Day: August 13, 2024

Saudi Arabia is participating for the first time in the International Standards Olympiad competitions, which kicked off yesterday in the Republic of Korea.

The participation is a development of the strategic partnership between King Abdulaziz and his Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity “Mawhiba,” the Saudi Standards, Metrology, and Quality Organization, and the Ministry of Education.

Representing the Kingdom is a team of nine male and female students from secondary and intermediate schools, divided into three teams out of 40, comprising 120 students from 11 countries.

The Olympiad competitions, hosted this year by the Korean city of Asan from August 10 to 15, aim to demonstrate the competitors’ knowledge of measurement units and exchange new ideas about standards and technology.

The teams pass through preliminary rounds leading to the main competition, in which they are assigned tasks that elicit their knowledge and competence in the world of measurement and challenge their ability to
solve problems.

The Standards Olympiad is an annual international competition for middle and high school students. It began as a local competition in the Republic of Korea in 2006 and became an open international competition in 2014.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

An earthquake measuring 3.9 magnitude on the Richter scale struck Tuesday Setif Province, northeastern Algeria, with no human or material losses reported.

Algerian Center for Research in Astronomy, Astrophysics and Geophysics said in a statement that the epicenter of the quake was two km west of Beni Aziz.

Algeria experiences earthquakes and tremors occasionally, the most severe of which was the 6.8 earthquake that shook the northern province of Boumerdes in May 2003, killing 2,277 people and causing significant material damage and massive destruction.

Source: Qatar News Agency

The Palestinian presidency warned of the repercussions of the dangerous provocations of Israeli colonists’ storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque, holding the Israeli occupation government responsible for these practices and their danger in provoking the feelings of the Palestinian people, Arabs, and Muslims in general.

The official spokespersons for the presidency Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement, “we demand that the US administration intervene immediately to force the occupation government to stop these provocations against the holy religious sites, preserve the historical and legal status in the city of Jerusalem (Al-Quds), and stop the aggression against Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and the attacks in the West Bank if it wants to prevent the region from exploding in an uncontrollable manner.” Abu Rudeineh pointed out that these provocations come within the framework of the comprehensive war waged by the extremist occupation government against Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, inc
luding Al-Quds, stressing that peace and security in the entire region will not be achieved without a just solution to the Palestinian cause and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds as its capital, with its Islamic and Christian sanctities.

The extremist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stormed the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque Tuesday, under the protection of the occupation police.

Palestinian News Agency (Wafa) reported local sources as saying that Ben-Gvir stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque from the Mughrabi Gate, and toured the eastern square, accompanied by a large number of occupation police officers.

The sources indicated that the occupation prevented worshipers from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque coinciding with Ben-Gvir’s storming.

This is Ben-Gvir’s sixth storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque since he assumed his position in late 2022.

Source: Qatar News Agency

An ongoing wave of COVID-19 is forecast to reach a peak around the end of August after the summer vacation season, the South Korean health authorities said Tuesday, vowing to strengthen responses to curb its spread.

“The uptrend could peak around the end of August, as contacts among people will grow after the summer vacation and such changes could affect the infection trend,” Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) official Hong Jeong-il said, reported YONHAP.

“Not enough ventilation with air conditioning in the summertime is also a major cause of the summer surge,” he added.

In an effort to curb the spread, the KDCA has decided to expand the virus response team to enhance monitoring of the situation at home and abroad, analysis of infections, and the management of treatment and other medical supplies.

The government will also set up a consultative body with experts to regularly discuss trends and anti-virus measures. Their first meeting is scheduled to be held on Wednesday.

South Korea also p
lans to resume its vaccination campaign in October, where high-risk groups will be administered vaccines for free.

The country has seen a sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, with virus hospitalizations at 220 major medical institutions nationwide rising sixfold in a month to come to 861 as of the first week of August, according to KDCA.

The current wave is primarily led by KP.3, an Omicron subvariant that constituted 45.5 percent of cases in South Korea last month and is also driving the summer wave elsewhere around the world.

Source: Qatar News Agency

About a thousand colonists stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque Tuesday morning, under the protection of the Israeli occupation police.

According to Islamic Endowments Department at Al-Aqsa Mosque, about a thousand colonists stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque in the first hours of the raid, where they desecrated the courtyards and performed Talmudic rituals in an unprecedented scene of storming operations, as thousands of colonists expected to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque during this day in the morning and evening, the Palestinian News Agency (WAFA) reported.

The Islamic Endowments added that the occupation forces obstructed the entry of worshipers into the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque and deployed large forces at its gates to facilitate the colonists’ storming of the holy Islamic place.

The occupation police also turned the Old City into a military barracks, deployed hundreds of its members at close proximity, especially at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and tightened its military measures at its gates an
d the gates of the Old City, and imposed restrictions on the entry of worshipers.

Source: Qatar News Agency

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) announced Tuesday that a ship’s captain reported an explosion near the vessel, 63 nautical miles southwest of Hodeidah, Yemen.

British maritime security firm Ambrey also reported two “close-proximity” explosions 63 nautical miles southwest of Hodeidah.

Both Ambrey and the UKMTO said in notes that the vessels and crew are safe and proceeding to their next port of call.

On Tuesday, UKMTO added that a ship located 97 nautical miles northwest of Yemen’s Hodeidah, adding that authorities are investigating the matter.

Since November, the Houthis have been carrying out repeated drone and missile attacks in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden, forcing shipping companies to reroute vessels to take longer, more expensive routes around the southern tip of Africa, raising fears that the Gaza war could spread to the region.

Source: Qatar News Agency

HE Minister of State for International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lolwah bint Rashid Al Khater held a phone call with HE Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia Tim Watts.

During the call, the two sides discussed cooperation relations between the State of Qatar and Australia, in addition to the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories and ways to remove obstacles to the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, as well as a number of topics of common concern.

HE the Minister of State for International Cooperation stressed the importance of reaching an immediate ceasefire and bringing more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

Source: Qatar News Agency