Palestine top diplomat slams Biden's 'weak' response to Israeli atrocities

Riad Malki criticises Biden's administration for its vague stance on Jewish settlements, Israeli military raids, and ongoing abuses by the Israeli occupation.



AA

Malki says the Biden administration has been mealy-mouthed about the expansion of Jewish settlements, the escalation of Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank. / Photo: AA

The Palestinian foreign minister has attacked the Biden administration as weak and passive in the Middle East, as violence between Israel and the Palestinians surges to its highest levels in nearly two decades.

“I'm frustrated,” Riad Malki told members of the Foreign Press Association, an organisation representing international media outlets in Israel and the Palestinian territories. “It seemed that (Biden) wanted to change all policies Trump has taken, but not when it comes to Palestine.”

Pressured by Israel's far-right government and running out of money, the Palestinian Authority is confronting what analysts say could be its greatest threat to its existence.

Malki said the Biden administration has been mealy-mouthed about the expansion of Jewish settlements, the escalation of Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank that have killed a growing number of Palestinians and the daily abuses of the open-ended Israeli occupation.


He also lashed out at Biden's failure to to reverse several measures taken by the Trump administration that Palestinians saw as undermining their quest for statehood.


“We have a weak (US) administration when it comes to Palestine,” he said.

“We re-engaged with the administration hoping that they would have the strength and the courage to move forward,” Malki said. “They did not.”

Malki acknowledged he had no hope for long-stalled peace talks to resume under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s far-right coalition, which includes hardline Jewish settler leaders openly hostile to the Palestinians.

Involving China

In the absence of American attempts to play peacemaker in the region, the Palestinians have considered involving China as an alternative diplomatic power on the world stage, he said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Beijing earlier this summer to discuss the pursuit of a two-state solution to the conflict.

“If peace talks happen in the future, which I doubt, why not include China?” Malki said. “China is giving signals they want to help.”

Meanwhile, the Biden administration is pushing for the normalisation of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, dispatching his national security adviser to the kingdom last week for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The opening of diplomatic relations between Israel and other Gulf Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, in 2020 enraged Palestinian leaders and put them on the defensive politically.

Malki expressed hope that Saudi Arabia wouldn't follow suit in brokering a deal that would boost Israel’s standing in unprecedented ways.

“I hope that the Saudis ... will not yield to any kind of pressure or intimidation coming from the Biden administration," he said.

Israelis are protesting for democracy but Palestinians say occupation ignored




By — Tia Goldenberg, Associated Press

World Aug 3, 2023 11:10 AM EDT


JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel is being rocked by a wave of mass protests calling for the country’s democracy to be upheld. But the pro-democracy movement lacks any clear message of opposition to Israel’s open-ended military rule over millions of Palestinians.

This contradiction reflects a widely held belief among Jewish Israelis that the conflict with the Palestinians is both intractable and somehow separate from Israel’s internal strife.

Critics of the protest movement, including Palestinians, say this is a significant blind spot and that such selective advocacy of democratic ideals shows how disconnected Israelis are from the harsh reality of those living under Israel’s occupation.

READ MORE: Israel’s full high court to hear petitions against judiciary law in September

“It’s so ironic that they’re talking and protesting for democracy while at the same time it’s been a dictatorship for Palestinians for 75 years,” said Diana Buttu, a Palestinian commentator. “They’re afraid that their own privileges and rights are going to somehow be affected, but they won’t make the connection” with the occupation.

The protesters are demonstrating against the drive of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to weaken the judiciary by limiting judicial oversight on official decision-making and legislation.

The protest movement says its limited message against the judicial overhaul is holding together one of the largest and most sustained protest movements Israel has ever seen, bringing tens of thousands of people to the streets for the last 30 weeks.

Netanyahu’s government, made up of ultranationalist and ultra-religious parties with close ties to the West Bank settler movement, says the overhaul will restore power to elected lawmakers and rein in what it says is an overly interventionist judicial system.

Critics see the legislative push, especially because it’s driven by far-right and conservative religious parties, as an assault on Israel’s democratic fundamentals and its weak system of checks and balances. They say it will open the door to serious infringements on personal liberties and the rights of women, the LGBTQ+ community and minorities that will set Israel on a path toward autocracy.

The protesters come from a wide swath of Israeli society. They chant “democracy or rebellion!” carry signs reading “Israel will remain a democracy,” and have unfurled a giant copy of the country’s declaration of independence, which serves as an unofficial bill of rights, at various events.

But largely missing from the raucous protests is any meaningful reference to Israel’s 56-year occupation of lands the Palestinians seek for their future state. A small contingent of activists waving Palestinian flags have taken part, but remain mostly on the fringe.

In some cases, they have even been ostracized by organizers who feared that mentioning the occupation would somehow undercut the protest movement. Israel’s Palestinian citizens, who make up a fifth of the population, have sat out the protests in part because the demonstrations are ignoring the occupation.

“The protest is against the reduction of the democratic space for Jews. Most Jews in Israel don’t have a problem with Israel enforcing an apartheid regime in the West Bank,” said Dror Etkes, a veteran anti-occupation activist.

Despite his concerns, Etkes has made a point of participating in the protests. He sees the absence of occupation-related themes as a strategy meant to unite disparate groups against a more imminent threat. He said that if the government has its way, “people like me won’t be able to protest” against the occupation.

WATCH: Cycle of violence and economic turmoil pushes young Palestinians to take up arms

The Associated Press contacted several protest leaders who either declined to comment or did not respond to questions about the contradictions.

Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, territories the Palestinians seek for their hoped-for independent state, in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and, along with Egypt, enforces a blockade on the territory. More than 700,000 settlers now live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Palestinians in the West Bank live under limited autonomous self-rule, but Israel controls major parts of their lives, including movement and travel, construction permits in certain areas and significant parts of the economy. Israel’s military also frequently targets Palestinian areas in what it says is a bid to thwart militancy.

A two-tier legal system is also in place in the West Bank, where large parts of Israeli law apply to Jewish settlers and Palestinians are subject to Israeli military law. Palestinians cannot vote in Israeli elections. Their own leadership, established as part of interim peace agreements in the 1990s, has repeatedly delayed Palestinian elections.

While Palestinians in east Jerusalem hold Israeli residency and have access to certain social benefits, they face widespread discrimination. They can apply for citizenship but many choose not to, either on ideological grounds or because the process is too bureaucratic.

Those contrasting realities have prompted rights groups to say an apartheid system has taken root. Israel vehemently denies such claims. It says the West Bank is disputed territory whose fate should be determined through negotiations, which are long moribund.

After years of deadly conflict with the Palestinians, many Jewish Israelis see the occupation as the inevitable by-product of a hopeless security situation. Others accuse the Palestinians of rejecting generous peace offers — a claim the Palestinians reject.

That frame of mind has prevented many Israeli demonstrators from grasping the contradiction in their struggle, said Amichai Cohen, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank.

But he and others say the occupation is seeping into the protests, presenting a potential opening for an awakening. For one, the main backers of the legal overhaul are firebrand West Bank settlers who seek to expand and solidify Israel’s domination over the Palestinian territories in part by weakening the court’s oversight over its moves.

READ MORE: Analysis: International law and the Israeli government’s planned destruction of Palestinian assailants’ family homes

The protests have also coincided with a spike in Israeli-Palestinian fighting, during which radical settlers have attacked Palestinian towns, most notably Hawara, setting cars and homes ablaze with a paltry response from Israeli security forces. The prominent protest chant “Where were you in Hawara?” emerged as a cry against perceived police brutality against protesters.

Avner Gvaryahu, who heads Breaking the Silence, a whistleblower group of former soldiers, is a constant presence at the protests.

He has watched in frustration as military reservists have refused to continue serving to protest what they say is the disintegration of Israel’s democracy, but kept silent over the occupation.

Still, the reservist protest has shattered a taboo against military refusal, a tool he said might be used in the future by soldiers against the occupation.

“The mainstream is waking up,” he said.

Palestinians remain skeptical.

Shawan Jabarin, head of the Palestinian rights group Al-Haq, said he considers the protests an internal Israeli struggle to maintain a status quo that has only cemented the occupation.

“What democracy are you speaking about?’” he said. “Democracy doesn’t go in the same time with occupation.”

 

Almost 1 in 5 stay-at-home parents in the U.S. are dads

BY RICHARD FRY

PEW RESEARCH

A stay-at-home dad in Falmouth, Maine, walks with his children, ages 5 and 9, after they were dropped off by the school bus. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)

How we did this

The share of parents in the United States who are not employed for pay has been fairly stable over the last five years. In 2021, 18% of parents didn’t work for pay, which was unchanged from 2016, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. The share who are stay-at-home parents differs between men and women: 26% of mothers and 7% of fathers.

Over the past 30 years, the share of stay-at-home parents has fluctuated, rising during periods of higher unemployment.

How stay-at-home dads and moms compare

Between 1989 and 2021, the share of mothers who were not employed for pay decreased slightly, from 28% to 26%. Over the same span, the share of fathers who were not working increased from 4% to 7%.

Due to these diverging trends, dads now represent 18% of stay-at-home parents, up from 11% in 1989.

The reasons mothers and fathers give for not working for pay differ significantly. In 2021, the vast majority of stay-at-home moms (79%) said they took care of the home or family. About one-in-ten (9%) said they were at home because they were ill or disabled, and smaller shares said they didn’t work because they were students, unable to find work or retired.

Stay-at-home dads cite more varied reasons for not working for pay. In 2021, 23% stayed home to care for the home or family. That is up from only 4% in 1989 but still well below the share of stay-at-home moms who said the same.

About one-third of stay-at-home dads (34%) were not working due to illness or disability, down from 56% in 1989. Some 13% were retired, 13% said they could not find work and 8% were going to school.

How stay-at-home dads are different from dads who work

Stay-at-home dads differ demographically from dads who work for pay.

• Education: Stay-at-home dads are less likely than dads working for pay to have completed at least a bachelor’s degree. Some 22% of stay-at-home dads have this level of education, compared with 42% of dads who work for pay.
• Poverty: The families of stay-at-home dads tend to be less economically well-off than the families of dads who work for pay. Some 40% of stay-at-home dads live in poverty, compared with 5% of dads who work for pay.
• Age: Stay-at-home dads tend to be older than dads working for pay. Some 46% of stay-at-home dads are age 45 or older, compared with 35% of dads working for pay.
• Race and ethnicity: Stay-at-home dads are a more racially and ethnically diverse group than working dads. Half of dads who don’t work for pay are non-Hispanic White. This compares with 60% of dads working for pay. Non-Hispanic Black fathers are a larger share of stay-at-home dads (18%) than they are of working dads (9%). Hispanic fathers are 21% of both stay-at-home and working fathers, and non-Hispanic Asian fathers are 7% of stay-at-home fathers and 8% of working fathers.
• Marriage: Some 68% of stay-at-home dads are married, as are 85% of dads who work for pay.

In addition, stay-at-home dads who are taking care of the home or family differ in some ways from those who stay home for other reasons.

• Education: 27% of dads who stay home to care for family have a four-year college degree, while 21% of dads who stay home for other reasons do.
• Age: A third of dads staying home to take care of family are age 45 or older, compared with half of those who are home for other reasons.
• Marriage: 73%of dads who stay home to care for family are married, as are 66% of dads who are home for other reasons.

Note: This is an update of a post originally published Sept. 24, 2018, written by former Senior Researcher Gretchen Livingston.

Canadian province Alberta cancels bid for 2030 Commonwealth Games

PublishedShare

IMAGE SOURCE,WALTER SOMERS / 500PX

Image caption,

A bid was being considered with Calgary and Edmonton, as well as the Tsuut'ina Nation and Enoch Cree Nation.

By Thomas Mackintosh

BBC News

The government of Alberta has pulled its support for a bid to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games due to rising costs.

A joint bid was being considered by the Canadian province, centred around the cities of Edmonton and Calgary.

Tourism and Sport Minister Joseph Schow said the bill was estimated at C$2.7bn (£1.5bn; $2bn) - a burden "too high for the province to bear".

Last month Australia pulled out of hosting the 2026 games in Victoria due to budget blowouts.

The initial plan was to host the games over 11 days in August 2030 with competitions and events spread between Calgary and Edmonton, as well as the Tsuut'ina Nation and Enoch Cree Nation.

In a statement Mr Schow suggested the "corporate sponsorship model" and "limited broadcast revenues" would have put 93% of costs on taxpayers.

He insisted the authorities wanted to be transparent about funding and demonstrating a return on investment.

"That is why we have made the decision not to continue pursuing the bid for the 2030 Commonwealth Games."

• Is this the end of the Commonwealth Games?

Alberta's provincial government said it had committed up to C$2m (£1.2m) to explore the feasibility of hosting the Games - and the city of Edmonton another C$1m (£590,000), according to Reuters.

Commonwealth Sport Canada had been expected to complete a feasibility study this month ahead of a formal bid.

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek's office told Canada's national public broadcaster CBC the bid was finished without support from the province.

"The provincial government's decision to withdraw from Alberta's 2030 Commonwealth Games bid process effectively terminates the bid and the City of Calgary's participation," the statement said.

The Commonwealth Games are a multi-sport tournament that take place every four years and have only ever been cancelled during World War Two.

To be eligible to participate in the games, competitors must be from one of the Commonwealth's 56 members. Most of the countries in the Commonwealth were once part of the British Empire.

Earlier this year, Hamilton, Ontario, which hosted the inaugural Games in 1930, suspended its bid after the group behind the push failed to secure government commitments.

On 18 July, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the 2026 event was supposed to be a massive boost for the regional cities hosting it, at a cost of A$2.6bn (£1.4bn; $1.8bn).

But he told reporters the cost of staging the 12-day games had ballooned to more than A$6bn.

"I've made a lot of difficult calls, a lot of very difficult decisions in this job. This is not one of them," Mr Andrews said.

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) called Victoria's decision "hugely disappointing" and added it was "committed to finding a solution".

Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf has said he is willing to consider proposals for Scotland to host at least part of the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Glasgow hosted the event in 2014, and government figures suggest the total cost was around £543m ($691m).

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said he would support a bid for the capital to host in 2026, but said any final decision would need to be made by the government.

Discriminatory Policies Trigger Religious Violence in India

Biased Justice System Undermines Rule of Law

Meenakshi Ganguly
Deputy Asia Director

HRW

mg2411


Click to expand Image
Burnt vehicles are pictured following clashes between Hindus and Muslims in Nuh district of the northern state of Haryana, India, August 1, 2023. © 2023 Adan Abidi/Reuters

Bands of angry Hindu and Muslim young men in the streets, violent attacks, looting, arson. This is a chilling vision of the breakdown in rule of law in India.

This is what happened in Haryana state when Hindu groups planned a parade. The violence that broke out on July 31 was apparently triggered after a member of a group affiliated to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who is accused of murdering two Muslim men, issued a video encouraging people to join the parade. Muslims, believing that he was part of the gathering, targeted the procession. Hindu groups retaliated.

In the violence that ensued, six people were killed, including two members of the security forces. Schools and colleges were closed in several areas, and the state authorities suspended mobile internet services in three districts until August 5.

Incidents like this are the unfortunate and obvious outcome of the BJP government’s Hindu majoritarian politics, including the adoption of laws and policies that systematically discriminate against minorities and stigmatize critics of the government. The continued vilification of Muslims has resulted in an increase in hate crimes.

“We hope and trust that the state authorities, including police agencies, will ensure there is no hate speech against any community, no damage is caused to any property, and wherever required adequate police or paramilitary forces will be deployed,” the Supreme Court said after hearing petitions over planned protests by BJP affiliated groups – Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal – in response to the violence in Haryana.

Perceived bias has severely dented faith in the rule of law and is exacerbating an already fraught situation. Authorities are quick to punish Muslims who protest while absolving members of Hindu mobs that chant slogans and attack Muslims, their businesses or places of worship. Bail for government supporters is rarely opposed, but government critics are viewed as a threat and remain incarcerated. Evidence in the trials of pro-government Hindu perpetrators has a tendency to be insufficient, leading to acquittals. Even if they are convicted, BJP affiliates can be pardoned or paroled.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been promoting Indian democracy abroad, but at home it is a different story. His claims cannot be considered credible while he continues to implement discriminatory policies.

SEE

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for HINDUISM IS FASCISM 

 

Hasbro selling eOne to Lionsgate in deal worth around £393m

3 August 2023, 16:14

LONDON, UK – JANUARY 13TH 2017: The Hasbro logo on the packaging of one of their board games, on 13th January 2017. Picture: PA

The deal has been made just four years after Hasbro bought eOne for £3.15 billion.

Hasbro is selling its eOne television and movie business to Lionsgate in a deal worth around 500 million US dollars (£393 million), after having paid 4 billion dollars (£3.15 billion) for the company four years ago.

Hasbro said the agreement with Lionsgate includes 375 million dollars (£295 million) in cash and the assumption of production financing loans.

The acquisition will give Lionsgate access to eOne’s library of almost 6,500 titles, including Grey’s Anatomy, Yellowjackets and The Woman King. Lionsgate will also receive film development rights to Hasbro’s Monopoly, based on the popular board game

The deal allows the company to continue to scale its operations in the UK and Canada, where it has recently launched production partnerships with BBC Studios, Channel Four, the CBC, Rogers’ CityTV and Bell Media.

Hasbro purchased Entertainment One in 2019 in an all-cash deal valued at about 4 billion dollars. At the time, Hasbro was interested in eOne’s pre-school brands, which included Peppa Pig and PJ Masks. Hasbro will still have access to Peppa Pig and PJ Masks, as it will keep ownership of the family brands division.

While Hasbro had high hopes for the deal, in November it announced that it was looking to sell the part of eOne’s television and film business not directly supporting its branded entertainment strategy.

The boards of Hasbro and Lionsgate have approved the transaction, which is targeted to close by the end of the year.

Hasbro will retain access to Peppa Pig (eOne/Astley Baker Davies)

Hasbro said it will use proceeds from the deal to retire a minimum of 400 million dollars (£314 million) of floating rate debt by year’s end.

The toy company also reported its financial results for the second quarter on Thursday. Hasbro lost 235 million dollars (£185 million), or 1.69 dollars per share, in the period, reversing a profit a year earlier.

Earnings, adjusted for asset impairment costs and amortisation costs, came to 49 cents per share. That was below the 58 cents per share analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research expected.

Revenue for the company fell 10% to 1.21 billion dollars (£950 million), beating Wall Street’s estimate of 1.11 billion dollars (£870 million).

A year ago, Hasbro reported an adjusted profit of 1.15 dollars per share on revenue of 1.34 billion dollars (£1.05 billion).

Shares of Hasbro rose more than 2% in morning trading.

By Press Association

Nasa will send AI robots to Moon to carry out missions without humans

The miniature rovers will elect their own leader to conduct tasks which include mapping the Reiner Gamma region in 3D

BySarah Knapton, 

SCIENCE EDITOR

3 August 2023 • 

Nasa hopes that building rovers that act as a team will allow them to make quick decisions without needing human intervention 

CREDIT: NASA/JPL-Caltech


Nasa is to send a group of AI robots to the Moon and ask them to elect their own leader so they can carry out missions without humans.

Three miniature rovers are due to launch next year and will be lowered onto the lunar surface from a lander via tethers.

Their task is to map the Reiner Gamma region of the Moon in 3D, using cameras and ground-penetrating radar, but, for the first time, they will be doing so without human input.

After getting initial instructions about where to go from mission controllers on Earth, the rovers have been programmed to elect a leader that will distribute work assignments to accomplish their mapping project.

Each four-wheeled rover will then use artificial intelligence to determine how best to safely complete its personal assigned task.

“The only instruction is, for example, ‘Go explore this region,’ and the rovers figure out everything else: when they’ll do the driving, what path they’ll take, how they’ll manoeuvre around local hazards,” said Jean-Pierre de la Croix, the principal investigator of the CADRE (Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration) programme at Nasa’s jet propulsion laboratory in Southern California.

“You only tell them the high-level goal, and they have to determine how to accomplish it.”

Under the Artemis programme, humans are due to return to the Moon in 2025 and Nasa is planning to establish a base on the lunar surface from which to conduct science and learn about living off-world in preparation for a journey to Mars.

Robots are likely to be crucial for helping astronauts explore dangerous or hard-to-reach areas, or locate crucial resources such as ice, building materials and shelters.

Nasa hopes that building rovers that act as a team will allow them to make quick decisions without needing human intervention.

The robots, each about the size of a carry-on suitcase, are due to hitch a lift aboard Nasa’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) lander next year as part of a technology demonstration.

The Moon robots will be monitored by engineers to see whether they can stay in formation and explore designated areas while avoiding obstacles 

CREDIT: NASA/JPL-Caltech


After charging up via solar panels, they will spend a full lunar day – about 14 Earth days – conducting experiments designed to test their capabilities.

Engineers will be monitoring whether they can stay in formation and explore designated areas while avoiding obstacles. Each rover will receive the reflection of radio signals sent by the others, allowing them to create a 3D image of the structure of the subsurface as deep as 33ft below.

It will allow far more accurate images than current state-of-the-art ground-penetrating radars such as on Nasa’s Perseverance Mars Rover. The team will also test whether the rovers would adapt, redistributing tasks, if one stopped working.
‘Game-changing way of doing science’

“Our mission is to demonstrate that a network of mobile robots can cooperate to accomplish a task without human intervention – autonomously,” said Subha Comandur, the CADRE project manager.

“We’ll see how multiple robots working together – doing multiple measurements in different places at the same time – can record data that would be impossible for a single robot to achieve.

“It could be a game-changing way of doing science. It could change how we do exploration in the future. The question for future missions will become: ‘How many rovers do we send, and what will they do together?’”

The rovers have been built to withstand the searing sunlight, which could see midday temperatures rising to 237C. To prevent them from becoming dangerously hot, they will sleep every 30 minutes, allowing them to cool off and recharge their batteries.

When they simultaneously awaken, they will share their health status with one another via a radio network and elect a new leader based on which is fittest for the task at hand, before carrying on with their lunar exploration.

National Centre of Meteorology hosts 'Early Warning for All' workshop

ABU DHABI, 3rd August, 2023 (WAM) -- the National CentrE of Meteorology (NCM) hosted a workshop titled "Early Warning for All," organiSed by the World Meteorological OrganiSation in partnership with local authorities, at its headquarters in Abu Dhabi.

The workshop aimed to discuss the role of early warning systems in contributing to the goals of the World Meteorological Organisation and raising awareness among communities exposed to risks.

The discussions in the workshop revolved around the significance of early warning systems in achieving the goals of the World Meteorological Organisation and the necessity of preparedness to face natural disasters. The workshop also addressed the objectives of providing early warning systems for everyone, regardless of location or financial capabilities, considering the increasing frequency of natural disasters and their adverse effects on humans and societies.

In his opening speech, Omar Alyazeedi, Deputy Director-General of NCM, representing Dr. Abdullah Ahmed Al Mandous, Director-General of NCM and President of the World Meteorological Organisation, emphasised the importance of preparedness and collaboration to achieve the objectives of this initiative and enhance early warning systems. He also stressed the significance of strengthening strategic partnerships to improve preparedness for climate change and develop innovative solutions to address its consequences.

He added, "The workshop reflects the commitment of the UAE to achieve the goals of the United Nations' programme for reducing the risks of natural disasters and enhancing our efforts in building strategic partnerships to strengthen early warning systems and harness data for innovative solutions that mitigate the impacts of climate change. The pivotal role of the UAE in protecting everyone from various risks is evident through our approach to implementing early warning systems. The National Centre of Meteorology will serve as a SOFF peer advisor providing technical assistance and Leveraging UAE knowledge and expertise to the deep dive countries and beyond."

Representatives from the Ministry of Interior, the National Emergency, Crisis, and Disaster Management Authority, Abu Dhabi City Municipality, as well as the University of the Emirates, Khalifa University, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, the Ministry of Defense, the General Civil Aviation Authority, the National Guard, and Abu Dhabi Development Fund participated in the workshop. The UNDRR and the World Meteorological Organisation representatives briefed and moderated the workshop. Representatives from COP 28 official Team, IRENA, and the UAE UN Resident Coordinator office also joined the discussion.

It is worth mentioning that the "United Nations Early Warning for All" initiative has been officially recognised as the top priority of the World Meteorological Organisation since the end of 2027. It has garnered increasing attention from relevant meteorological authorities recently, as part of international efforts to address the consequences of climate change. This is in response to the call made by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, to establish early warning systems for all the world's inhabitants within five years, by adopting an action plan during COP-27 to activate early warning systems for all and oversee their implementation. This includes ensuring the existence of political, technical, and financial solutions capable of accelerating the implementation process, looking for funding support to the Multi-Donor Trust funds like SOFF is also a crucial step in the same direction.

The Systematic Observation Financing Facility (SOFF) is an initiative launched by the World Meteorological Organisation in 2017 and funded by the World Bank. It aims to assist countries in collecting and using data to improve disaster risk management. The SOFF system provides technical support to countries to help them develop and implement strategies for collecting and using data related to disaster risks. It also conducts research on data for disaster risk management and disseminates knowledge about data for managing disaster risks.

Khoder Nashar