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Three Jordanian security personnel were injured Sunday in a shootout targeting a police patrol in Rabieh district in the capital, Amman.The incident unfolded after an individual opened fire on a police patrol. Responding security units located the armed individual, who attempted to flee the scene, Jordan News Agency (Petra) said, citing the Public Security Directorate (PSD).The suspect subsequently engaged in a firefight with pursuing officers, prompting security forces to return fire in accordance with engagement protocols, it added.The exchange resulted in the suspect's death.Investigations into the incident are ongoing, the PSD said.

McDonald’s Qatar has announced its transition from plastic to sustainably sourced materials for their packaging, utensils, and toys, making them one of the first in the market to take on this initiative.In line with the Qatar National Vision 2030’s goal of transforming society to be more sustainable, McDonald’s Qatar is one of the first in the Quick Service Restaurant Industry to follow this aim, setting the standard and raising the bar high to lead everlasting change for a greener future. Through this initiative, the industry leader seeks to contribute to reducing environmental impact and promoting the protection of our natural resources.Following this move, customers will have sustainable packaging and utensils originating from the GCC, enhancing their meal experience. This initiative was launched back in August 2024 and will be implemented in all restaurants by the beginning of 2025. Customers will have available wooden stirrers, paper straws, and paper packaging. In addition, they have redesigned the paper McFlurry cups and paper Royal Chicken Salad bowls to eliminate the need for plastic, shifting away from plastic materials to fiber-based packaging. In addition, they are transitioning from plastics in Happy Meal toys to recycled and sustainable materials such as paper, plant-based plastics, and certified wood fiber, further advancing their environmental efforts.McDonald’s Qatar is currently testing and exploring the potential implementation of an Energy Management System as part of its future environmental initiatives to further reduce energy consumption and minimize environmental impact."Sustainability is a shared responsibility, and as McDonald’s Qatar is 100% locally owned, managed, and operated by Al Mana Restaurants and Food Company W.L.L, we are playing our part in this collective mission,” stated Mithqual Abu Nasser, Executive General Manager of McDonald’s Qatar. “Introducing sustainable packaging, utensils, and toys not only aligns with the environmental pillar of the Qatar National Vision 2030 but also with McDonald’s goal of sustainability with a focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, minimizing waste, and sourcing all packaging from renewable, recycled, or certified materials by 2025. Such initiatives can have momentous impact on the environment. We still have a long journey ahead in sustainability, but we remain committed to delivering feel-good moments that our customers expect while reducing the environmental impact and inspiring the market to engage in similar sustainable practices.”In addition to reflecting their longstanding commitment to protecting the planet, these initiatives also elevate customer experience by minimizing their exposure to chemicals often found in plastics and switching to sustainable, recyclable materials. Knowing McDonald’s Qatar ensures an eco-friendly dining experience, customers can now enjoy their delicious meals and watch their children play with their more sustainable Happy Meal toys.Environmental initiatives have always been a core part of McDonald’s Qatar since they first opened in 1995. In its mission to be ecologically friendly and encourage others to engage in sustainable practices, they have become an environmental trailblazer in the Qatar community and the Quick Service Restaurant Industry. Over the years, they have organized beach clean-ups to encourage the community to participate in eco-friendly activities and highlight the importance of environmental protection.

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to advance, so does its ability to generate content nearly indistinguishable from human-created work. This evolution has led to the rise of AI detection systems designed to spot such content and differentiate it from what a human might produce.But here’s the question: Is bypassing these AI detectors ever justifiable?The Growing Role of AI in Content CreationArtificial intelligence has transformed content creation across various industries, from writing and journalism to marketing and entertainment. Tools like ChatGPT and other AI-powered platforms can produce articles, essays, and even creative works in mere seconds. The speed and efficiency have caught the attention of businesses, educators, and creators to leverage AI for various tasks.However, it has also introduced new challenges, such as the growing concern about detecting AI-generated content.AI detection systems are designed to differentiate between human-written text and that generated by algorithms. They rely on techniques such as analyzing sentence structure, word choice, and writing patterns machines typically use. These tools have become vital in academic settings, where the line between original work and AI assistance is often blurred.As AI as detection tools improve, so does the ingenuity of those attempting to bypass them. Should these efforts to evade detection be seen as acceptable, or is there an ethical line that should not be crossed?Is It Okay to Bypass AI Detection?To answer this question, you must first examine the motivations behind bypassing AI detection. For some, the goal may be harmless. For example, a student looks to get help writing an essay or a writer experimenting with AI tools to enhance their work. However, for others, the intent may need to be more ethical.One of the most common scenarios where AI detection evasion occurs is academic dishonesty. Students might use AI to generate essays or assignments submitted as their own. Bypassing detection tools in this context is a violation of academic integrity. The implications are significant. It undermines the value of education, harms students who work hard on their assignments, and potentially devalues degrees.Another area where AI detection evasion could be seen as unethical is in journalism. In the era of fake news and misinformation, the ability to discern between human-written content and AI-generated articles becomes crucial. Journalists who bypass detection systems to push out AI-written stories under the guise of original work could mislead readers. This not only affects individual credibility but also can damage the reputation of entire organizations.However, not all instances of bypassing our detection are driven by malicious intent. Some creators use AI-generated content to speed up the workflows or enhance their productivity while maintaining creative control. In these cases, the line becomes less clear.Is using AI tools to assist in content creation ethically acceptable, even if the content may bypass detection? Many argue that as long as the creator is transparent about the use of AI, the ethical concerns are minimal.Scenarios Where Bypassing AI Detection Is JustifiedIs bypassing AI detection ever a good choice? The answer isn’t black and white, but there are certain situations where the ethics are more nuanced. Enhancing Productivity, Not DeceivingAI can be a valuable asset in enhancing productivity rather than entirely replacing the creator. For example, a writer might use AI to generate initial drafts or ideas but then revise the content by adding their voice and expertise. In such cases, the writer isn’t deceiving anyone. They are simply using AI to expedite the creative process. The key here is transparency. As long as the writer acknowledges AI’s role in content creation, there’s little ethical concern. 2. Research and DevelopmentIn industries like tech, AI is often used to draft proposals, documents, or reports that humans may later refine and edit. In this context, bypassing AI detection may not be an ethical issue. These tools are often used to generate ideas, not to deceive. If the AI-generated content is a first draft or brainstorming aid, the creator contributes intellectual labor to the final product. 3. Supporting Accessibility and InclusionAI can be particularly helpful in supporting those with disabilities. AI-generated content levels the playing field for individuals with limited mobility or cognitive challenges. It can enable them to produce work they might not have been able to create otherwise. In this case, bypassing detection isn’t about deception but increasing accessibility. 4. Experimentation in Creative WorkArtists and content creators may use AI to generate groundbreaking ideas or art. This is a creative exploration, not a dishonest attempt to fool the system. In industries where experimentation is valued, using AI could be justified, as long as the creator is transparent about their process and the role AI plays in it.The Fallout of Misusing AI Detection BypassThere are a few instances where bypassing AI detection could be justifiable. However, the consequences of misusing these tactics are far-reaching. For one, it could lead to a breakdown in trust in academic settings and the content industries.What if AI-generated content goes undetected and is passed off as human-created? It may lead to a dilution of quality. AI-produced work may lack the depth, creativity, or ethical grounding of work done by human hands.In the academic world, students who use AI to bypass detection tools risk academic penalties. They may also devalue their education. Additionally, students could undermine their growth. The heavy reliance on machines undermines their ability to hone their critical thinking and writing skills.Moreover, the misuse of AI in journalism and media could result in misinformation. AI-generated articles, unchecked by human writers and fact checker checkers, can spread false information faster than ever. This poses a risk to the public.Also, media outlets and content creators risk losing credibility in the eyes of the audience.A Final Word About AI DetectionThe ethics of bypassing AI detection depend primarily on intent. AI is a valuable asset when used as a tool for productivity, creativity, and accessibility. However, when the goal is deception, whether in academic settings, journalism, or any other field, the ethical implications are significant.Ultimately, the key lies in transparency. As AI continues to evolve, so too must the ethical frameworks. As you utilize AI, think carefully about your motivations and the potential consequences of your actions. Being honest about AI’s role in your work will help you avoid ethical pitfalls and contribute to more responsible AI usage.

QatarEnergy has entered into an agreement with TotalEnergies to acquire an additional 5.25% interest in block 2913B (PEL 56) and an additional 4.695% interest in block 2912 (PEL 91), both located in the Orange Basin, offshore Namibia.Subject to customary approvals, QatarEnergy’s participating interests in both licenses will increase to 35.25% in block 2913B and 33.025% in block 2912. TotalEnergies (the operator) will hold 45.25% in block 2913B and 42.475% in block 2912. The other partners in the two licenses are Impact Oil & Gas, holding 9.5% in each of the two licenses and the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia “NAMCOR”, holding 10% in block 2913B and 15% in block 2912.Commenting on this occasion, His Excellency Mr. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, said: “We are pleased to expand QatarEnergy’s footprint in Namibia’s upstream sector. This agreement marks another important step in working collaboratively with our partners towards the development of the Venus discovery located on block 2913B.”His Excellency Minister Al-Kaabi added: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Namibian authorities and our partners for their support and we look forward to delivering on our exploration and potential development program.”Blocks 2913B and 2912 are located about 300 kilometers offshore Namibia, in water depths ranging from 2600 to 3800 meters.

Six people were killed and seven others were injured after landslides and flash floods hit Indonesia's North Sumatra province.According to the Operational Unit of the Provincial Search and Rescue Office, the natural disasters occurred in two regencies. The landslides struck Padang Lawas regency, resulting in four deaths and four injuries.Flash floods hit South Tapanuli regency, killing two people and injuring three others.Landslides occur frequently in Indonesia. Heavy rains in May caused floods and mudslides that killed more than 50 people in West Sumatra. A month earlier a landslide caused by heavy rains in South Sulawesi killed at least 18 people.

Countries participating at the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku have adopted a $300 billion a year global finance target to help poorer nations cope with impacts of climate change.The agreement, clinched in overtime at the two-week conference in Azerbaijan's capital, was meant to provide momentum for international efforts to curb global warming in a year destined to be the hottest on record.United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell acknowledged the difficult negotiations that led to the agreement but hailed the outcome as an insurance policy for humanity against global warming."It has been a difficult journey, but we've delivered a deal," Stiell said. "This deal will keep the clean energy boom growing and protect billions of lives.The agreement would provide $300 billion annually by 2035, boosting rich countries' previous commitment to provide $100 billion per year in climate finance by 2020. That earlier goal was met two years late, in 2022, and expires in 2025.The deal also lays the groundwork for next year's climate summit, to be held in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil, where countries are meant to map out the next decade of climate action.Countries also agreed on rules for a global market to buy and sell carbon credits that proponents say could mobilise billions more dollars into new projects to fight global warming, from reforestation to deployment of clean energy technologies.Negotiations had been due to finish on Friday but ran into overtime as representatives from nearly 200 countries struggled to reach consensus.The showdown over financing for developing countries comes in a year scientists predict will be the hottest on record. Climate woes are stacking up, with widespread flooding killing thousands across Africa, deadly landslides burying villages in Asia, and drought in South America shrinking rivers.Developed countries have not been spared. Torrential rain triggered floods in Valencia, Spain, last month that left more than 200 dead, and the US so far this year has registered 24 billion-dollar disasters - just four fewer than last year.

Weather inshore until 6:00 pm on Sunday will be moderate daytime with scattered clouds, and partly cloudy at times with a weak chance of light rain at places, the Department of Meteorology said in its daily weather report.Offshore, the weather will see scattered clouds, to become partly cloudy at times with a chance of light rain, the report added, warning of strong wind and high sea until evening.Wind inshore will be mainly northwesterly at a speed of 05 - 15 KT, gusting to 20 KT at places at times.Wind offshore will be northwesterly at a speed of 15 - 20 KT, reaching 23 KT. By evening, it will decrease to 07 - 17 KT.Sea state inshore will be 3 - 5 ft, falling to 2 - 3 ft by evening; while offshore will be 4 - 7 ft, falling to 2 - 4 ft by evening.Visibility inshore and offshore will be 5 - 10 km.

UK Metropolitan police affirmed Saturday that they have conducted a controlled explosion on a suspicious package at Euston railway station, after vetting a suspect package.In a post on X platform, the UK Metropolitan police stated that a controlled explosion has been carried out by specialist officers and the police cordons have now been lifted.Earlier, the UK media reported that the Euston Station was evacuated.In a previous statement, UK Metropolitan police emphasized that they were aware of reports online about an incident in the vicinity of Euston Station.Last Friday, Gatwick Airport in London, was closed due to a security alert, with the police stating that they had sent a specialized bomb disposal team to Gatwick Airport, located south of London, after finding what is suspected to be a prohibited item among the luggage, following the evacuation of the passenger terminal.Additionally, UK Metropolitan police also announced yesterday that their forces had detonated a suspicious package placed outside the US Embassy in London, noting that the package was a hoax device.

The Zakat Affairs Department at the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs announced the provision of aid totaling QR 18,827,512 to benefit 730 families in need of assistance within the country in October.Head of Zakat disbursements section Mohammed Hassan Al Tamimi emphasized that the Zakat Affairs Department is committed to ensuring a dignified life for families eligible for zakat within Qatar. He explained that the assistance provided by the department is of two types: regular assistance, which is given monthly to help families meet their basic needs for food, drink, and housing; and one-time assistance, provided as needed. All this aid is distributed by the Zakat Affairs Department to registered families within Qatar according to approved Sharia rules and mechanisms.Al Tamimi detailed the total amount of aid given in October as follows: regular assistance amounted to QR 8,226,747, while one-time assistance totaled QR 10,600,765.He also mentioned that the department offers a service for families in need to apply for assistance through its official website (www.zakat.gov.qa). Applicants must provide all required documents and upload them to the specified locations on the site.Individuals and companies can fulfill their zakat obligations through the Zakat Affairs Department's smart application (Apple devices: https://islam.qa/ZfApl, Android devices: https://islam.qa/ZfAnd), or through the department's website (www.zakakt.gov.qa), its various collection offices and points throughout the country, or through the quick collection service numbers: 55199990 - 55199996. Zakat can also be paid through the department's bank account numbers.

Qatar University (QU) will host the Gulf-wide “Three-Minute Thesis (3MT)” competition, sponsored by ConocoPhillips on Nov 28.The event, the first-of-its-kind in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) region, will take place at the QU campus. The competition will feature graduate students from various higher education institutions across the GCC. Participating alongside QU are several prominent universities, including King Abdulaziz University, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Khalifa University, the American University of Sharjah, Kuwait University, Sultan Qaboos University, the University of Bahrain, and the Qatar Finance and Business Academy (QFBA) in partnership with Northumbria University.QU’s Vice-President for Research and Graduate Studies, Prof Aiman Mahmoud Erbad, stated, “Since 2019, QU has successfully organised this competition at the national level. This year, the event has expanded to the Gulf level, with participation from nine GCC educational institutions and a significant increase in student involvement.” Prof Erbad also highlighted the diversity of academic fields represented in this year’s competition, which spans humanities, social sciences, and other scientific disciplines. Dean of Graduate Studies at QU, Prof Ahmad Al-own remarked on the significance of the Gulf-wide competition, saying, “This inaugural GCC edition seeks to create a unified graduate studies community that encourages the exchange of ideas and expertise while promoting research excellence at national, regional, and global levels. The competition will showcase the exceptional research capabilities of graduate students across the Gulf.” Prof Al-own added, “The competition started as a local initiative and has now expanded to the Gulf level. Future plans include collaborating with the University of Queensland, the originator of this competition, to extend it to the Arab and global stages.”

HE the Permanent Representative of Qatar to the UN Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif al-Thani met, at the UN headquarters in New York, with UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Co-ordinator Tom Fletcher.Discussion during the meeting focused on the close co-operation between Qatar and the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, as well as the tragic humanitarian conditions experienced by the brotherly Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip in light of the lack of basic services and the destruction of service facilities.

French President Emmanuel Macron marked on Saturday the 80th anniversary of Free French troops liberating the eastern city of Strasbourg from Nazi occupation and called for overlooked victims of World War II to be honoured.The president reviewed troops and attended a military ceremony at the Broglie Square in central Strasbourg, bowing before a monument to General Philippe Leclerc who led Free French troops into the city on November 23, 1944.“When we knew the flag was up on the cathedral, we had reached our objective — freedom, freeing Alsace,” said Roger Le Neures, a 101-year-old veteran of the fight present at the ceremony.France’s colours flew from the cathedral’s spire during the ceremony in homage to the city’s liberators.Macron was also to visit Natzweiler-Struthof, around 60km west of Strasbourg, the only concentration camp built by the Nazis on French soil. Around 17,000 of the 50,000 people interned at Struthof and its satellite camps died or disappeared.The president highlighted the fate of tens of thousands of Alsatian men forcibly enlisted into the German army.“These children of Alsace... were captured, dressed in a uniform they loathed in the service of a cause that made them slaves, instruments of a crime that killed them too, and threatened with reprisals if they attempted to flee,” he said.The conscripts’ “tragedy must be named, recognised and taught”, Macron added.Alsace had been fought over for decades by the neighbours and was annexed by Germany following France’s defeat in 1940.The forced conscription is “something that’s always been misunderstood”, said 99-year-old Jean-Marie Hostert, a surviving member of the group known as “Malgre-nous” (“against our will”).“We didn’t want to go” to fight for Germany, added Hostert, speaking during the Strasbourg commemorations in Strasbourg.Some have tied the “Malgre-nous” group to the 1944 massacre at Oradour-sur-Glane, one of the worst mass killings of civilians by the Nazis in western Europe.“Following the war, people wanted to highlight the memory of heroes, resistance fighters, everything that could bind France together again,” said historian Christophe Woehrle.“In that whole story, the ‘Malgre-nous’ are a bit of a stain. It’s not glorious. It’s not something you can build a national memory from,” he added. Macron announced that scholar and Resistance fighter Marc Bloch, tortured and executed by the Gestapo in 1944, would be reinterred in the Pantheon — the Paris monument to France’s greatest citizens.Bloch would be honoured “for his work, his teaching and his courage,” the president said, calling him a “man of the Enlightenment in the army of the shadows” — the nickname for the French Resistance.Born into a Jewish family, decorated First World War veteran Bloch revolutionised his field of medieval history by bringing in ideas from sociology, geography, psychology and economics.