Top Italian and European Union officials are holding talks in Tunisia on Monday to try to stem the growing numbers of migrants crossing from the North African country to Europe. Tunisia s president, whose young democracy is struggling economically, said he wants the talks to focus not only on security measures to curb migration but also on broader European aid to fight the poverty and joblessness that fuels it. The number of migrants leaving Tunisia has grown as much as fivefold this year compared to last year, for a total of about 5,700 people, according to estimates from the Tunisian Forum of Economic and Social Rights, an aid group following migration flows. More migrants landing in Italy now came from Tunisia than departed from neighboring lawless Libya, according to Italian government figures released Saturday. A total of 16,347 migrants reached Italian shores over the past year, a 149% increase compared to the previous 12-month period, but still a number much lower than in several other recent years. Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson and the EU s commissioner for neighboring countries Oliver Varhelyi were scheduled to meet Monday with Tunisian President Kais Saied and other top Tunisian officials. Lamorgese, who visited Tunisia just two weeks ago for similar talks, said the trip is aimed at boosting Europe-wide solidarity with Tunisia. Tunisia s leader said he wants to broaden the migration discussion with Italy to make it more European, according to the official news agency TAP. ``Now is the time to act together to contain the (migratory) pressure and tackle the root causes ... to help change the perception of young people of their reality and of their country and give them hope for a better life in their own country, rather than venturing into an unknown future,`` Saied said in a statement. Tunisia s unemployment rate stood at 15% before the coronavirus pandemic and has since climbed to 21%. The country has struggled to restore prosperity since protesters overthrew a longtime autocrat in 2011, unleashing Arab Spring uprisings around the world. The Italian and EU delegation is also expected to visit the Bardo Museum in Tunis, to honor victims of a 2015 Islamic extremist attack there that killed 21 people of various nationalities. The attack on one of the country s prime tourist sites damaged Tunisia s tourism industry.

The number of migrants landing on Italy s shores has more than doubled in the last year as an economic crisis in Tunisia fuels migration in boats across the Mediterranean, Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said on Saturday. More than 21,000 people reached Italy between August 2019 and the end of July, up 148% year-on-year, the minister said, speaking at an annual Aug. 15 press conference. Lamorgese said the majority of the arrivals were "autonomous landings, hard to manage... with small boats and dinghies", rather than those rescued at sea and brought ashore. Many of them land on Italy s southern Mediterranean island of Lampedusa. In the 12-month period, just over 5,000 people were rescued, mainly by ships operated by NGOs, according to data from the ministry. Over 80% of the migrants reaching Italy left from Tunisia and Libya, the data showed, with Tunisia s crisis stoking the numbers attempting the treacherous crossing. "The numbers aren t very high - they are certainly higher than last year s but we must put them into context: Tunisia is in a deep economic, social and political crisis," Lamorgese told reporters. "We have seen entire families leave to reach Italian territory." For years Italy has been the primary route into Europe for hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers and other migrants and Libya s west coast a main departure point for African migrants hoping to reach Europe. A peak was reached between August 2016 and July 2017, when almost 183,000 migrants reached Italy. Numbers started falling due to an Italian-led effort to disrupt smuggling networks and support the Libyan coastguard to intercept boats, but have picked up in 2020. Lamorgese s predecessor, head of the anti-immigrant League party Matteo Salvini, took a hardline against charity ships that rescued migrants at sea, closing Italian ports and accusing the rescue groups of de facto collaboration with human traffickers. Lamorgese said that she would meet Tunisian President Kais Saied on Monday to discuss the issue, along with Italy s Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio and EU Commissioners Ylva Johansson and Olivér Várhelyi.

The French military conducted training exercises with Greek forces off the southern island of Crete on Thursday, defence sources said, as tension persisted with Turkey over disputed waters in the eastern Mediterranean. Thursday s exercise was the first manifestation of French President Emmanuel Macron s commitment to temporarily reinforce his country s presence in the eastern Mediterranean. France has called on Turkey to halt oil and gas exploration in disputed waters. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis discussed the situation in the region with Macron by telephone on Wednesday. On Thursday, the French armed forces ministry said it was sending two Rafale fighter jets and the naval frigate ‘Lafayette’ to the eastern Mediterranean. The frigate and the jets had arrived in Crete earlier on Thursday and carried out joint manoeuvres with Greek forces, the Greek defence sources said. "Emmanuel Macron is a true friend of Greece and a fervent defender of European values and international law," Mitsotakis tweeted, in French, after the call with Macron. Tensions have simmered between NATO allies Greece and Turkey in recent days over overlapping claims to hydrocarbon resources in Mediterranean waters. A Turkish seismic vessel, the Oruc Reis, has been sailing between Crete and Cyprus since Monday, despatched by Ankara days after Greece signed a maritime deal with Egypt designating an exclusive economic zone between the two nations. Turkey says it plans to open up some of the area for potential hydrocarbon exploration, and a precursor to that is collecting seismic data it can process and sell to potential bidders. Both countries lay claim to the area.

The United States on Tuesday circulated a revised resolution that would extend a U.N. arms embargo on Iran indefinitely, seeking to gain more support in the 15-member Security Council where veto-wielding Russia and China have voiced strong opposition. U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft said the new draft ``takes council views into account and simply does what everyone knows should be done _ extend the arms embargo to prevent Iran from freely buying and selling conventional weapons. ``It is only common sense that the world s (hash)1 state sponsor of terror not be given the means of unleashing even greater harm on the world, she said in a statement. Council diplomats said the revised draft could be put in a final form Thursday and put to a vote Friday. The revised draft, obtained by The Associated Press, is just four paragraphs and replaces the original seven-page, 35-paragraph draft circulated in June. The original draft included several provisions that some diplomats objected to as going beyond the extension of the arms embargo, and were eliminated. One provision in the original resolution would have authorized all U.N. member states to inspect cargo entering or transiting through their territory at airports, seaports and free trade zones from Iran or heading there, if the member state had ``reasonable grounds to believe the cargo contained banned items. Another provision would have condemned a September 2019 attack on Saudi Arabia and December 2019 attacks on an Iraqi military base in Kirkuk and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, saying Iran was responsible. The new draft states that the arms embargo, notwithstanding its Oct. 18 expiration, ``shall continue to apply until the Security Council decides otherwise. It says that full implementation of the arms embargo ``is essential to the maintenance of international peace and security. Iran s U.N. Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi tweeted: ``Rebuffed by UNSC (Security Council) members, US was forced to retreat from its draft resolution ... and proposed another version.`` ``The new draft is similar _ in its NATURE and GOAL _ to the previous,`` he tweeted. ``Confident that the Council will _ again _ reject this move.`` The United Nations banned Iran from buying major foreign weapon systems in 2010 amid tensions over its nuclear program. That blocked Iran from replacing its aging military equipment, much of which had been purchased by the shah before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. An earlier embargo targeted Iranian arms exports. The U.S. push to make the arms embargo permanent follows President Donald Trump s 2018 withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal between six major powers and Iran, aimed at preventing Iranian development of nuclear weapons. Tehran has repeatedly insisted it has no interest or intention to produce a nuclear bomb. The 2015 U.N. Security Council resolution endorsing the nuclear deal includes a provision lifting the arms embargo on Iran on Oct. 18. The foreign ministers of Russia and China, in separate letters to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council last month, were sharply critical of the U.S. effort to indefinitely extend the arms embargo. They gave every indication they would veto any such resolution if it got the minimum nine ``yes votes in the 15-member council, which appears unlikely. If the resolution is defeated, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested the U.S. would invoke the ``snap back mechanism in the 2015 nuclear deal that would restore all U.N. sanctions on Iran. ``Snap back`` was envisioned in the event Iran was proven to be in violation of the accord, under which it received billions of dollars in sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the Trump administration of waging a politically motivated campaign against Iran and called for ``universal condemnation of the U.S. attempt to impose a permanent arms embargo on the Islamic Republic. He said Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement and now has no legal right to try to use the U.N. resolution endorsing the deal to indefinitely continue the embargo. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the arms embargo should be lifted Oct. 18. He also argued that since the U.S. is no longer a party to the nuclear deal it ``has no right to demand the Security Council to activate the rapid reinstatement of sanctions through the ``snap back provision. The five remaining signatories to the 2015 deal _ Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany _ remain committed to the agreement. Diplomats from several of these countries have expressed serious concern that extending the arms embargo would lead to Iran s exit from the deal and its speeded-up pursuit of nuclear weapons. The U.S. argues that Iran hasn t been cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency for a year and has been moving a lot of weapons to proxies in the Middle East despite the embargo. If the embargo is lifted, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency predicted in 2019 that Iran likely would try to purchase Russian Su-30 fighter jets, Yak-130 trainer aircraft and T-90 tanks. Tehran also may try to buy Russia s S-400 anti-aircraft missile system and its Bastian coastal defense missile system, the agency said.

"I don t want to die." Those were the first words Hiba s six-year-old son screamed after the massive explosion at Beirut port sent shards of glass flying around their house. The blast a week ago that temporarily displaced 100,000 children, according to a UN estimate, was so mighty it had the magnitude of an earthquake. The mental shock it caused among Beirut s youngest was just as powerful. When the boy saw blood on his feet, "he started screaming: Mom, I don t want to die ," Hiba recalled. "What is this life? Coronavirus and an explosion!," her son told her after the blast. "Imagine that!" said the mother. "A child only six years old asking this question." The 35-year-old mother of two, who asked to withhold the names of her children and their family name, said her entire building shook when the catastrophe struck on August 4. Her son, who was sitting on a living room couch just across from her, was speckled with shards of glass from a blown-out window. "The shattered glass whirled around us," Hiba said, a scene described by countless survivors. For a few seconds her son sat motionless and unscathed on the couch. She then dragged him out of the room, they boy barefoot on a carpet of splintered glass that cut bloody gashes into his feet. "My son now twitches in panic every time he hears a loud sound," she said. - Bottling up emotions - Hiba s son was not the only one left traumatised. His infant sister, born just 16 days before the explosion, lost conciousness for 20 minutes. "It took a lot of time before she began to wake up and start crying," said Hiba, so shocked herself that she has struggled to breastfeed her since. She said she now keeps her son in his room, surrounded by his toys, instead of in the living room where the television broadcasts scenes of grief and devastation all day long. "I don t know if he is bottling up his emotions," Hiba said. "But I m trying to spend a lot of time with him in case he needs to talk." The explosion that gutted swathes of the city killed at least 160 people and left 6,000 people physically wounded. Children are among the casualties and the UN children s agency UNICEF has warned that "those who survived are traumatised and in shock". In a video widely shared on social media showing plumes of smoke rising from the harbourside, the almost playful voice of a child can initially be heard in the background, saying "explosion, explosion". When the impact from the massive blast hits him, the same child also screams, in English: "Mom, I don t want to die." On Lebanese TV, the mother of a three-year-old girl killed in the blast gave an emotional testimony in which she shared her feeling of guilt about having tried to raise a child in a dysfunctional country. "I want to apologise to Alexandra," she said, "because I did not take her out of Lebanon." - Anxiety, night terrors - The Save the Children charity has warned of a severe strain on children s mental health as a result of the blast. "Without proper support, children might face long-term consequences," it said in a statement. Anne-Sophie Dybdal, the charity s senior child protection advisor, warned of "anxiety, trouble sleeping, attacks of night terror". "The impact on children can be very deep," she said. Child psychologist Sophia Maamari said traumatised children may also develop separation anxiety that could make them fear even going to the bathroom without one of their parents. Loud bangs may trigger fears of another blast and some children could go temporarily mute or tend toward self-isolation, the psychologist explained. Maamari advised that parents should make their children feel like they are allowed to be scared by telling them that they too were frightened by the explosion. This is one tip Noura picked up online when she was looking for information on how to handle her two traumatised children, aged three and four. The 34-year-old mother said she had described to her kids in detail how she was gripped by fear and panic. Her older son immediately responded to her admission by saying: "It was a big bam." Her youngest did not respond until the next day. "I was very scared too," she said the little boy whispered into her ear as soon as he woke up.

(Reuters) – As polls show Texans increasingly frustrated with President Donald Trump s response amid a massive resurgence in coronavirus cases, Democrats say they have a real chance to turn a long-held dream into reality: winning the state s presidential contest for the first time in more than four decades. In recent weeks, Joe Biden s campaign has aired television ads specifically aimed at Texans – the first time a Democratic presidential candidate has done so in a quarter-century, according to the state party – and made its first hires there. Texas is among the states targeted by a $280 million fall advertising blitz the campaign unveiled last week, part of a broader strategy aimed at putting Republican-leaning states, including Georgia, Iowa and Ohio, in play ahead of the Nov. 3 election against the Republican Trump. With polls showing Biden holding a national lead over Trump and effectively tied in Texas, Democrats say a concerted effort in the state could expand his viable paths to the White House. “Because of the pandemic, the battleground has grown,” said Democratic U.S. Representative Filemon Vela, who represents a south Texas seat. But skepticism remains about conservative Texas becoming a true swing state. Trump carried it by nine percentage points four years ago, and some strategists expect his standing to rebound as the election draws closer. Trump campaign spokeswoman Samantha Cotten said Democrats were “delusional” for thinking they can win Texas. “We welcome the Biden campaign to light their money on fire by investing in the Lone Star State,” she said in a statement. Texas is an expensive place to advertise on television given its size and multiple media markets, and Biden aides acknowledge the campaign is unlikely to spend the kind of vast sum a full-court press would require. At a fundraiser last week, Biden touted polls showing he is tied or ahead but said the money required to compete in Texas is a “major stretch.” If Biden wins Texas, it is virtually certain he will have already won enough other states to capture the presidency, suggesting the campaign s resources may be better spent in clear-cut swing states such as Pennsylvania or Florida. The stakes in Texas are enormous: Its 38 votes in the Electoral College, which determines the presidential winner, are second only to California in the quest for a 270-vote majority. Democratic officials argue even a modest investment could pay dividends by forcing Trump to divert money from other states, while benefiting down-ballot candidates. Democrats need to flip nine seats in the Texas state assembly to take control in 2021, when the state will redraw congressional district lines for the next decade. The state also has several hotly contested congressional campaigns as well as a potentially competitive Senate race. Democratic state officials, state lawmakers and congressional members have pressed their case with the Biden campaign, according to interviews with multiple officials. Many point to Democratic Senate candidate Beto O Rourke s unexpectedly strong finish in 2018, when he came within three percentage points of unseating Republican Ted Cruz. “There s real change happening here,” said U.S. Representative Colin Allred, a Democrat who flipped a Republican-held seat near Dallas two years ago. “I ve told them I think they should compete here.” SEIZING AN OPPORTUNITY In an interview, Biden s deputy states director, Molly Ritner, said the campaign s modest $65,000 ad buy in July was prompted by the spike in Texas coronavirus infections. “We basically saw an opportunity,” Ritner said. “We have put 17 states on the map, and on any given day, we are looking at that map and trying to preserve as many pathways to 270 as possible.” It may be a long shot for Biden, but some Republicans have sounded the alarm. Cruz told reporters on Air Force One in late July that weakening support for Trump in the suburbs has put Texas in play. Karen Perkins, 60, an Arlington resident, is a lifelong Republican but said Trump s handling of the pandemic has left her unsure of how to vote in November. “He just visited Texas, and he got off the plane without a mask,” she said of Trump. “I ve always said that I m very, very Republican, but he s starting to turn me away.” The Democrats odds in 2020 rely on a confluence of factors. In addition to the suburban shift, the state s Latino, Black and Asian populations – all of which vote heavily Democratic – have grown faster than the white population. Since 2016, more than 2 million Texans have registered to vote. A majority are minorities, and 1.6 million are under the age of 35, according to the state party. “It s a perfect storm of demographic change and suburban change all at once,” said Jessica Post, director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which aids statehouse candidates. If Biden s appeal as a moderate can reduce Trump s margins in rural areas, Democrats said, his advantage in urban and suburban districts could carry him across the finish line. Turnout, particularly among minority voters, will be key. Using data lists, the state party has targeted hundreds of thousands of people who have moved to Texas from Democratic states but have yet to register. Meanwhile, the party s Latinx outreach team is distributing online toolkits to help Hispanic voters register their friends and family. Texas does not have partisan voter registration. But the trends prove Texas Democratic transformation is inevitable, if it hasn t happened already, according to Manny Garcia, the state party s executive director. “Texas is not in play because a dramatic number of Republicans are … coming over to the Democratic Party,” Garcia said. “Texas is in play because there are more of us than there are of them.”

EDMINSTER, N.J. (Reuters) – President Donald Trump signed executive orders on Saturday partly restoring enhanced unemployment payments to the tens of millions of Americans who lost jobs in the coronavirus pandemic, as the United States marked a grim milestone of five million cases. Negotiations broke down this week between the White House and top Democrats in Congress over how best to help Americans cope with the heavy human and economic toll of the crisis, which has killed more than 160,000 people across the country. Trump said the orders would provide an extra $400 per week in unemployment payments, less than the $600 per week passed earlier in the crisis. Some of the measures were likely to face legal challenges, as the US Constitution gives Congress authority over federal spending. “This is the money they need, this is the money they want, this gives them an incentive to go back to work,” the Republican president said of the lower payments. He said 25 percent of it would be paid by states, whose budgets have been hard hit by the crisis. Republicans have argued that higher payments were a disincentive for unemployed Americans to try to return to work, though economists, including Federal Reserve officials, disputed that assertion. Trump s move to take relief measures out of the hands of Congress drew immediate criticism from some Democrats. “Donald Trump is trying to distract from his failure to extend the $600 federal boost for 30 million unemployed workers by issuing illegal executive orders,” said Senator Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. “This scheme is a classic Donald Trump con: playacting at leadership while robbing people of the support they desperately need.” The Democratic-majority House of Representatives passed a coronavirus support package in May which the Republican-led Senate ignored. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden called the orders a “series of half-baked measures” and accused Trump of putting Social Security “at grave risk” by delaying the collection of payroll taxes that pay for the program. Trump also said he was suspending collection of payroll taxes, which pay for Social Security and other federal programs, an idea that he has repeatedly raised but has been rejected by both parties in Congress. He said the suspension would apply to people making less than $100,000 per year. His orders would also stop evictions from rental housing that has federal financial backing and extend zero percent interest on federally financed student loans. Trump initially played down the disease s threat and has drawn criticism for inconsistent messages on public health steps such as social distancing and masks. He spoke to reporters on Saturday at his New Jersey golf club, in a room that featured a crowd of cheering supporters. FAR APART Nearly two weeks of talks between White House officials and congressional Democrats ended on Friday with the two sides still about $2 trillion apart. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had pushed to extend the enhanced unemployment payments, which expired at the end of July, at the previous rate of $600 as well as to provide more financial support for city and state governments battered by the crisis. Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Friday offered to reduce the $3.4 trillion coronavirus aid package that the House passed in May by nearly a third if Republicans would agree to more than double their $1 trillion counteroffer. White House negotiators Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows rejected the offer. The $1 trillion package that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell unveiled late last month ran into immediate opposition from his own party, with as many as 20 of the Senate s 53 Republicans expected to oppose it. Trump did not rule out a return to negotiations with Congress. “I m not saying they re not going to come back and negotiate,” he said on Saturday. “Hopefully, we can do something with them at a later date.” Democrats have already warned that such executive orders are legally dubious and would likely be challenged in court, but a court fight could take months. Trump has managed to sidestep Congress on spending before, declaring a national emergency on the US-Mexico border to shift billions of dollars from the defense budget to pay for a wall he promised during his 2016 election campaign. Congress passed legislation to stop him, but there were too few votes in the Republican-controlled Senate to override his veto – a scenario that would likely play out again with less than 90 days to go before the Nov. 3 presidential election.

Lebanon mourned on Thursday the victims of the most powerful blast to hit the country that was already being crushed by an economic crisis, as rescuers searched for those missing since the explosion that flattened Beirut port and devastated the city. French President Emmanuel Macron, making the first visit by a foreign leader since Tuesday s blast which killed at least 137 people and injured 5,000, was due to arrive in Beirut later on Thursday along with specialist rescue personnel and equipment. Dozens are missing and up to a quarter of a million people were left without homes fit to live in after shockwaves smashed building facades, sucked furniture out into streets and shattered windows miles inland. Officials expect the death toll to rise. Prime Minister Hassan Diab declared three days of mourning from Thursday for victims of the explosion, the most devastating ever to hit the city that is still scarred by civil war three decades ago and reeling from a financial meltdown and surge in coronavirus cases. Officials have blamed the disaster on a huge stockpile of highly explosive material held for years at the port in unsafe conditions. The government has ordered port officials to be put under house arrest, ministerial sources told Reuters. But Lebanese, who have lost jobs and watched savings evaporate in the financial crisis, blamed politicians who have overseen and benefited from decades of state corruption and bad governance. "They will scapegoat somebody to defer responsibility," said Rabee Azar, a 33-year-old construction worker who came to the port on Thursday morning to try to start repairs. "This explosion was final bullet to kill off the country." "Nothing will come of the investigation. Nobody will believe them," said Azar, speaking near the smashed remains of a grain silo where tonnes of wheat was scattered on the ground. NEGLIGENCE President Michel Aoun said 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, used in fertilisers and bombs, had been stored for six years at the port after it was seized. He promised a thorough investigation and to hold those responsible to account. An official source familiar with preliminary investigations blamed the incident on "inaction and negligence", saying "nothing was done" to remove hazardous material. Some local media reported sightings of drones or planes flying in the area shortly before the explosion and some Beirut residents said they saw missiles fired. But officials have denied the incident was the result of an attack. A Lebanese security source said the initial blaze that sparked the explosion was caused by welding work. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said the U.S. government had not ruled out the possibility that Tuesday s explosion was an attack and was still gathering intelligence. People who felt the explosive force said they had witnessed nothing comparable in years of conflict and upheaval in Beirut, which was devastated by the 1975-1990 civil war and since then has experienced big bomb attacks, unrest and a war with Israel. "First we heard one sound. Seconds later there was a big explosion. All hell broke loose," said Ibrahim Zoobi, who works near the port. "I saw people thrown five or six metres." He said those in the port district "were burned or charred". Health officials reported that hospitals were running out of beds and equipment to attend to the injured. Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud told Al Hadath TV total losses from the blast could reach $15 billion, including losses to businesses amid the broader fallout. Operations have been paralysed at Beirut port, Lebanon s main route for imports needed to feed a nation of more than 6 million people, forcing ships to be diverted to smaller ports. The World Bank said on Wednesday it would work with Lebanon s partners to mobilise public and private financing for reconstruction and recovery. But it was unclear what impact this would have on the country difficult negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.

Investigators began searching the wreckage of Beirut s port Wednesday for clues to the cause of the massive explosion that ripped across the Lebanese capital as the government ordered port officials put under house arrest. International aid flights began to arrive, as Lebanon s leaders struggled to deal with the aftermath of Tuesday s blast, crippled by an economic crisis and facing a public where many already blame chronic mismanagement and corruption among the ruling elite for the disaster. The explosion at the port killed at least 100 people and wounded thousands. Hospitals were overwhelmed _ one that was damaged in the blast had to evacuate all its patients to a nearby field for treatment. Buildings were damaged for miles around the city, and Beirut s governor said Wednesday that hundreds of thousands might not be able to return to their homes for two or three months. Meanwhile, an official letter surfaced online showing that the head of the customs department had warned repeatedly over the years that a huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate stored in a hangar in the port was a danger and asked for a way to remove it. Ammonium nitrate is a component of fertilizer that is potentially explosive. The 2,750-ton cargo had been stored at the port since it was confiscated from a ship in 2013, and on Tuesday it is believed to have detonated after a fire broke out nearby. The resulting explosion _ hitting with the force of a 3.5-magnitude earthquake _ was the biggest ever seen in Beirut, a city blasted by a 1975-1990 civil war, bombarded in conflicts with Israel and hit by periodic terror attacks. The 2017 letter from the custom s chief to a judge could not be immediately confirmed. If authentic, it could deepen the belief already expressed by some Lebanese that widespread mismanagement, negligence and corruption among the country s ruling class is to blame for the explosion. President Michael Aoun vowed before a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday that the investigation would be transparent and that those responsible will be punished. ``There are no words to describe the catastrophe that hit Beirut last night, he said. After the meeting, the Cabinet ordered an unspecified number of Beirut port officials put under house arrest pending an investigation into how the ammonium nitrate came to be stored at the port for years. The government also declared a two-week state of emergency, effectively giving the military full powers during this time. State prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat ordered security agencies to start an immediate investigation and collect all reports and letters related to the materials stored at the port as well as lists of people in charge of maintenance, storage and protection of the hangar. In the letter, the customs chief warns of the ``dangers if the materials remain where they are regarding the safety of (port) employees and asked the judge for guidance on what to do with it. He said five similar letters were sent in 2014, 2015 and 2016. The letter proposes the material be exported or sold to a Lebanese explosives company. It is not known if there was ever a response. The government also said public schools will be opened to host those who lost their homes and the minister of tourism will also work on opening some hotels for use by those who lost their homes. It also promised compensation for the victims. With the Port of Beirut destroyed, the government said imports and exports will be secured through other ports in the country, mostly in the northern city of Tripoli and the southern port city of Tyre. Residents of Beirut confronted a scene of utter devastation Wednesday. Smoke still rose from the port, where a towering building of silos was half destroyed, spilling out grain. Hangars around it were completely toppled. The blast knocked out a crater some 200 meters (yards) across that filled with seawater _ it was as if the sea had taken a bite out of the port, swallowing buildings with it. Much of downtown was littered with damaged vehicles and debris that had rained down from the shattered facades of buildings. Lebanon was already on the brink of collapse amid a severe economic crisis. Many have lost their jobs and seen their savings evaporate because of a currency crisis. Food security is a worry, since Lebanon imports nearly all its vital goods and its main port is devastated. The government is strapped for cash. Lebanon s economic crisis is rooted in decades of systemic corruption by political factions that exploit public institutions for the benefit of their supporters. Decades after the civil war, residents endure frequent power outages and poor public services. French President Emmanuel Macron was to traveling to Beirut on Thursday to offer support and meet with Lebanese leaders. Lebanon is a former French protectorate and the countries retain close political and economic ties.

Nigeria s largest airline Air Peace said Tuesday it had laid off a number of pilots and cut salaries in order to cope with the impact of the coronavirus on its operations. The private carrier did not disclose the number of pilots affected, but industry sources put the figure at around 70. Air Peace serves cities in Nigeria as well as elsewhere in West Africa and in the Middle East. The group said it had "taken a very painful but rightful decision... to terminate the employment of some of its pilots" due to "the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on its operations and financial health." "This decision was taken for the greater good of the company and its almost 3000 workforce," including the affected pilots, it said in a statement. "Anything short of what we have done may lead to the collapse of an airline as could be seen in some places worldwide during this period. Therefore, we decided to review the salaries being paid to all staff." Many other airlines in other parts of the world have taken similar measures to stay afloat. Global businesses have been hit by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic since its outbreak late last year. Nigeria recently eased the lockdowns on businesses and economic activities, but most have yet to fully recover. The virus has infected over 44,000 and killed 896 people in Nigeria since the first case in February.

Lebanon is suffering its worst economic crisis in decades, marked by an unprecedented plunge of its currency, which has left nearly half of the population in poverty. The financial collapse has led to mass layoffs and salary cuts in a country already rocked since late 2019 by mass protests against a political system seen as corrupt and incompetent. Here are the key moments in the spiralling crisis. - Dollar shortages - Anxiety about a dollar shortage flares on September 29 last year when hundreds of people take to the streets of central Beirut to protest economic hardship. Among the worst hit are petrol station owners who need dollars to pay fuel suppliers. Media report that banks and exchange offices are limiting dollar sales for fear of running out. - Tax on WhatsApp - A government proposal to tax free online messaging apps such as WhatsApp, made on October 17, is the last straw. Thousands take to the streets in Beirut and other cities, some chanting "the people demand the fall of the regime". The government of prime minister Saad Hariri scraps the tax the same day, but protests grow over the next weeks, culminating in demonstrations gathering hundreds of thousands demanding an overhaul of the entire ruling class. - New government - On December 19 little-known academic Hassan Diab, who is backed by powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah, is named prime minister, replacing Hariri who resigned in late October under pressure from the street. Protesters immediately regroup to condemn the appointment which outrages members of the Sunni community. On January 21, 2020, a new government is unveiled, made up of a single political camp, the pro-Iranian Hezbollah and its allies, who have a parliamentary majority. Demonstrators respond by torching tyres and blocking several roads in mainly Sunni towns across the country. - Default - On March 7, Lebanon, whose debt burden has ballooned to nearly 170 percent of its gross domestic product, says it will default on a $1.2-billion Eurobond. On March 23 it says it will discontinue payments on all dollar-denominated Eurobonds. - Capital flight - On April 24, Diab says that banks have lost $5.7 billion (4.8 billion euros) in January and February in spite of restrictions on withdrawals and transfers abroad. According to official estimates, $2.3 billion were transferred out of the country last year. - Rescue plan - On April 30, after three nights of violent clashes in Tripoli, Diab says Lebanon will seek help from the International Monetary Fund, after the government approves a plan to rescue the economy. On May 13, Lebanon launches talks with the IMF. - Arrests - In May the president of the exchange offices trades union Mahmud Mrad is arrested and the director of monetary operations at the central bank Mazen Hamdan charged with "manipulation of the national currency". - Currency collapse - From June 11-13, after the Lebanese pound hits a new low on the black market, protesters take to the streets after sundown, blocking roads, including in Beirut and Tripoli. On June 29, the director general of the finance ministry involved in the negotiations with the IMF resigns, citing deep disagreements over the management of the crisis. - Out of control - On July 10, the UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet warns that Lebanon s crisis is getting out of hand, calling for urgent internal reforms coupled with international support to prevent further mayhem. - Failed state - On August 3, Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti resigns in protest at the government s mishandling of the crisis, including its unwillingness to initiate changes demanded by the IMF. He warns that Lebanon risks becoming a "failed state". He is replaced by Charbel Wahbe, a former ambassador and advisor to President Michel Aoun.

Sudan s government has welcomed remarks from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week that he would like to delist Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism, local media reported. Pompeo has repeatedly indicated that the State Department hopes to remove the designation, which severely impedes investment to Sudan, but disputes have arisen on a compensation package over the 1998 bombings of two US embassies. The US top diplomat told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday that legislation on a settlement should come before Congress "in the very, very near term". According to an English-language report by official news agency SUNA, the Sudanese transitional government on Saturday welcomed Pompeo s statement and "promised to do its level best to meet the requirements that would help the (American) administration" take "positive action". Independent online news site Sudan Tribune reported the government had said in a statement that it "is ready to continue working with the US administration to remove Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism and enter into a partnership relationship that benefits both countries". Pompeo said that the fall of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir following mass protests and the nearly year-old government of a civilian prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, marked "an opportunity that doesn t come along often". "There s a chance not only for a democracy to begin to be built out, but perhaps regional opportunities that could flow from that as well," he said. "I think lifting the state sponsor of terrorism designation there if we can... take care of the victims of those tragedies would be a good thing for American foreign policy," Pompeo said. According to SUNA, Hamdok reaffirmed "his commitment to continue exerting efforts with all friends in the United States and abroad" to bring the issue to a close and for Sudan to fully return to "be part of the international community". Bashir had welcomed Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and Sudan was accused of aiding jihadists who blew up the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 people and injuring around 5,000 others. Sudan s new government has agreed to a compensation package but a dispute has arisen over higher payments to Americans than to Africans, who accounted for the vast majority of the casualties.

Tunisian parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the Islamist Ennahda movement, narrowly survived a motion of no-confidence on Thursday. Only 133 MPs out of a total of 217 in the parliament attended the session. 97 MPs voted in the secret ballot for the motion and 30 voted against. A request to withdraw confidence from the speaker in the Tunisian parliament requires an absolute majority vote of 109 votes from a total of 217 MPs. The Tunisian parliament had devoted its session today to vote on the motion submitted by dozens of MPs, led by the MPs from the liberal Free Constitutional Party, to withdraw confidence from Ghannouchi, the leader of the Islamist Ennahda movement, but the dispute over the method of voting sparked tensions at the start of the session. The chairperson of the session was forced to adjourn this morning session during secret balloting on the confidence withdrawal motion as mayhem broke out in parliament between opposition and Ennahda MPs. The session and secret balloting were resumed shortly after. MPs from smaller opposition parties and recently resigned ruling coalition parties also supported withdrawing confidence from the leader of the Islamic Renaissance Movement, the largest bloc in parliament, charging that he violated rules of procedure and failed to run the sessions in a partial manner.

The United States on Wednesday imposed fresh sanctions aimed at depriving the Syrian government of funds, and warned that Washington would blacklist anyone doing business with President Bashar al-Assad s government until he supports a negotiated end to the country s nearly decade-long war. Among the 14 blacklisted Wednesday were Assad s son, Hafez, a Syrian businessman and nine entities a senior U.S. official accused of helping to fund the Syrian government s "campaign of terror", as well as the Syrian Arab Army s First Division unit, among others. "The steady drumbeat of designations on persons and entities that support the Assad regime will continue until the regime and its associates cease obstructing a peaceful political resolution of the conflict" as called for by the U.N. Security Council, a senior U.S. official told reporters. The sanctions, imposed under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act and other measures, come as the Syrian leader grapples with a deepening economic crisis after a decade of war. It marks the second round of sanctions imposed by the Washington under the Caesar Act, which aims to deter "bad actors who continue to aid and finance the Assad regime’s atrocities against the Syrian people while simply enriching themselves." "It is time for Assad s needless, brutal war to end.  This, above all, is what our sanctions campaign is meant to bring about," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. Already, U.S. and European Union sanctions have frozen the assets of the Syrian state and hundreds of companies and individuals. Washington has banned American exports to and investment in Syria, as well as transactions involving oil and hydrocarbon products. The new sanctions cover many more sectors, and they can freeze assets of anyone dealing with Syria, regardless of nationality. The measure also targets those dealing with entities from Russia and Iran, Assad’s main backers. Syrian authorities blame Western sanctions for widespread hardship among ordinary residents, where the currency collapse has led to soaring prices and people struggling to afford food and basic supplies.

Lebanon s premier condemned Tuesday a "dangerous military escalation" by Israel after a security incident at the border led the Jewish state to fire artillery across the frontier. "Israel has once again violated Lebanon s sovereignty... in a dangerous military escalation," Hassan Diab said on Twitter, in his government s first official response to Monday s shelling. "I call for caution in the coming days because I fear that things will get worse in light of severe tension at the border," he said. The Israeli army had said a group of three to five men armed with rifles crossed the UN-demarcated Blue Line in the disputed Mount Dov area, claimed by Lebanon, Syria and Israel. It said the "terrorists" had fled back to Lebanon after an exchange of gunfire and that Israeli forces had fired artillery into Lebanon "for defensive purposes". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah and the Lebanese government "carry responsibility" for the infiltration attempt. But Hezbollah, which has a presence in the area where the incident occurred, denied any involvement. It said that reports of Israel thwarting an infiltration from Lebanon are "completely false." United Nations peacekeeping force UNIFIL said it had opened an investigation into the incident. Diab on Tuesday accused Israel of trying to "change the rules of engagement," that have existed between the two countries since the end of a month-long 2006 war -- the last direct conflict between the two states. He also said that Israel was pushing to alter the mandate of UNIFIL before it expires late next month. In early May, the US ambassador to the UN, Kelly Craft, called on the world body to "pursue serious change to empower UNIFIL or realign its staffing and resources," because the mission was being "prevented from fulfilling its mandate." Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah swiftly rejected the proposal which he said was an Israeli demand. The latest border incident follows a July 20 Israeli missile attack on Syrian government and allied positions south of Damascus that killed five people. Hezbollah, whose fighters back Damascus in the nine-year-old Syrian civil war, said one of its own was among the dead. Since 2011, Israel has launched hundreds of strikes in Syria, targeting government troops and allied Iranian and Hezbollah forces with the stated aim of ending Iran s military presence in Syria.

Iran has moved a mock-up U.S. aircraft carrier to the strategic Strait of Hormuz, satellite images show, suggesting it will use the look-alike vessel for target practice in war games in a Gulf shipping channel vital to world oil exports. The use of dummy American warships has become an occasional feature of training by Iran s Revolutionary Guards and its naval forces, including in 2015 when Iranian missiles hit a mock-up resembling a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. Tehran, which opposes the presence of U.S. and Western navies in the Gulf, frequently holds naval war games in the strategic Strait, the conduit for some 30% of all crude and other oil liquids traded by sea. One of the images taken on July 26 by U.S.-based space technology firm Maxar Technologies showed an Iranian fast attack boat moving toward the model U.S. carrier in the strategic waterway. Another image showed model planes lined up on the deck of the fake carrier. Tensions have spiked between Iran and the United States since 2018, when U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from Iran s 2015 nuclear deal with six powers and reimposed sanctions that has sharply dropped Tehran s oil exports. Iran s Guards in April said Tehran would destroy U.S. warships if its security is threatened in the Gulf. Iranian officials have repeatedly threatened to block Hormuz if Iran is not able to export oil or if its nuclear sites are attacked. There have been periodic confrontations between the Iranian Guards and the U.S. military in the Gulf in recent years. U.S. officials have said closing the Strait would be crossing a "red line" and America would take action to reopen it. Iran cannot legally close the waterway unilaterally because part of it is in Omani territorial waters. However, ships that sail it pass through Iranian waters, which are under the responsibility of the Iran s Guards naval force.

Police said Sunday they arrested more than a dozen Israelis in country-wide protests the previous night that drew thousands of people in a growing and persistent show of force against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his handling of the coronavirus crisis. Thousands of people demonstrated outside Netanyahu s official residence in Jerusalem and hundreds gathered in a seaside park in Tel Aviv, demanding Netanyahu s resignation and slamming his response to the crisis. For the first time since the wave of protests began weeks ago, hundreds also assembled outside Netanyahu s private home in the upscale coastal town of Caesarea, where heavy security greeted them. Demonstrators across bridges and intersections waved black flags, the symbol of one of the movements behind the protests that is demanding Netanyahu s ouster. The protests are emerging as among the biggest challenges to Netanyahu s lengthy rule since demonstrations over the cost of living in 2011 drew hundreds of thousands to the streets. They come following what critics say is Netanyahu s fumbling of the coronavirus response and in the shadow of Netanyahu s corruption trial, which resumed earlier this month. At a press conference last week that coincided with protests, Netanyahu addressed the surging protests, warning demonstrators: ``Do not drag the country into anarchy, violence, vandalism. Critics say police have been heavy-handed in trying to clear out the protests, using water cannons to drive them out and in some cases causing injury. Police say that protesters who ignore calls to disperse are removed to restore order. Police fired water cannons on protesters at the Jerusalem protest and said 12 people were arrested there for being involved in disturbances. Two other people were arrested in separate locations for attacking protesters with pepper spray and a knife. Israel appeared to have contained its first wave of coronavirus infections in the spring, with Netanyahu boasting that Israel was among the most successful countries in the world in its response with the virus. But what critics say was a hasty and ill thought out reopening sent new cases soaring, with Israel now claiming one of the world s highest infection rates, adjusted for population. The government, formed with the intention of focusing on combating the virus, has moved slowly and haltingly to contain the new outburst. Israel has since reimposed some restrictions after an extended lockdown in the spring paralyzed its economy. Unemployment has since jumped to more than 20%, from around 3.9% before the outbreak, and anger has grown over the government s financial assistance plans, which have been chided for providing those in need with a pittance or nothing at all. The crisis has brought public confidence in Netanyahu and his government to a nadir, at a time when the Israeli leader could use the support. A court decided earlier this month that Netanyahu s corruption trial will resume in January with three hearings a week, a pace that will keep his legal woes firmly in the public consciousness and raise questions about his ability to simultaneously govern and fend off the accusations against him. Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of scandals involving billionaire associates and media moguls. He denies wrongdoing and accuses the media, judiciary and law enforcement agencies of a conspiracy to topple him against the will of the people.

Greece warned Thursday it will do ``whatever is necessary to defend its sovereign rights in response to plans by neighboring Turkey to proceed with an oil-and-gas research mission south of Greek islands in the Eastern Mediterranean. The dispute over seabed mineral rights has led to increased navy deployments by both NATO members in the region, where a Turkish research vessel, the Oruc Reis, is being prepared for a survey mission. Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas described the mission as a direct violation of Greek sovereignty. ``The government is underlining to all parties that Greece will not accept a violation of its sovereignty and will do whatever is necessary to defend its sovereign rights, Petsas said. Greece and Turkey have been at odds for decades over sea boundaries but recent discoveries of natural gas and drilling plans across the East Mediterranean have exacerbated the dispute. Turkey argues Greek islands should not be included in calculating maritime zones of economic interest - a position that Greece says is a clear violation of international law. Greece has around 6,000 islands and smaller islets in the Aegean and Ionian Seas, more than 200 of them inhabited. The survey ship Oruc Reis remains anchored at the port of Antalya, in southeastern Turkey, but a navigational telex issued by the port says the mission planned through Aug. 2 remains ``valid and effective. In Ankara, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the country s Supreme Military Council and said he had full confidence in the capability of his country s military. ``Historic successes on different fronts, from Syria to Libya, from the Eastern Mediterranean to the fight against terrorism, demonstrate the strength of our country and the capabilities of our armed forces, Erdogan said. The European Union and the United States have called on Turkey to halt its survey plans. ``I want to echo the clear message from Washington and elsewhere in Europe, urging Turkish authorities to halt operations that raise tensions in the region, such as plans to survey for natural resources in areas where Greece and Cyprus assert jurisdiction in the Eastern Mediterranean, said Geoffrey Pyatt, the U.S. ambassador to Greece. ``This is a complex strategic space. We want our friends and allies in the region to approach resource development in the spirit of cooperation that provides a foundation for durable energy security and shared economic prosperity. Unilateral provocative actions were against this aim. Pyatt spoke in the northeast Greek port of Alexandroupolis, where around 2,000 U.S. service members, dozens of helicopters and hundreds of vehicles disembarked. They were to take part in multinational training exercises and be sent to several NATO countries as part of regular troop rotation.

The World Health Organization s actions during the coronavirus pandemic led to "dead Britons", US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told lawmakers during a trip to London, British media reported Wednesday. Pompeo told a private meeting of MPs on Tuesday that the WHO had become a "political" body, alleging that its decisions were influenced by a deal struck between chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and China that helped him become its head, according to quotes in the Times and Daily Telegraph. "When push came to shove, when it really mattered most", people died "because of the deal that was made", he said. Pompeo was in Britain for meetings with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab focused on China, and met some Conservative party MPs during a private morning event. The WHO said it rejected "ad hominem attacks and unfounded allegations". "WHO urges countries to remain focused on tackling the pandemic that is causing tragic loss of life and suffering," a spokesperson for the organisation said Tuesday, according to the Telegraph. The US announced earlier this month that it would be withdrawing from the WHO, accusing it of being controlled by China. US President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that the coronavirus crisis in the US is likely to "get worse before it gets better". "Some areas of our country are doing very well," Trump said at his first formal White House virus briefing since the end of April. Trump urged Americans to wear facemasks to help prevent the spread of the highly contagious virus which has left more than 141,000 people dead in the US.

Turkey must stop drilling for natural resources in waters in the eastern Mediterranean if there is to be progress in EU-Turkey ties, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said during a visit to Athens on Tuesday. Maas, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, was meeting in Athens with his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias, as well as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and President Katerina Sakellaropoulou. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said last week that Turkey would start seismic research and drilling operations in contested waters that are covered by an agreement between Ankara and Libya s UN-recognised government in Tripoli. "Regarding Turkey s drilling in the eastern Mediterranean, we have a very clear position - international law must be respected so progress in EU-Turkey relations is only possible if Ankara stops provocations in the eastern Mediterranean," Maas said in an effort to head off a potential crisis with neighboring Greece. Late last year, the EU imposed economic sanctions on Turkey for drilling off the coast of Cyprus. NATO allies Greece and Turkey are at odds over drilling rights in the region, with the EU and the United States increasingly critical of Ankara s plans to expand exploration and drilling operations in the coming weeks into areas Athens claims as its own. "At the same time, within the European Union we see the need to engage in dialogue with Turkey," Maas said. Greece is hoping Germany will use its influence with Turkey to press for progress in negotiations. Earlier this month, Germany hosted unannounced talks with Greek and Turkish officials to try and restart discussions. Turkey has accused Greece of trying to exclude it from the benefits of oil and gas finds in the Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, arguing that sea boundaries for commercial exploitation should be divided between the Greek and Turkish mainland and not include the Greek islands on an equal basis. Athens rejects the argument as being in clear violation of international law. Greece is pressing other EU member states to prepare ``crippling sanctions against Turkey if it proceeds with its oil-and-gas exploration plans which are expected to start in September, according to Turkey s state-run oil company, TPAO. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell last week said he would launch an initiative to engage Turkey in talks, citing ``worrying developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and the civil war in Libya.

A United Arab Emirates spacecraft rocketed into blue skies from a Japanese launch center Monday at the start of a seven-month journey to Mars on the Arab world s first interplanetary mission. The liftoff of the Mars orbiter named Amal, or Hope, starts a rush to fly to Earth s neighbor that is scheduled to be followed in the next few days by China and the United States. At the space center in Dubai, people watching were transfixed by the liftoff, then cheered and clapped, with one woman with offering a celebratory cry common for weddings. Amal blasted off from the Tanegashima Space Center aboard a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-IIA rocket on time at 6:58 a.m. (2158 GMT Sunday) after being delayed five days by bad weather. Mitsubishi later said the probe successfully separated from the rocket and was now on its solo journey to Mars. The probe was sending signals that would be analyzed later but everything appeared good for now, Omran Sharaf, the UAE Mars mission director told journalists in Dubai about an hour and a half after liftoff. Amal is set to reach Mars in February 2021, the year the UAE celebrates 50 years since the country s formation. In September that year, Amal will start transmitting Martian atmospheric data, which will be made available to the international scientific community, Sharaf said. ``The UAE is now a member of the club and we will learn more and we will engage more and we ll continue developing our space exploration program, UAE Space Agency chief Mohammed Al Ahbabi told a joint online news conference from Tanegashima. At Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai, Emirati men in their traditional white kandora robes and women in their black abayas watched the liftoff. As its stages separated, a cheer went out from men seated on the floor. They began clapping, one using his face mask, worn due to the coronavirus pandemic, to wipe away a tear. ``It was great to see everything going according to schedule today. It looks like things are all on track. It s a huge step in terms of space exploration to have a nation like the UAE taking that giant leap to send a spacecraft to Mars, said Fred Watson, Australia s astronomer-at-large. ``Being on route to a planet like Mars is an exceptional achievement. A newcomer in space development, the UAE has successfully put three Earth observation satellites into orbit. Two were developed by South Korea and launched by Russia, and a third _ its own _ was launched by Japan. A successful mission to Mars would be a major step for the oil-dependent economy seeking a future in space, coming less than a year after the launch of the first UAE astronaut, Hazzaa Ali Almansoori. He spent over a week at the International Space Station last fall. The UAE has set a goal to build a human colony on Mars by 2117. ``It sends a very strong message to the Arab youth that if the UAE is able to reach Mars in less than 50 years, they could do much more, Sharaf told The Associated Press on Sunday as his colleagues prepared for the launch. The Emiratis also acknowledged it represented a step forward for the Arab world, the home of mathematicians and scientists for centuries before the wars and chaos that have gripped wide swathes of it in recent times. ``So the region has been going through tough times in the past decades, if not centuries, Sharaf said. ``Now we have the case of the UAE, a country that s moving forward with its plans, looking at the future and the future of region also. For its first Mars mission, the UAE chose partners instead of doing it all on its own. ``Developing a spacecraft is not easy even if there is ample funding, said Junya Terazono, an astronomer at Aizu University. Emirati scientists worked with researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder, University of California, Berkeley, and Arizona State University. The spacecraft was assembled at Boulder and transported to Japan as the two countries looked to expand their ties with the rich and politically stable Middle Eastern nation. The Amal spacecraft, along with its launch, cost $200 million, according to Sharaf. Operation costs at Mars have yet to be divulged. Amal, about the size of a small car, carries three instruments to study the upper atmosphere and monitor climate change while circling the red planet for at least two years. It is set to follow up on NASA s Maven orbiter sent to Mars in 2014 to study how the planet went from a warm, wet world that may have harbored microbial life during its first billion years, to the cold, barren place of today. Hope also plans to send back images of weather changes. Japan has long collaborated with the U.S. and other partners in defense and space technology, and the resource-poor country has traditionally kept friendly ties with Middle Eastern countries. Japan s launch services are known for accuracy and an on-time record, but the providers are working to cut costs to be more internationally competitive. Two other Mars missions are planned in coming days. China aims to explore the Martian surface with an orbiter and rover and to search for water and ice with a launch expected around Thursday. The U.S. plans to send a rover named Perseverance to search for signs of ancient life and collect rock and soil samples for return to Earth. Liftoff is targeted for July 30. Japan has its own Mars mission planned in 2024. It plans to send spacecraft to the Martian moon Phobos to collect samples to bring back to Earth in 2029.