Latest from Radio Kef
Forbes
28 minutes ago
- Automotive
- Forbes
Tesla Misses Robotaxi Launch Date, Goes With Safety Drivers
A vehicle Tesla is using for robotaxi testing purposes in Austin, Texas, US, on Friday, June 20, ... More 2025.. Photographer: Eli Hartman/Bloomberg Tesla's much-anticipated June 22 'no one in the vehicle' Robotaxi launch in Austin is not ready. Instead, Tesla has announced to its invite-only passengers that it will operate a limited service with Tesla employees on board the vehicle to maintain safety. Tesla will use an approach that was used in 2019 by Russian robotaxi company Yandex, putting the safety driver in the passengers seat rather than the driver's seat. (Yandex's robotaxi was divested from Russian and now is called AVRide.) Having an employee on board, commonly called a safety driver, is the approach that every robocar company has used for testing, including testing of passenger operations. Most companies spend many years (Waymo spent a decade) testing with safety drivers, and once they are ready to take passengers, there are typically some number of years testing in that mode, though the path to removing the safety driver depends primarily on evaluation of the safety case for the vehicle, and less on the presence of passengers. Tesla has put on some other restrictions--rides will be limited to 6am to midnight (the opposite of Cruise's first operations, which were only at night) and riders come from an invite-only list (as was also the case for Waymo, and Cruise and others in their early days.) Rides will be limited to a restricted service area (often mistakenly called a 'geofence') which avoids complex and difficult streets and intersections. Rides will be unavailable in inclement weather, which also can happen with other vehicles, though fairly rarely today. Tesla FSD is known to disable itself if rain obscures some of its cameras--only the front cameras have a rain wiper. The fleet will be small. Waymo started testing with safety drivers in 2009, gave rides to passengers with safety drivers in 2017, and without safety drivers in 2020 in the Phoenix area. Cruise had a much shorter period with passengers and safety drivers. Motional has given rides for years but has never removed the safety driver. Most Chinese companies spent a few years doing it. Giving passengers rides requires good confidence in the safety of the system+safety driver combination, but taking the passengers does not alter how well the vehicle drives, except perhaps around pick-up and drop-off. (While a vehicle is more at liberty to make hard stops with no passengers on board, I am aware of no vehicle which takes advantage of this.) As such we have no information on whether Tesla will need their safety drivers for a month or a several years, or even forever with current hardware. Passenger's Seat vs. Driver's Seat Almost all vehicles use a safety driver behind the wheel. Tesla's will be in the passenger seat, in a situation similar to that used by driving instructors for student human drivers. While unconfirmed by Tesla, the employee in the passenger seat can grab the wheel and steer. Because stock Teslas have fully computer controlled brake and acceleration, they might equip the driver with electronic pedals. Some reports have suggested they have a hand controller or other ways to command the vehicle to brake. There is no value to putting the safety driver on the passengers side. It is no safer than being behind the wheel, and believed by most to be less safe because of the unusual geometr20 November 2024, Berlin: A prototype of the Tesla Cybercab stands in a showroom in the Mall of Berlin. Photo: Hannes P. Albert/dpa (Photo by Hannes P Albert/picture alliance via Getty Images)y. It's hard to come up with any reason other than just how it looks. Tesla can state the vehicles have 'nobody in the driver's seat' in order to attempt to impress the public. The driving school system works, so it's not overtly dangerous, but in that case there's an obvious reason for it that's not optics. Tesla Cybercab concept. With only 2 seats and no controls, not very suitable for a safety driver. ... More These are not being used in Tesla's Austin pilot. That said, most robocar prototypes, including Tesla supervised FSD, are reasonably safe with capable safety drivers. A negligent and poorly managed safety driver in an Uber ATG test vehicle killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona when the safety driver completely ignored her job, but otherwise these systems have a good record. The combination of Tesla Autopilot and a supervising driver has a reasonable record. (The record is not nearly as good as some people think Tesla claims. Every quarter, Tesla publishes a deeply misleading report comparing the combination of Tesla Autopilot plus supervisor to the general crash rate, but they report airbag deployments for the Teslas mostly on freeways and compare it without general crash numbers on all roads for general drivers. This makes it seem Autopilot is many times safer than regular drivers when it's actually similar, a serious and deceitful misrepresentation.) As noted, Yandex, now AVRide, has used safety drivers in the passenger seat, and has done so in Austin--also speculated to be mostly for optics, though there are some legal jurisdictions where companies shave made this move because the law requires safety drivers and they hope to convey an aura of not needing them. This has also been the case in China.) When Cruise did their first 'driverless' demo ride in San Francisco, they had an employee in the passengers seat. So Tesla has been ready to run with safety drivers for years. What's tested here isn't the safety of the cars, but all the complexity of handling passengers, including the surprising problems of good PuDo (Pick-up/Drop-off.) Whether Teslas can operate a safe robotaxi with nobody onboard, particularly with their much more limited sensor hardware, remains to be seen. Other Paths To Launch Tesla apparently experimented with different paths to getting out on the road before they are ready to run unsupervised. In particular, vehicles were seen with the passenger seat safety driver, and also being followed by a 'chase car' with two on board. Reports also came of Tesla planning for 'lots of tele-ops' including not just remote assistance (as all services do) but remote supervision including remote driving. We may speculate that Tesla evaluated many different approaches: Because Elon Musk promised 'nobody in the car' and 'unsupervised' in the most recent Tesla earnings call, there was great pressure to produce #1, but the Tesla team must have concluded they could not do that yet, and made the right choice, though #3 is a better choice than #4. They also did not feel up to #2, which is commonly speculated to be what other companies have done on their first launch, later graduating to #1 #5 just looks goofy, I think the optics would not work, and it's also challenging. Remote driving is real and doable--in spite of the latency and connectivity issues of modern data networks--but perhap Tesla could not get it ready in time. All teams use remote assistance operators who do not drive the cars, but can give them advice when they get confused by a situation, and stop and ask for advice. Even Waymo recently added a minor remote driving ability for low-speed 'get the car out off the road' sort of operations. I have recommended this for some time. It is worth noting the contrast beween Cruise's 'night only' launch and Tesla's mostly-daytime one. Cruise selected the night because there is less traffic and complexity. LIDARs see very well at night. Tesla's camera-based system has very different constraints at night and many fear it's inferior then. On the other hand Tesla will operate in some night hours and with more cars and pedestrians on the street. The question for Tesla will be whether the use of safety drivers is a very temporary thing, done just because they weren't quite ready but needed to meet the announced date, or a multi-year program as it has been for most teams. Tesla is famous for not meeting the forecast ship dates for its FSD system, so it's not shocking that this pattern continues. The bigger question is whether they can do it at all. Tesla FSD 13, the version available to Tesla owners, isn't even remotely close to robotaxi ready. If Tesla has made a version which is closer, through extra work, training and severe limitations of the problem space, it's still a big accomplishment. This will be seen in the coming months. Two robocar teams had severe interactions with pedestrians. Both those teams, and one pedestrian, are dead. Tesla knows they must not make mistakes.
Iraqi News
30 minutes ago
- Business
- Iraqi News
Iraq's weekly oil exports to US rise significantly
Baghdad ( – The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed on Sunday that Iraq's weekly oil exports to the United States significantly increased during the last week. The US imported an average of 4.96 million barrels of crude oil per day from ten major countries last week, according to the EIA. This is a 492,000-barrel-per-day decline compared to the previous week, when US oil imports reached nearly 5.45 million barrels per day, according to Shafaq News. Iraq's oil exports to the United States reached 213,000 barrels per day last week, representing an increase of 129,000 barrels per day compared to the previous week, when Iraq exported 84,000 barrels per day to the US. According to the EIA, Canada accounted for the majority of the United States' crude oil imports over the previous week, with an average of 3.22 million barrels per day, followed by Mexico with 394,000 barrels per day, Saudi Arabia with 356,000 barrels per day, Brazil with 173,000 barrels per day, and Nigeria with 137,000 barrels per day. An average of 136,000 barrels were imported daily by the United States from Ecuador, 132,000 barrels from Venezuela, 110,000 barrels from Colombia, and 90,000 barrels from Libya.
Iraqi News
30 minutes ago
- Politics
- Iraqi News
Egypt hails Iraqi proposal to achieve Israel-Iran ceasefire
Baghdad ( – The Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Badr Abdel-Atty, praised on Saturday a proposal put forward by Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein during Arab foreign ministers' meeting to achieve a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. Hussein recommended forming an Arab-Islamic committee to facilitate contact and engagement with the United States, European countries, and Iran to achieve a ceasefire and return to the negotiating table. Abdel-Atty's remarks took place during his meeting with Hussein on the sidelines of the 51st session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held in the Turkish city of Istanbul, according to a statement released by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. The meeting addressed the catastrophic developments in the region as a result of Israel's aggression against Iran. The two ministers highlighted the importance of increased diplomatic efforts and practical initiatives taken by all parties to de-escalate the military situation and prevent further regional deterioration. The two ministers emphasized the crucial role of coordination and collaborative interaction in preventing further escalation, which might jeopardize the region's security and stability. They also underlined the need to maintain regional peace and work together to prevent the Israel-Iran conflict from escalating.
Al Etihad
31 minutes ago
- Health
- Al Etihad
ADAFSA Reference Centre for Camel Diseases leads UAE to global prominence in camel health research on World Camel Day
22 June 2025 17:25 ABU DHABI (WAM)In celebration of World Camel Day on June 22, 2025, global attention turns to the historical, economic and cultural significance of camels—especially within the Middle East and Gulf region. This annual event aligns with global efforts to advance veterinary care for camels, strengthen biosecurity, and sustain the camel-rearing sector, which is vital to food Dhabi and the UAE have affirmed their leadership in this domain through the ADAFSA Reference Centre for Camel Diseases, officially recognised by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) in May 2022 as the first centre of its kind dedicated to camel this occasion, ADAFSA announced that the Centre has delivered a landmark series of scientific achievements, establishing approximately 200 advanced laboratory assays, processing over 300,000 camel samples, and providing more than one million diagnosis services—highlighting its advanced diagnostic capabilities and readiness to address disease outbreaks and emergencies. The Centre has performed whole-genome sequencing on 50 pathogens to identify virulent strains, enabling authorities to implement targeted disease control measures. It has also submitted 47 new genomic sequences to a global gene bank, reinforcing the UAE's position in camel disease a groundbreaking discovery, the Centre's experts became the first globally to detect the Wesselsbron virus (WSLV) in clinical and post-mortem samples from Ethiopian camels—a breakthrough that may explain mysterious camel fatalities over the past two findings were unveiled at the 26th African Regional Conference of WOAH, attended by senior officials and international delegates, further enhancing the Centre's and UAE's reputation in epidemiological diagnostics and global with cutting-edge molecular biology, full-genome sequencing, and bioinformatics platforms, the Centre supports early detection of infectious agents and provides diagnostic advisory services to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, and other nations engaged in camel bolster its role, the Centre has launched the UAE's first biobank following global standards, storing over one million biological specimens, including reference material and specialised cells for camel and other animal disease diagnostics. The biobank supports the development of diagnostic reagents and kits, informs early-warning vaccine research, safeguards genetic diversity, and facilitates future disease preparedness Centre also leads a regional capacity-building initiative by delivering annual proficiency testing programmes, aligned with ISO/IEC 17025 standards, involving 33 regional and international laboratories from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Sudan, Jordan, Syria, and Italy. Additionally, it has organised over 20 training workshops and lectures for veterinarians, students, and researchers, and participated in more than 45 scientific conferences nationally and internationally. Its experts serve on WOAH technical committees, offering guidance on camel diseases such as trypanosomiasis, reinforcing its leadership in setting global biosecurity has also developed the Camel Health Network for the Middle East ("CAMNET"), a platform for collaboration across the Gulf, Jordan, Yemen, and Iraq. CAMNET has trained over 500 personnel to enhance regional veterinary laboratory quality. The Centre produced educational kits covering pathological anatomy, parasitology, and bacteriology, distributed to member countries to support veterinary education and field Centre has introduced the world's first proficiency-testing scheme for small ruminant pox virus assays in camels, in partnership with France's reference laboratory (CIRAD), and obtained the global ISO/IEC 17043:2023 accreditation—the first organisation globally to achieve this in camel disease Abdi Mohamed, Director of the Biosecurity Affairs Division at ADAFSA, underlined that the Reference Centre represents a realisation of UAE leadership's vision to preserve cultural heritage and bolsters food security through state-of-the-art science. She emphasised: 'We are proud that the UAE is the first nation in the world to host a WOAH‑accredited centre dedicated to camel diseases, underlining our global leadership in veterinary diagnostics and biosecurity.'She added that the centre plays a vital role in strengthening regional and international cooperation and supports the UAE's efforts in achieving food security and safeguarding animal resources. This aligns with the UAE's strategic vision for sustainable noted that the UAE and Abu Dhabi took the initiative to adopt the Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases' proposal during meetings held in Abu Dhabi and Italy in 2014–2015, which called for the establishment of a regional centre specialising in camel diseases in the Middle East. This initiative aimed to bridge knowledge gaps, enhance diagnostic capabilities, conduct epidemiological research, and facilitate knowledge May 2022, these efforts culminated in the official recognition of the Collaborating Centre for Camel Diseases by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), making it the world's first specialised centre of its kind, headquartered in Abu Dhabi, and providing diagnostic and advisory services regionally and confirmed that the centre is equipped with the latest diagnostic technologies, including advanced molecular biology tools, full and partial genome sequencing, bioinformatics, and facilities for cultivating high-risk pathogens. It also houses a biobank and camel-specific pathological anatomy capabilities, allowing for the collection of high-quality laboratory infrastructure supports early detection and identification of novel, emerging, or epidemic pathogens—strengthening national biosecurity and food safety systems and enhancing the country's emergency preparedness and response line with the One Health approach, Abdi pointed out the centre's pivotal role in combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR), through antibiotic susceptibility testing and contributions to peer-reviewed scientific publications on AMR. It also manages a dedicated biobank of resistant microbial isolates. The centre conducts annual awareness campaigns and participates in global partnerships, such as the UAE–UK Biosecurity Alliance, further strengthening its position as a strategic partner in advancing global also highlighted the centre's strong track record in global scientific research, having published over 30 papers in leading peer-reviewed journals. The centre has issued an atlas and a specialised reference book on camel diseases and established the Camel Health Network for the Middle East (CAMNET) to foster regional cooperation and training. To date, over 500 trainees from countries in the region have benefitted. Among its most notable contributions, the centre made a groundbreaking discovery by identifying the Wesselsbron virus as a potential cause of mysterious camel deaths in Ethiopia—further affirming the UAE's global leadership in diagnostics and biosecurity.
Al Etihad
31 minutes ago
- Politics
- Al Etihad
UAE: Guidelines approved for teaching Arabic Language, Islamic Studies, Social Studies in kindergarten
22 June 2025 17:03 DUBAI (ALETIHAD)The Ministry of Education has announced the approval of mandatory guidelines for the teaching of Arabic language, Islamic Studies, and Social Studies for the kindergarten stage in private schools across the UAE. These guidelines will be implemented from the 2025/2026 academic year and will apply to all private schools in the UAE, across all approved initiative aims to strengthen the national values of children from an early age, nurturing a generation that is proud of its national identity, proficient in its mother tongue, and well-grounded in the values of family, society, and the geography and environment of the move is aligned with the Ministry's vision of enhancing national identity by supporting the teaching of Arabic, Islamic Studies, and Social Studies from the foundational years. The Ministry is committed to developing and delivering specialised educational programmes that foster children's skills in reading, writing, Emirati values, and national identity from an early age, supporting their educational development in later ensure consistent and effective implementation, the Ministry will provide private schools with instructional frameworks and clear learning outcomes for all three subject areas before the start of the 2025/2026 academic of the guidelines will commence in 2025/2026, supported by advisory visits to private schools. In partnership with local educational authorities, the Ministry will also conduct regular inspections starting from the 2026/2027 academic year to verify compliance with the language will be taught daily to all students for 200 minutes weekly initially (40 minutes per day), increasing to 300 minutes weekly (60 minutes per day) by 2027/2028. Arabic will be taught by qualified early childhood teachers using approved educational resources and age-appropriate teaching methods, suitable for both native and non-native Studies will be taught to all Muslim students in kindergarten in private schools for 90 minutes per week, delivered as either three sessions of 30 minutes or two sessions of 45 minutes per week. Private schools must integrate concepts of family, UAE geography, the UAE environment, social values, and key social topics into kindergarten education. These concepts will be presented in a simplified, play-based learning approach that is incorporated into the daily routine, both inside and outside the classroom.
