��������Ƶ

LONDON: Omani space startup Oman Lens launched the country’s first full-fledged satellite, which will enable Muscat to collect data and detailed images for urban planning, forestry monitoring, and disaster management.

The OL-1 satellite, equipped with artificial intelligence technologies, was launched into space by the Chinese rocket manufacturer CAS Space from the Gobi Desert on Monday and was registered under Oman’s name at the International Telecommunication Organization.

OL-1 is the country’s first advanced and locally developed optical satellite for artificial intelligence computing, specializing in remote sensing and earth observation capabilities, the Oman News Agency reported.

It is fully prepared to monitor Oman from space, capture high-resolution images in real time, collect detailed images of Oman’s landscapes, infrastructure and natural resources, and transmit data faster than traditional satellites.

The launch of the OL-1 satellite was the outcome of a strategic partnership between Star Vision, a Chinese aerospace company, and the Omani government-owned Mars Development and Investment Co., to serve public and private sectors in the country as part of Oman Vision 2040, which aims to diversify the economy.

Oman Lens is planning to launch a constellation of satellites over the next five years, develop new technologies for smart cities, and enhance data analysis in cooperation with its partners, ONA reported.

In November 2020, Oman pledged to launch its first satellite into space in 2024, saying that the private sector was to take the initiative to achieve this goal.

BEIRUT: Hezbollah said on Monday that the Israeli military has been incapable of occupying even a single village in Lebanon since launching cross-border ground operations six weeks ago.
Israeli troops on September 30 began what the military called “localized and targeted raids” against Hezbollah in Lebanon’s southern border area, a week after escalating air strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
“After 45 days of bloody fighting, the enemy is still unable to occupy a single Lebanese village,” Hezbollah spokesman Mohammad Afif told a news conference in south Beirut, a stronghold of the movement and a repeated target of Israeli air raids.
Hezbollah, armed and financed by Iran, had on October 23 issued a similar statement that said Israel’s army “has not been able to fully establish its control or completely occupy any village” in southern Lebanon.
Israel has said its aim is to make its northern border safe for the return of tens of thousands of Israelis displaced when Hezbollah began cross-border fire, which it described as support for Hamas Palestinian militants in Gaza, more than a year ago.
On November 3, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told troops at the Lebanon border that the operation aimed to push Hezbollah back over the Litani River.
He said a second goal was to stop any attempt to rearm and the third was “to respond firmly to any action taken against us,” according to his office.
On Monday Hezbollah spokesman Afif said the group’s fighters had repulsed Israeli troops in Khiam, about six kilometers (four miles) from the border.
He added that the Israelis also failed in attempts “to penetrate on several fronts at Bint Jbeil,” about 17 kilometers southwest of Khiam.
Footage verified by AFP last week showed massive detonations in the village of Mais Al-Jabal, between Bint Jbeil and Khiam. Similar aerial scenes have been captured from several border villages since Israel sent in ground troops.
Hezbollah accuses Israel of seeking to create a “no man’s land” on the frontier.
Afif denied that Israeli strikes on Lebanon had diminished the group’s missile stock.
He asked how that could be the case “when we targeted the suburbs of Tel Aviv several days ago” and employed for the first time Fateh missiles.
The group announced on November 6 that it had begun to use Fateh-110 Iranian-made surface-to-surface guided missiles.
In a March report, the Center for Strategic and International Studies described Hezbollah as “probably the most heavily armed non-state group in the world,” with an estimated 120,000-200,000 rockets and missiles.
Asked about ceasefire prospects, Afif said that since the election of Donald Trump last week to the United States presidency, there were “contacts between Washington, Moscow, Tehran and other capitals.”
But he said, “according to my information nothing official has reached Hezbollah or the Lebanese state.”
Israeli strikes killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and other commanders but Afif said the group remains “ready for a long war.”