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His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, who is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), participated on Tuesday morning in the 142nd IOC Session under the chairmanship of President of the IOC Dr. Thomas Bach and in the presence of members of the Olympic Executive Office, members of the IOC, and heads of international federations and national Olympic committees at the Palais des Congres in Paris, France.HE President of the Qatar Olympic Committee Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani also participated in the meeting.The meeting discussed the topics on its agenda and took appropriate decisions regarding them. The attendees also discussed a number of regional and international sports issues related to the development and organization of Olympic events.

Bangladesh will restore broadband internet on Tuesday evening, the South Asian country's telecommunications minister told AFP, after a five-day shutdown that drastically restricted information flows and upended daily life for many."Broadband will be resumed by tonight," Junaid Ahmed Palak said without giving an exact timing or mentioning mobile internet, a key communication method for organisers of protests against employment quotas that spiralled into widespread violence.

Spokesman for the Pakistani Army Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif revealed that this year witnessed more than 22,000 security operations based on intelligence information, which resulted in the elimination of 398 militants.During a press conference held to shed light on the comprehensive campaign to eliminate terrorism known as "Azm-e-Istehkam", the military spokesman reported that security forces carried out more than 22,000 security operations, and were able to neutralize 398 militants, including 31 of great importance.Sharif added that 137 officers and soldiers were killed due to armed attacks during 2024.He explained that Operation Azm-e-Istehkam aims to bring stability and lasting peace in the country, adding that it was launched after national consensus following the increase in armed attacks across the country, mainly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.

A new "vaccine-like" HIV drug that currently costs over $40,000 per person a year could be made for as little as $40, researchers estimated on Tuesday.The antiretroviral drug Lenacapavir, developed by US pharmaceutical giant Gilead, has been hailed as a potential game-changer in the fight against HIV.Early trials have found the treatment is 100 percent effective in preventing HIV infection. And it only needs to be injected twice a year, making the drug far easier to administer than current regimens requiring daily pills."It's like having a vaccine basically," Andrew Hill, a researcher at the UK's Liverpool University, told AFP.The treatment currently costs patients over $40,000 a year in a range of countries including the United States, France, Norway and Australia.New research, which Hill presented at the International AIDS Conference in Munich on Tuesday, looked into how much the cost of making the drug could come down if Gilead allowed for cheaper generic versions to be manufactured.A year's worth of the drug could be made for as little as $40 -- 1,000 times less than the current price -- according to the research, which has not been peer reviewed.This price was based on production volumes equal to treating 10 million people.If the drug was given to people at high risk of contracting HIV -- such as gay or bisexual men, sex workers, prisoners or notably young women in Africa -- it could "basically shut down HIV transmission," Hill emphasised."We could actually control the epidemic."There were 1.3 million new HIV infections last year, while 39 million people are living with the virus, according to the World Health Organization.- 'Opportunity to save the world' -To estimate the cost, the researchers studied shipments of raw materials of the drug, and spoke to large generic manufacturers in China and India that already make its "building blocks," Hill said.The international team of researchers has been proven right about similar estimates in the past, he added.A decade ago, the team said that the cost of making Gilead's hepatitis C drug -- then priced at $84,000 a patient -- could plummet to $100 if generics were allowed."Now it costs just under $40 to cure Hepatitis C," Hill said.The new research was announced a day after UNAIDS chief Winnie Byanyima called on Gilead to "make history" by opening up Lenacapavir to the UN-backed Medicines Patent Pool, which would allow generics to be sold under licence in low- and middle-income nations."Gilead has an opportunity to save the world," she told AFP.The firm has previously said it is in talks with governments and organisations "as we work to reach our access goals".The firm has not revealed how much it will charge in developing countries -- or which nations could eventually get access to generic versions of the drug.

Israel swiftly condemned an agreement brokered by China Tuesday which Beijing said would bring Hamas into a "national reconciliation government" for post-war Gaza.Foreign Minister Israel Katz insisted that "Hamas rule will be crushed" and accused Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whose Fatah faction signed the deal, of embracing the group whose October 7 attacks triggered the war.Any involvement by the Islamist militant group in the post-war governance of Gaza is anathema to the United States as well as Israel.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington to address a joint session of Congress and has vowed to continue the Gaza war until Hamas is destroyed.The diplomatic spat came as Israel hammered Gaza, including the southern city of Khan Yunis, where it had ordered a partial evacuation of civilians.Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzuk, Fatah envoy Mahmud al-Aloul and emissaries from 12 other Palestinian factions.Hamas and Fatah are long-term rivals and fought a brief but bloody war in 2007 in which the Islamists seized control of Gaza.Fatah continues to dominate the Palestinian Authority which has limited administrative control over urban areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.The text of the deal outlined plans for "a temporary national unity government by agreement of the Palestinian factions" which would "exercise its authority and powers over all Palestinian territories" -- the Gaza Strip as well the West Bank, including Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.China, which last year brokered a deal restoring relations between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia, hailed the agreement as a commitment to "reconciliation".But Katz said Abbas "embraces the murderers and rapists of Hamas".He also rejected any role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, saying "Abbas will be watching Gaza from afar".- 'Gaza is dead' -On the ground, Israel pressed on with the war in Gaza. Hours after it ordered civilians to evacuate parts of Khan Yunis, including areas that had been declared part of a humanitarian safe zone, its jets pounded the city.The Gaza health ministry said that 73 people had been killed and more than 200 wounded in the area, while thousands fled.The Israeli military did not comment on the toll when asked by AFP. But in a statement, the military said its fighter jets and tanks "struck and eliminated terrorists in the area".On Tuesday, it said its jets struck "over 50 terror infrastructure sites" as part of the Khan Yunis operation.Hassan Qudayh, a resident forced to evacuate, said: "Gaza is over, Gaza is dead, Gaza has gone. There is nothing left, nothing".AFP correspondents reported air strikes in Gaza City and Jabalia in the north of the territory, as well as Khan Yunis, while the Israeli military also said its troops had killed militants in "aerial strikes and close-quarters combat" in Rafah in the far south.More than nine months of war have obliterated much of the territory's healthcare capacity, with what remains under immense pressure.Mohammed Zaqout, director of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis told AFP: "There is no space for more patients. There's no space in the operating theatres. There is a lack of medical supplies, so we cannot save our patients."The World Health Organization said up to 14,000 people needed medical evacuation from Gaza and that it was "extremely worried" that diseases could cause more deaths than war injuries after poliovirus was detected in the territory's sewage.The war was sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.The militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom are still in Gaza, including 44 the Israeli military says are dead.Israel's retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 39,090 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.- Landmark speech - Beijing's dealmaking came with Netanyahu in Washington.Netanyahu will deliver a landmark speech to Congress on Wednesday amid unprecedented strains between Israel and its ally.The Israeli premier has resisted pressure from the administration of President Joe Biden to accept a truce, which far-right members of his coalition strongly oppose.Biden, who will meet Netanyahu on Thursday, vowed to continue working to find a solution during his final six months in office, after announcing his withdrawal from the US presidential race.Talks aimed at securing a truce are set to continue with an Israeli delegation due to travel to Doha on Thursday, a source with knowledge of the talks said.Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been working to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.

A top WHO official said Tuesday he was "extremely worried" over possible outbreaks in war-torn Gaza after poliovirus was detected in the sewage, warning that communicable diseases could cause more deaths than injuries.Ayadil Saparbekov, the World Health Organization's head of health emergencies in the occupied Palestinian territories, also said the number of people in the Gaza Strip now needing to be evacuated from the territory for medical care may have risen to 14,000.

The EU launched an investigation on Tuesday to determine whether online food-delivery companies Delivery Hero and Glovo engaged in anti-competitive practices.The probe comes after surprise raids at the firms, which are two of the largest food delivery companies in Europe, in June 2022 and November 2023.Delivery Hero, based in Germany, held a minority share in Spanish company Glovo from July 2018 before becoming the German online app's subsidiary in July 2022.The European Commission is concerned that before the takeover, the two companies "may have allocated geographic markets and shared commercially sensitive information (e.g., on commercial strategies, prices, capacity, costs, product characteristics)", it said.Delivery Hero's then minority share could have "facilitated" these practices.The commission said the probe was part of the powerful EU competition regulator's "efforts to ensure that online food delivery and the groceries sector deliver choice and reasonable prices to consumers".The EU is also suspicious the firms agreed not to poach each other's workers, and said this probe was the first on "no-poach agreements formally initiated by the Commission"."This investigation is also part of the Commission's efforts to ensure a fair labour market where employers do not collude to limit the number and quality of opportunities for workers but compete for talents," it added.The opening of a probe does not prejudge its outcome and there is no deadline for the investigation to be completed. The companies risk fines if found at fault."If confirmed, such conduct may amount to a breach of EU competition rules, with potential negative effects on prices and choice for consumers and on opportunities for workers," said the EU's competition chief, Margrethe Vestager.

British scientists at Queen Mary University of London have discovered a new way to predict the risk of contracting various diseases, through a novel study that included thousands of proteins from a single drop of blood.Researchers linked protein data from a randomly selected group of participants to their electronic health records.The researchers used data from the UK Biobank Pharma Proteomics Project (UKB-PPP) with measurements of around 3,000 plasma proteins from more than 40,000 participants.The results showed that 15 to 20 proteins were able to predict the onset of 67 diseases, including multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, motor neuron disease, pulmonary fibrosis, and dilated cardiomyopathy. The protein prediction models outperformed models implemented based on standard clinically recorded information.Lead author of the study and director of the Universitys Precision Healthcare Research Institute, Claudia Langenberg, said "we are very excited about the opportunity to identify new markers for screening and diagnosis from among the thousands of circulating proteins that can now be measured in human blood".The importance of the results of this study lies in its ability to open up new prognostic possibilities for a wide range of diseases, including rare conditions, many of which currently take months or years to diagnose.

At the conclusion of the round of dialogues held in the Chinese capital, Beijing, representatives of the Palestinian factions agreed to unify the Palestinian position within the framework of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) to confront the genocidal war and Israeli aggression and to end the division in a way that achieves the aspirations of Palestinian people for unity, freedom and national independence.The representatives of the factions welcomed the opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which confirmed the illegality of the Israeli occupation and settlement on the land of the State of Palestine and the necessity of removing them as soon as possible.They affirmed their commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem (Al-Quds) as its capital in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions, rejected attempts to displace Palestinian people from their land, and emphasized the illegality of settlement and settlement expansion, in accordance with the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council and the opinion of the ICJ.They called for work to lift the siege imposed on Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and to deliver medical and humanitarian aid without any conditions and restrictions.The Palestinian factions also saluted all the forces, countries, and student, popular, and trade union solidarity movements that support the struggle of the Palestinian people on the ground, politically, legally, and diplomatically.The attendees expressed their great appreciation for the efforts made by the People's Republic of China based on its support for the rights of the Palestinian people and its keenness to end the division and unify the Palestinian position.They also stressed the empowerment of the Arabs and friends in the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation to continue international efforts to convene an international conference with full powers to end the Israeli occupation and implement relevant international resolutions that are fair to the rights of the Palestinian people under the umbrella and auspices of the United Nations, and with broad regional and international participation.At the invitation of the Chinese side, representatives from 14 Palestinian factions held a reconciliation dialogue in Beijing during the period of July 21-23. (QNA)

HE Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Lieutenant General (Pilot) Salem bin Hamad bin Aqeel Al Nabit met with British Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry Maria Eagle, on the sidelines of His Excellency's visit to the Farnborough International Airshow.During the meeting, the two sides discussed topics of mutual interest and reviewed bilateral military cooperation relations, as well as ways to enhance and develop them.Several senior officers of the Qatar Armed Forces attended the meeting.

HE Minister of Transport Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti met Tuesday in the United Kingdom, Secretary of State for Transport in the United Kingdom Louise Haigh, on the sidelines of His Excellencys participation in the Farnborough International Air show (FIA).During the meeting, the two sides discussed aspects of bilateral cooperation in transportation, transportation services, and civil aviation, and ways to enhance them.The meeting was attended by In Charge of Managing Qatar Civil Aviation Authority Mohammed Faleh Al Hajri, and Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Badr Mohammed Al Meer.

Weather inshore until 6:00 pm on Tuesday will be hot to very hot daytime with some clouds and slight dust at times, the Department of Meteorology said in its daily weather report.Offshore, it will see some clouds at times, the report added.Wind inshore will be mainly northwesterly 8 - 18 KT, gusting to 25 KT at places daytime.Offshore, it will be westerly to northwesterly 5 - 15 KT, gusting to 21 KT at times.Sea state inshore will be 1 - 2 ft, rises to 3 ft at times.Offshore will be 2 - 4 ft, rises to 6 ft at first.Visibility inshore and offshore will be 5 - 9 km.