America's top infectious diseases official has raised concerns over the safety of COVID-19 vaccines being developed by China and Russia as the world scrambles for answers to a pandemic the WHO warned will be felt for decades.

The oil-rich United Arab Emirates on Saturday announced the startup of its Barakah nuclear power plant, scoring another first for the Arab world.

An Israeli company is developing a coronavirus breathalyzer test that gives results in 30 seconds, billing it as a "front line" tool that can help restore a sense of normality during the pandemic.

China launched a rover to Mars on Thursday, a journey coinciding with a similar US mission as the powers take their rivalry into deep space.

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.

A Japanese rocket carrying the first Arab mission to Mars will blast into space on Monday, after being delayed by bad weather, the launch company said Friday.

Britain's cyber-security agency on Thursday accused a hacking group it said "almost certainly" operates as part of Russian intelligence services of trying to steal research into potential coronavirus vaccines.

The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday it would delay the launch of its "Hope" Mars probe for a second time, again due to bad weather.

The United Arab Emirates announced Tuesday the postponement of the launch of its "Hope" Mars probe due to weather conditions at Japan's Tanegashima Space Center. 

Daniel Gold, who led the team that invented Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system, has a history of safeguarding the country against what he identifies as existential threats.