UAE space traveller Sultan Al Neyadi may be more than 400km above Earth, but he never feels too far away from home.
The astronaut took a tour of the Arabian Peninsula from the best window seat there is, on board the International Space Station.
Dr Al Neyadi shared footage of the region as seen from space — including the UAE — in his latest message on social media on Wednesday.
He pointed out a number of capitals and cities, including Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Muscat in Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq and Kuwait, as well as the Emirates.
The recording was taken from an observation module on the station.
“We are currently passing over the Arabian Peninsula,” said Dr Al Neyadi, while narrating the snapshot of Earth.
“It's morning, and there is nothing better than starting the day by admiring our country.”
Dr Al Neyadi is seen opening a window on the cupola to share the “beautiful view” with his social media followers back on Earth.
“As you can see the view is stunning,” he said.
The astronaut from Al Ain looked down at the vast Empty Quarter, before taking a closer look at Liwa, the hometown of his fellow Emirati astronaut, Maj Hazza Al Mansouri.
He then showed the landscapes of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, making mention of the man-made islands Palm Jumeirah, an area regularly captured by astronauts on the ISS.
“We crossed the Arabian Peninsula in a few minutes,” Sultan Al Neyadi said of his guided tour.
The ISS orbits the Earth at a speed of 27,000 kph,
“And it is very quick. This morning I wanted to share these special moments with you as we passed over my country, which I dearly miss, and saw its terrain and beautiful views.”
Dr Al Neyadi marked the start of Ramadan by sharing views of the crescent Moon becoming visible after the Sun set.
He arrived at the orbiting laboratory on March 3 for a six-month mission, the Arab world’s first long-duration space trip.
Dr Al Neyadi has offered the public regular glimpses of life aboard in space on social media.
Sultan Al Neyadi in space - in pictures
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
How to play the stock market recovery in 2021?
If you are looking to build your long-term wealth in 2021 and beyond, the stock market is still the best place to do it as equities powered on despite the pandemic.
Investing in individual stocks is not for everyone and most private investors should stick to mutual funds and ETFs, but there are some thrilling opportunities for those who understand the risks.
Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank, says the 20 best-performing US and European stocks have delivered an average return year-to-date of 148 per cent, measured in local currency terms.
Online marketplace Etsy was the best performer with a return of 330.6 per cent, followed by communications software company Sinch (315.4 per cent), online supermarket HelloFresh (232.8 per cent) and fuel cells specialist NEL (191.7 per cent).
Mr Garnry says digital companies benefited from the lockdown, while green energy firms flew as efforts to combat climate change were ramped up, helped in part by the European Union’s green deal.
Electric car company Tesla would be on the list if it had been part of the S&P 500 Index, but it only joined on December 21. “Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies in the world this year as demand for electric vehicles has grown dramatically,” Mr Garnry says.
By contrast, the 20 worst-performing European stocks fell 54 per cent on average, with European banks hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while cruise liners and airline stocks suffered due to travel restrictions.
As demand for energy fell, the oil and gas industry had a tough year, too.
Mr Garnry says the biggest story this year was the “absolute crunch” in so-called value stocks, companies that trade at low valuations compared to their earnings and growth potential.
He says they are “heavily tilted towards financials, miners, energy, utilities and industrials, which have all been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic”. “The last year saw these cheap stocks become cheaper and expensive stocks have become more expensive.”
This has triggered excited talk about the “great value rotation” but Mr Garnry remains sceptical. “We need to see a breakout of interest rates combined with higher inflation before we join the crowd.”
Always remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Last year’s winners often turn out to be this year’s losers, and vice-versa.
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