Day: August 16, 2024

The last Palestinian families in the Umm al-Jimal community in the northern Jordan Valley were forced to dismantle their homes and forcibly leave the community, under the pressure of settler attacks in the area, which are taking place under the protection and cover of the Israeli occupation forces.

The official agency reported that 14 families left the Umm al-Jimal community, after the escalation of settler attacks on the area, their occupation of water springs, closing of pastures, storming of homes and violating their sanctity, entertaining children and women, seizing vehicles and agricultural tractors, stealing livestock, and establishing a pastoral settlement outpost near the homes within the community.

The official in charge of the settlement file in Tubas and the northern Jordan Valley Governorate, Moataz Basharat, said that the last Palestinian families in the community left their homes and moved to another safer place, due to the escalation of settler violations against the residents, explaining th
at the forced migration of families from the community began months ago.

According to the semi-annual report of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, the measures of the Israeli occupation and its settlers have led to the displacement of 5 Palestinian Bedouin communities consisting of 18 families with 118 individuals, since the beginning of this year, in addition to 24 Palestinian Bedouin communities consisting of 266 families including 1,517 individuals, who were displaced from their places of residence to other places after October 7, 2023.

The five communities are: Matla Dhib-Jiftlik and Ein Sukhn in the Jericho and Jordan Valley Governorate, Al-Nasariyah in the Nablus Governorate, Al-Farisiyah in the Tubas and Northern Jordan Valley Governorate, and Wadi Ubayyat in the Bethlehem Governorate.

Source: Maan News Agency

An earthquake measuring 3 on the Richter scale struck Friday Mostaganem, western Algeria.

The Algerian Center for Research in Astronomy, Astrophysics and Geophysics reported in a statement that the earthquake occurred 11 kilometers northwest of Ain Boudinar, without any reports of human or material losses.

Last Tuesday, an earthquake measuring 3.9 on the Richter scale struck Setif, northeastern Algeria, without any human or material losses.

It is noteworthy that Algeria is exposed to earthquakes and tremors from time to time, the most violent of which was the earthquake that struck Boumerdes, north of the country, in May 2003, when it reached a magnitude of 6.8, causing the death of 2,277 people and massive destruction in the region.

Source : Qatar News Agency

The AlUla Skies Festival will return for its third edition from September 26 to October 6, 2024, organizers announced today. The event, which blends natural beauty, historical significance, and celestial observation, is part of the broader AlUla Moments calendar.

Known for its innovative programming, the festival has established AlUla as a global destination where ancient heritage and modern experiences converge. This year’s event, organized by AlUla Moments and presented by Saudia Airlines, will feature a diverse range of activities, from hot air balloon rides to stargazing workshops.

In addition to traditional festival offerings such as drone shows and light displays, visitors can participate in night walks, workshops for photographing the night sky, dining under the stars or relaxing with wellness treatments.

The AlUla Skies Festival will also offer visitors a unique opportunity to explore AlUla’s promising potential as a leading destination in the field of astronomical tourism, by highlighting the u
pcoming AlUla Manara Observatory. The project will provide an immersive experience that showcases the splendor of the night sky and the allure of astronomy through the planetarium, which will be held for a limited period. AlUla Manara Observatory seeks to transform AlUla into a global center for astronomical observation in cooperation with local and international partners. Interested parties can find out all the details about the AlUla Skies Festival by visiting the designated link: experiencealula.com.

Source : Saudi Press Agency

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Friday for warring parties in Gaza to lay down their arms so that humanitarians can safely vaccinate more than half a million children against polio.

“I am appealing to all parties to provide concrete assurances right away guaranteeing humanitarian pauses for the campaign,” he said, speaking to reporters at UN Headquarters in New York.

“Lets be clear: The ultimate vaccine for polio is peace and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. But in any case, a Polio Pause is a must.” Guterres described Gaza as being in “a humanitarian freefall” because “just when it seems the situation could not get worse for Palestinians in Gaza, the suffering grows and the world watches.” Poliovirus was recently detected in sewage samples in two locations, Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah, meaning that the disease which can cause paralysis – is circulating in the enclave and putting thousands of children at risk.

“Polio does not care about dividing lines and polio does not wait,” he said
Starting at the end of the month, the UN is set to launch a two-phase campaign to vaccinate more than 640,000 children in Gaza under the age of 10.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has already approved the release of 1.6 million doses of the polio vaccine and the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) is coordinating delivery efforts and the cold chain equipment needed for storage.

Meanwhile, medical teams from the UN Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA the largest primary healthcare provider in Gaza are ready to administer the vaccines and assist with logistics.

“We know how an effective polio vaccination campaign must be administered,” Guterres said.

The campaign will involve 708 teams at hospitals and primary healthcare centres, he said, again noting that many are barely functioning, and 316 community outreach teams throughout Gaza.

Source : Qatar News Agency

In conjunction with Saudi Arabia’s submission of the bidding file to host the 2034 World Cup, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) has developed a roadmap to equip a generation to join the 2034 World Cup, which encompasses diverse projects and initiatives concerning team and technical management, to formulate Saudi teams that can attain the goals set over the next decade, and to advance the technical, physical, tactical and mental aspects of future generations involved in the sport.

The SAFF announced last week the participation of the Saudi national team (born in 2008) in the Saudi Premier League under 17 years (born in 2007) as an additional team starting from the 2024-2025 sports season, under the supervision of the technical staff of the Green Juniors, in preparation for the 2025 AFC U-17 Asian Cup, which qualifies for the 2025 World Cup, and to participate in many regional tournaments such as the FIFA Arab Cup and the West Asian Football Federation Cup.

The decision to have an additional team
participate will not affect the points balance of the existing participating teams. The team training and some matches will be held at the Mahd Academy in Riyadh, taking into account the players’ educational and family commitments.

The SAFF also sent 27 talented under-16-year-old players from the Saudi national team to Spain to attend a traineeship for two seasons as part of the SAFF scholarship program to develop footballers, ‘The Future Falcons’, to equip them professionally through participation in friendly international tournaments, with the hope of developing professional level players to play in clubs abroad.

Last July, Taif saw the conclusion of the first edition of the Regional Teams Championship under 13 years, which involved players born in 2010. Fourteen regional teams participated, represented by 258 players selected from public and private clubs, accredited academies, and regional training centres.

The championship aimed to discover talented young players by selecting the most technically p
rominent players at the youngest ages in the teams and working on their participation in many friendly tournaments and courses. This selection process provided promising players with the opportunity to hone and develop their skills.

The first participation will be at the end of August in Spain, while the SAFF technical committee will hold the Regional Teams Championship for the following sports season for four age groups, from 11 to 14 years old, to reach the largest number of talented players of different age groups.

In addition, four regional leagues for beginner players from 11 to 14 years old will be launched in the following sports season to recruit players born between 2010 and 2013. Through these leagues, regional teams will be formed to participate in the regional team championships in their new age groups for the next sports season.

The SAFF Competitions Committee has worked on restructuring its competitions for age groups, targeting players from 11 to 18 years old to participate in 64 competit
ions as part of the Saudi Football Transformation Strategy 2021. The committee has also worked on spreading competitions more broadly and ensuring the participation of different age groups in a larger number of matches to support national teams.

As part of the talent discovery strategy, the SAFF carried out several talent festivals in various regions, supported by technical and team management, in coordination with the Ministry of Education.

The SAFF has increased the number of regional training centres from 13 to 17 centres in various regions of the Kingdom to include players born between 2011 and 2014.

To discover more talent in Saudi football, the SAFF is working to establish a FIFA program for schools. This program will register talented players in training centres and qualify school teachersin cooperation with the Ministry of Education.

In continuation of developing players, the SAFF approved an initiative to support various age groups for the third consecutive season, with a budget estimated at
SAR 75 million for public and private clubs and accredited academies. The initiative aims to cope with the changes in the structure of age group competitions, ensure steadfast progress in the work of clubs and academies, and improve outcomes.

Source : Saudi Press Agency

The Pakistani army announced Friday the killing of three militants during a security operation carried out in the northwest of the country.

The army explained, in a statement, that its forces carried out a security operation based on confirmed intelligence information in the Waziristan region, where three militants were killed, another was injured, and a large quantity of weapons in their possession were confiscated.

The Pakistani army had previously announced the killing of seven other militants during a security operation in the Kurram region located in the northwest of the country.

Source : Qatar News Agency

THIQAH Company participated in the Arabic Natural Language Processing Conference (ArabicNLP, 2024) hosted in the Thai capital, Bangkok, on August 16.

The company presented a research paper in collaboration with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) that reports new standards for evaluating the capabilities of language models to understand legal complexities.

A press release by THIQAH outlines that this study is of significant importance given the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and the increasing need to develop tools capable of understanding different natural languages. It is expected that this study will contribute to enhancing the use of the Arabic language in scientific research and the development of AI applications that meet the needs of the Arab world.

The study developed a new benchmark dataset named “ArabLegalEval,” designed to assess large language models’ abilities in comprehending Arabic legal texts. This new development represents a signif
icant achievement in the field of linguistic research, as it will improve the performance of language models and the development of smarter applications.

During the conference, THIQAH presented the standards established by the study and the expected significant advancements in evaluating the performance of AI systems that work on legal texts in Arabic. These standards allow developers and researchers to assess their models’ ability to understand complex legal terms, extract relevant information from lengthy legal texts, and accurately answer legal questions.

In December last year, KAUST and THIQAH signed a memorandum of understanding to revolutionize industries and unlock the potential for digital solutions. This partnership reflects THIQAH’s commitment to fostering growth and business success in an ever-evolving digital age.

The ArabicNLP 2024 conference, now in its second edition, is the premier annual event in the field of Arabic natural language processing. The conference was attended by a distingui
shed group of researchers from around the world. It came in light of rapid developments in AI and the increasing need for digital solutions that accurately handle the Arabic language.

Source : Saudi Press Agency

Doha: HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani discussed, during a phone call today, with HE President of the friendly United States of America, Joe Biden the latest developments in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, and the joint mediation efforts to end the war on the Strip.

During the call, they also discussed the strategic relations between the two countries, ways to develop them, in addition to regional and international developments of mutual interest.

Source : Qatar News Agency