<i>Welcome to The National's weekly newsletter Beshara, where we share the most positive stories of the week.</i> It's been a week of ill health in our household, with everyone catching some sort of lurgy (a British word I love that means an unspecified illness). I think I may even have heard the cat sneezing at some point. Needless to say, I required some cheering up, and writing this week's edition has been just the tonic. <i>The National</i> has been bursting with people, nations and organisations doing great things, all covered by our brilliant journalists. Take FC Masar, Egypt's women's football league and cup winners who are drawing attention in the Confederation of African Football Champions League after a meteoric rise. The Cairo-based team's players all have professional contracts, and those in university are supported to study and play at the highest level. The strategy of the club's owners and commitment of its staff and players are not only improving the lives of those at the club, but raising the standards of women's football across Egypt. Find out more about how FC Masar <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2024/11/18/fc-maser-women-football-egypt/" target="_blank">here</a>, and read on for tales of space, saving the planet and AI telling the stories of the UAE. Have a great weekend, Taylor Some of our team have been in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the UN Cop29 climate conference over the past two weeks. At the time of writing this, a deal has not been reached, and it doesn't look hopeful. Some in attendance have called the draft agreement "unacceptable" and "deeply disappointing" due to its lack of detail on financing. Excuse me for crowbarring in three stories here, but if politicians can't deliver substantive change at these events, it is comforting to know that scientists, activists and entrepreneurs are still hunting out solutions to the planet's woes. Climate Editor Rachel Kelly wrote about the success of a UAE-US partnership to use <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/climate/2024/11/18/bid-to-use-humidity-to-boost-rainfall-backed-by-uae-us-climate-action-partnership/" target="_blank">humidity to boost rainfall</a>; Tim Stickings explored how India and Pakistan can tackle their <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/climate/2024/11/21/trees-rice-and-prefab-homes-ideas-to-clean-up-india-and-pakistans-air/" target="_blank">suffocating smog issues</a>; and a seed project was revealed by John Dennehy to have <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/climate/2024/11/18/farmers-overcome-growing-pains-in-bid-to-defeat-climate-change/" target="_blank">increased crop yields</a> tenfold in Rwanda. – Media manager <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uae/2024/11/21/emirati-ai-arabic-features/" target="_blank">Abdulla Alsharhan</a> on his AI model that accurately represents the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/" target="_blank">UAE's</a> traditional dress, cultural landmarks and Arabic heritage Oman is ready to follow the UAE and Saudi Arabia in setting its sights on space, as plans to launch an experimental vehicle from its spaceport in the south of the sultanate were revealed. The National Aerospace Services Company, which is overseeing the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/2024/01/10/omani-spaceport-could-be-launching-rockets-by-2030/" target="_blank">Etlaq spaceport</a> being developed in the port town of Duqm, said it will conduct “an experimental vehicle launch” in December. It has been designed to handle all sizes of vehicles, with three complexes for micro, large orbital and suborbital craft. The spaceport is expected to become fully operational by 2030, and is considered by analysts to be a smart move by a nation looking to diversify its income away from oil. Learn more about how the Gulf's location makes it an ideal launch site for spacecraft and what else there is to know about the launch <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/future/space/2024/11/19/oman-set-for-experimental-rocket-launch-from-spaceport-in-december/" target="_blank">here</a>.
