India has become the first country to land on the Moon's south pole after its Vikram craft touched down softly on the surface on Wednesday.
The historic moment, streamed live by the Indian space agency, was watched by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and millions around the world.
This was India's first successful lunar landing and paves the way for the country's ambitious space programme, including further, more complex missions to the Moon and beyond.
The Vikram lander, part of India's Chandrayaan-3 mission, touched down in the south pole region at 4.34pm UAE time.
India is now the fourth country to softly land on the Moon, after the US, the former Soviet Union and China.
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed offered his congratulations to India on the milestone achievement.
"The successful lunar landing of India's Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft represents a significant leap for collective scientific progress," he wrote on social media.
"I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India for this historic achievement in service of humankind."
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, also offered his best wishes to India on its successful Moon landing.
"Congratulations to our friends in India for the successful landing on the Moon," he said, writing on social media.
"Nations are built through perseverance, India continues to make history."
'Dawn of new India'
Mr Modi, who was speaking remotely from South Africa, said it signalled a new era for India.
"When we see such historic moments it makes us very proud. This is the dawn of new India," the Prime Minister said.
"India is now on the Moon. Like every citizen of our country, my heart was also with the Chandrayaan mission.
"Every person is celebrating. I am also celebrating with my family on this day.
"I congratulate every citizen, Isro [Indian Space Research Organisation] and the world with all of my heart."
More than 8 million people were watching Isro's live stream on YouTube, which beamed views of the lunar surface from Vikram's camera.
Isro's mission control erupted in applause when the craft safely touched the surface.
Race to the lunar south pole
Engineers will now spend the next few days monitoring the health of Vikram before a small rover, called Pragyan, is activated from inside of it.
Both will spend one lunar day, or 14 Earth days, studying the Moon's surface and taking images of the unexplored area.
The landing paves the way for the country to develop technology that could help in lunar mining.
The region is said to be rich with water ice that could be used to fuel spacecraft. It is also thought to hold other resources, such as metals and minerals.
Shri Charan Padala, principal analyst for the thematic intelligence team at GlobalData, said on Wednesday before the landing: "Chandrayaan-3, if successful in landing at the south pole, gives India a head start in developing the infrastructure and technology needed to mine these resources."
“However, formidable technological hurdles loom India’s lunar mining ambitions.
"One of the biggest challenges is the harsh environment of the Moon.
"The Moon is bombarded by radiation from the Sun and its surface is covered in dust that can be abrasive and corrosive.
"Designing space tech that can withstand these harsh conditions is a highly complex process."
India's space ambitions
The cost of the Chandrayaan-3 mission is 6.15 billion rupees ($74.2 million), while Russia's Luna-25 mission reportedly had a price tag of $200 million.
Luna-25 crashed on the lunar surface a few days after carrying out a manoeuvre which did not go as planned.
This was India's second attempt at a Moon landing. Its Vikram lander, part of the Chandrayaan-2 mission, previously crash-landed due to a software issue.
India is investing more in its space programme as it lines up more missions to the Moon and is preparing sending its first citizens to low-Earth orbit.
Isro is developing a capsule and rocket capable of sending astronauts to space.
It has already reached Mars orbit in 2014 – one of the cheapest Mars missions to date at a cost of $73 million.
India is leading the way for relatively low-cost space missions.
Mobile phone packages comparison
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 2,200m; Winner: Gurm, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Al Nafece, Al Muatasm Al Balushi, Mohammed Ramadan
6pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: Ashton Tourettes, Adrie de Vries, Ibrahim Aseel
6.30pm: Arabian Triple Crown – Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Ottoman, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7pm: Liwa Oasis – Group 2 (PA) 300,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Hakeemat Muscat, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Ganbaru, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
PREMIER LEAGUE STATS
Romelu Lukaku's goalscoring statistics in the Premier League
Season/club/appearances (substitute)/goals
2011/12 Chelsea: 8(7) - 0
2012/13 West Brom (loan): 35(15) - 17
2013/14 Chelsea: 2(2) - 0
2013/14 Everton (loan): 31(2) - 15
2014/15 Everton: 36(4) - 10
2015/16 Everton: 37(1) - 18
2016/17 Everton: 37(1) - 25
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures: Monday, first 50-over match; Wednesday, second 50-over match; Thursday, third 50-over match
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LUKA CHUPPI
Director: Laxman Utekar
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Cinema
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Aparshakti Khurana
Rating: 3/5
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
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Joe Root's Test record
Tests: 53; Innings: 98; Not outs: 11; Runs: 4,594; Best score: 254; Average: 52.80; 100s: 11; 50s: 27
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The biog
Age: 30
Position: Senior lab superintendent at Emirates Global Aluminium
Education: Bachelor of science in chemical engineering, post graduate degree in light metal reduction technology
Favourite part of job: The challenge, because it is challenging
Favourite quote: “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” Gandi
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
The bio
Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district
Was a middle distance state athletics champion in school
Enjoys driving to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah with family
His dream is to continue working as a social worker and help people
Has seven diaries in which he has jotted down notes about his work and money he earned
Keeps the diaries in his car to remember his journey in the Emirates
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
Bloomsbury Academic
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
Rating: 2/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Palestine and Israel - live updates
MATCH INFO
Group B
Bayern Munich v Tottenham, midnight (Thursday)