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 The United Arab Emirates ordered 80 Rafale fighter jets on Friday, the largest order ever for the warplane, a multi-billion dollar arms contract that deepens economic and political ties with France.

French President Emmanuel Macron began a two-day trip to the Gulf on Friday, and will also visit Qatar and Saudi Arabia. His visit comes at a time when Gulf Arab states have voiced uncertainty about the United States' focus on the region even as they seek more weapons from their key security ally.

The French leader has forged a good relationship with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (MBZ) with investments flowing between both countries. Paris has a permanent military base in the Emirati capital.

"In addition to the presence of three French military bases on UAE territory, this mutual trust translates into the acquisition of 80 Rafale planes, 12 Caracal helicopters, and associated elements," the French presidency said in a statement after a signing ceremony between MBZ and Macron on the sidelines of the Dubai Expo 2020.

Dassault shares rose 6% on the announcement.

The deal, which could be worth at least $15 billion, is the biggest bulk purchase of the Dassault-made Rafale, other than by the French army, and comes after deals in Greece, Egypt and Croatia this year.

The on-off negotiations for the Rafale fighter jets have been going on for more than a decade with Abu Dhabi publicly rebuffing France's offer to supply 60 Rafale jets in 2011 as "uncompetitive and unworkable." Abu Dhabi already has Mirage warplanes.

Defence sources said the Rafale would replace the Mirage 2000 fleet and is unlikely to displace the American F-35 as the UAE continues to hedge its security with two major suppliers, France and the United States. (Reuters)

The International Space Station (ISS) had to swerve away from a fragment of a U.S. launch vehicle on Friday, the head of Russia's space agency said, the latest in a series of incidents in which space debris have forced astronauts to respond.

Calls to monitor and regulate space debris, or space junk, have grown since Russia conducted an anti-satellite missile test last month. This generated a debris field in orbit that U.S. officials said would pose a hazard to space activities for years.

Dmitry Rogozin, head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, said on Friday that the ISS had been forced to move due to space junk from a U.S. launch vehicle sent into orbit in 1994.

Roscosmos said the station's orbit, in an unscheduled manoeuvre carried out by mission control, dropped by 310 metres (339 yards) for nearly three minutes to avoid a close encounter.

Rogozin added that the manoeuvre would not affect the planned launch of the Soyuz MS-20 rocket on Dec. 8 from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and its docking at the ISS.

Space debris consists of discarded launch vehicles or parts of a spacecraft that float around in space and risk colliding with satellites or the ISS.

In an opinion piece published in the Financial Times on Thursday, former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Russia's destruction of the satellite last month risked turning space into a junk yard.

"Unless we change course, the opportunities of space to improve our lives on Earth could be closed off for generations," he wrote.

Space debris also forced NASA on Tuesday to postpone a spacewalk to replace a faulty antenna on the ISS. Last month the ISS performed a brief manoeuvre to dodge a fragment of a defunct Chinese satellite.

In separate comments on Friday, Roscosmos said it hoped NASA chief Bill Nelson would visit Russia in the first half of 2022 to discuss further cooperation on the ISS. (Reuters)

South Korea announced on Friday that people visiting restaurants and cinemas and other public spaces will have to show vaccine passes, amid a surge in COVID-19 infections and six confirmed cases of the Omicron variant.

The government also re-imposed limits on private gatherings, which had been recently relaxed, as the country posted record numbers of new cases this week. read more

Desperate to fend off the Omicron variant, authorities halted quarantine exemptions on Friday for fully vaccinated inbound travellers and made a 10-day quarantine mandatory.

From next Monday, people visiting 14 designated public spaces, including hospitality and entertainment venues, will have to show their vaccine passes, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum told a COVID-19 response meeting, setting out the plan to reduce the risk of community spread. The public will have a grace period of a week to get used to the new rules.

While people have been required to show their vaccine pass at high-risk venues such as gyms, saunas and bars, it is the first time that the requirement has been extended to restaurants and cafes.

From February, anyone aged 12 years or older will have to show a vaccination pass. The government decided to lower the exemption age, currently set at 17 years, to encourage teenagers to get vaccinated as the under-18 age group accounts for 20% of all infections, Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol told a briefing.

The limit on private gatherings was cut to six people in the greater Seoul area, and eight outside, from the current limit of 10 in Seoul and 12 outside, Kwon said.

South Korea has so far confirmed a total of six Omicron cases after a fully vaccinated couple tested positive for the variant after arriving last week from Nigeria. The patients are either asymptomatic or have mild symptoms such as headache, low-grade fever, dizziness and sore throat, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

Health authorities in Incheon city were testing 400 people who attended a church service along with the family member of one of the people infected with Omicron. The relative had tested positive for coronavirus, but tests had yet to show whether it was the Omicron variant.

People do not have to show proof of vaccination for religious services, weddings, funerals, or when they visit theme parks or hair salons, the health ministry said.

KDCA reported 4,944 COVID-19 cases for Thursday, a slight decline from record high 5,266 cases on Wednesday. It has reported a total of 462,555, with 3,739 deaths overall.

South Korea has fully vaccinated 91.6% of its adult population aged 18 and over, yet the booster dose uptake remains at 8.1%. (reuters)

 Afghanistan's Taliban government on Friday released a decree on women's rights which said women should not be considered "property" and must consent to marriage but failed to mention female access to education or work outside the home.

The Taliban has been under pressure from the international community, who have mostly frozen funds for Afghanistan, to commit to upholding women's rights since the hardline Islamist group took over the country on Aug. 15.

"A woman is not a property, but a noble and free human being; no one can give her to anyone in exchange for peace...or to end animosity," the Taliban decree, released by spokesman Zabihillah Muhajid, said.

It set out the rules governing marriage and property for women, stating women should not be forced into marriage and widows should have share in their late husband's property.

Courts should take into account the rules when making decisions, and religious affairs and information ministries should promote these rights, the decree said.

However, it made no mention of women being able to work or access facilities outside the home or education, which have been major concerns from the international community.

During its previous rule from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban banned women from leaving the house without a male relative and full face and head covering and girls from receiving education.

The Taliban say they have changed and high schools for girls in some provinces have been allowed to open. But many women and rights advocates remain sceptical.

The international community, which has frozen billions in central bank funds and development spending, has made women's rights a key element of any future engagement with Afghanistan.

The country, which is also suffering from a banking liquidity crisis as the cash flow dries up due to sanctions, is facing the risk of economic collapse since the Taliban took over. (Reuters)