircraft reportedly destined to UAE and being modified by Marshall Group into an ELINT/SIGINT platform, during flight trials flown as “UAE 1326.” As first unveiled by Aviation Week’s Tony Osbourne back in May, the aircraft is probably an advanced electronics and signals intelligence-gathering (elint/sigint) derivative of Bombardier’s Global 6000 business jet: it sports. “A large canoe fairing extends back to the center of the wingbox,” noted Osbourne. “Behind...

A mosque in the capital of the United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi was renamed on Wednesay to “Mariam Umm Eisa” – meaning mother of Jesus in Arabic. The move was aimed at promoting social connections between followers of different religions and strengthen the common characteristics between them, local media reported. The name of the mosque, previously known as “Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Mosque,” was changed by order of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed al-Nahyan to “consolidate bonds of humanity between followers of different religions”. UAE's Minister of State for Tolerance Sheikha Lubna al-Qasimi said the move reflected...

The latest development, in the ongoing Arab state GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) initiative to stem the destabilizing behavior of Qatar, is a list of demands presented to Qatar. If you have followed the regional issues for the past few years you’ll quickly identify how each of the demands cuts to the core of the destabilizing issues.... "Kuwait has given Qatar a list of demands from Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations that includes shutting down Al-Jazeera and cutting diplomatic ties to Iran. That’s according to a list obtained by The Associated Press from one of the countries involved in the...

Abu Dhabi's crown prince ordered the change to 'consolidate bonds of humanity between followers of different religions'A mosque in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital, has been renamed “Mary, Mother of Jesus”. Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Abu Dhabi crown prince and deputy supreme commander of the UAE armed forces, ordered that the mosque be renamed to “consolidate bonds of humanity between followers of different religions.” Mary plays a prominent role in the Christian and Islamic traditions. Reverend Canon Andrew Thompson of St. Andrew’s Church, an Anglican parish near the newly renamed mosque, expressed is gratitude in an...

UAE Embassy: Gulftainer signs $100 million agreement with Port Canaveral UAE-based cargo company Gulftainer signed a 35-year, $100 million agreement to support a new container and cargo terminal at Florida’s Port Canaveral.

This is my 10th year living in Dubai and my 9th Ramadan. I will admit in the beginning I didn’t really understand it. To me, it was simply a month of not being allowed to eat or drink in daylight hours, or dance at night. And ashamedly, I saw it as a month of disruption to normal day-to-day living. It was only in 2012 when I began to work with and befriend a number of Muslim colleagues, I started to gain a deeper understanding of the holy month. Now I appreciate it is a deeply spiritual time of piety, reflection,...

Two Arab countries have pledged to donate $100 million towards a fund designed for women entrepreneurs proposed by the president’s eldest daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump, according to a report. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will contribute $100 million towards the World Bank’s Women Entrepreneurs Fund, which Ivanka proposed, the Wall Street Journal reported. ABC News reported that World Bank president Jim Yong Kim announced the countries’ pledge at a Sunday event on women’s economic empowerment with Ivanka. At the event, Ivanka praised Saudi Arabia for making “progress” as a nation towards empowering women, but she added that...

President Trump’s first foreign trip has brought a big benefit to his daughter's pet project. As Trump traveled the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates pledged $100 million to a fund for women entrepreneurs proposed by Ivanka Trump, according to a report. The Wall Street Journal reported Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. would donate to the Women Entrepreneurs Fund, a program Ivanka Trump pitched to World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim and has discussed with several world leaders. The fund’s money will be controlled by World Bank, not Ivanka, but she continues fundraising for it even...

The National Advisor Bureau, headquartered in Masdar City, Abu-Dhabi, plans to source the massive blocks of ice from Heard Island, around 600 miles (1000 kilometres) off the coast of mainland Antarctica. It will then transport them around 5,500 miles (8,800 km) to Fujairah, one of the seven emirates which make up the UAE. One iceberg could provide enough for one million people over five years, according to the company. And the scheme could begin as early as the start of 2018. The firm's director says they have already travelled the transportation route and used simulators to check the feasibility of...

Terrorist support and Code Pink co-founder Susan "Medea" Benjamin was arrested tonight at the home of Xe founder (formerly Blackwater) Erik Prince, according to a press release posted by Code Pink.Erik Prince was not home, having left the United States for Abu Dhabi. Inexplicably, Benjamin was let in the house according to the press release. When Benjamin revealed the true nature of her visit Mrs. Prince threw her out of the house.CODEPINK cofounder Medea Benjamin and other DC area activists were detained at the home of Blackwater Founder Erik Prince. The group dropped by to deliver a letter urging Prince...

The imam behind the plan to build a mosque near Ground Zero surfaced yesterday far from the controversy -- in Bahrain, where he's on a taxpayer-funded trip to the Middle East to spread good will. Appearing in public for the first time in weeks, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, speaking at a mosque near Bahrain's capital of Manama, said he wants to "Americanize" Islam -- but dodged questions about the uproar over his planned mosque and community center. This is Rauf's fourth US-sponsored trip to the region

A huge range of security exploits, said to be worth over $2m if sold on the black market, have been leaked online.The tools are said to have been created by the US National Security Agency (NSA), and accompanying documents appear to indicate a possible breach of the Swift global banking system.Such a hack could have enabled the US to covertly monitor financial transactions, researchers said.The files were released by Shadow Brokers, a hacking group that has previously leaked malware.If genuine, it represents perhaps the most significant exposure of NSA files since the Edward Snowden leaks in 2013.On Twitter, Mr Snowden...

U.S. security and law-enforcement officials say they have fresh evidence of recent efforts by Iran to evade sanctions and acquire metals from China used in high-tech weaponry, including long-range nuclear missiles. Iran's efforts are detailed in a series of recent emails and letters between Iranian companies and foreign suppliers seen by The Wall Street Journal. Business records show one Iranian company, ABAN Commercial & Industrial Ltd., has contracted through an intermediary for more than 30,000 kilograms (about 66,000 pounds) of tungsten copper -- which can be used in missile guidance systems -- from Advanced Technology & Materials Co. Ltd. of...

he United Arab Emirates arranged a secret meeting in January between Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a Russian close to President Vladi­mir Putin as part of an apparent effort to establish a back-channel line of communication between Moscow and President-elect Donald Trump, according to U.S., European and Arab officials. The meeting took place around Jan. 11 — nine days before Trump’s inauguration — in the Seychelles islands in the Indian Ocean, officials said. Though the full agenda remains unclear, the UAE agreed to broker the meeting in part to explore whether Russia could be persuaded to curtail its relationship with...

An artist's impression of how the proposed asteroid-suspended Analemma Tower would look. The building will be suspended from an asteroid orbiting 50,000kms from the earth A New York-based firm is proposing that Dubai be the site of a futuristic, asteroid-suspended skyscraper that orbits around the world. The speculative Analemma Tower - which is being proposed by the Clouds Architecture Office - is designed to be suspended downward on an asteroid orbiting 50,000km from earth. It would orbit in a figure-eight pattern across the northern and southern hemispheres in a 24-hour cycle each day. A design close-up of the asteroid from...

14-year-old on a mission to change perceptions about young ArabsA 14-year-old Emirati girl’s love for books has led her to write novels, a move she hopes will inspire other young Arabs to work towards reaching their full potential and changing the world’s perception of young Arabs’ capabilities. Aisha Al Naqbi’s first book Blue Moon was published in April last year when she was just 13 and she has just finished the draft for her second book and is well on her way to plotting her third novel. At first glance, Al Naqbi seems like every other teenager but it takes...

The United Kingdom has followed the United States in preventing passengers on flights from some countries in the Middle East and Africa from carrying devices such as laptops and tablets in the cabin. The restrictions affect 14 airlines, six of which are based in the U.K. As in the U.S., the ban covers any electronic devices larger than a typical smartphone.

A Libyan policeman was caught photographing the inside of the US Consulate in Benghazi on the morning of September 11, hours before US Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed in a terror attack there, and worried US consular staff complained to the Libyan Foreign Ministry over the security breach, an Arabic TV station reported on Thursday, quoting from letters found at the consulate after it was attacked. Alaan TV, a channel based in the United Arab Emirates, said the letters also showed that the Americans had been urging the Libyan authorities to provide special security arrangements for Stevens’ visit — including...

A one-minute video shot at the grand opening of the new Trump International Golf Club in Dubai and shared by the Trump Organisation has amassed thousands of likes and several comments on social media. Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, the sons of US president Donald Trump inaugurated the new Trump International Golf Club at the Damac Hills project on Saturday (February 18). The project was announced in 2013. The video shows dignitaries from around the world arriving the red carpet ceremony, and Damac GroupÂ’s chairman, Hussain Sajwani thanking the president for the friendship and partnership with the Trump Organisation....

American President Donald Trump's two eldest sons - Donald Jr. and Eric - were in Dubai on Saturday to mark the official opening of the opulent Trump International Golf Club at a lavish party attended by a veritable "who's who" of Dubai's glitterati. Since January, Donald Jr. and Eric have overseen a trust that includes the Trump Organization's businesses and projects, a move which President Trump said was designed to avoid conflicts of interest while he holds office. The occasion marks their first overseas business trip since their father was inaugurated. During a brief speech made to a crowd of...