Author: Publisher
The Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2026 returns to Doha for its second year as an ATP500 event, following its debut season’s recognition as the ATP 500 ‘Tournament of the Year.’ This success reflects the strong partnership between ExxonMobil Qatar and the Qatar Tennis Federation (QTF), a relationship built on a shared vision to excellence and developing local talent.ExxonMobil Qatar, the tournament’s title sponsor, welcomed fans back to its popular stand at the heart of the Public Village. A major attraction each year, the booth offers interactive experiences, from a full-size racing simulator to surprise meet-and-greets with top players making it a must-visit spot for fans of all ages.These opportunities for autographs, photos, and personal interactions at the booth have created countless memories for attendees.ExxonMobil Qatar extends the excitement to its own community. Employees enjoy the unique chance to take part in pre-match coin tosses, and young players gain inspiration from professionals during a special kids’ clinic hosted by QTF.“Our goal is to create meaningful connections with the community and celebrate the spirit of our collaboration,” said Rashid al-Hajri, Vice President and Public and Government Affairs Manager at ExxonMobil Qatar. “These shared experiences are central to our partnership with QTF and the tournament’s continued success.”The ExxonMobil booth also includes a dedicated space for Dadu, Qatar’s Children’s Museum. It is designed to give kids a fun place to learn about mangroves during the tournament, offering hands on activities that bring Dadu’s educational experience straight to families attending the event.As an industry leader in almost every aspect of the energy and petrochemical business, ExxonMobil’s focus goes beyond core business operations to positively impact communities where it operates. The company is dedicated to being a responsible corporate citizen, advancing industry solutions, and delivering energy to enhance livelihoods.The company plays an active role in community development and education initiatives particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) as a key driver of economic growth and opportunity, aligning its efforts with Qatar National Vision 2030 and the Third National Development Strategy. This commitment supports the creation of a skilled workforce that propels growth and opportunities for a sustainable future. Related Story Source link
The latest edition of Re|Shaping Policies for Creativity, UNESCO’s flagship monitoring report covering more than 120 countries, warns that generative AI is projected to drive significant…
Tiger Woods says he has no timetable for a return to golf, but the 15-time major champion hasn’t ruled out the 2026 Masters even as he ponders the over-50s Champions Tour.Woods, who turned 50 on December 30, underwent disc replacement surgery in October, the latest in a series of operations and injuries that have kept him sidelined since the 2024 British Open.”It’s just one of those things where it’s each and every day, I keep trying, I keep progressing,” Woods said at The Riviera Country Club, where he hosts this week’s PGA Tour Genesis Invitational.”I keep working on it, trying to get stronger, trying to get more endurance in this body and trying to get it at a level at which I can play at the highest level again,” Woods said, adding that he has progressed from chipping and putting practice to hitting full shots.”I’m able to,” he said. “Not well every day, but I can hit them.”Despite the uncertainty, Woods said when asked that the Masters, April 9-12 at Augusta National, was not “off the table.”Woods has won five Masters titles, the most recent an epic 2019 victory that ended his 11-year major championship drought.He suffered severe leg injuries in a 2021 car crash but returned at the 2022 Masters and finished 47th.The veteran superstar had a back operation in September 2024 and was rehabilitating from that setback when he announced in March of 2025 that he had suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon.Woods said the Achilles injury was no longer an issue, but the disc replacement – on top of multiple back surgeries over the years – was proving challenging to come back from.A new decade”I’ve had a fused back and now a disc replacement, so it’s challenging,” he said. “And now I entered a new decade, so that number is starting to sink in and has us thinking about the opportunity to be able to play in a cart.”That’s something that, as I said, I won’t do out here on this (PGA) tour because I don’t believe in it. But on the Champions Tour, that’s certainly that opportunity.”Even as he strives to ready himself for a return to competition, Woods said he has been devoting a tremendous amount of time as chair of the PGA Tour’s Future Competition Committee created to help shape a new-look tour.”I thought I spent a lot of hours practicing in my prime,” Woods said. “It doesn’t even compare to what we’ve done in the boardroom.”Woods said he hopes to see the PGA Tour implement a revamped schedule in 2027, although he acknowledged it could take two years to roll out all of the changes.He envisions a more streamlined schedule, with “more top players playing” – all in a system that still offers opportunities to young talent and keeps sponsors engaged.The time-consuming work means Woods has yet to make up his mind about whether he’d be willing to captain the 2027 US Ryder Cup team, although he said the PGA of America had been in touch.”They have asked me for my input on it, and I haven’t made my decision yet,” he said.”I’m trying to figure out what we’re trying to do with our tour. That’s been driving me hours upon hours every day and trying to figure out if I can actually do our team, our Team USA and our players and everyone that’s going to be involved in the Ryder Cup, if I can do it justice with my time.” Related Story Source link
File photo shows Palestinian delegate to France, Leila Shahid. Leila Shahid, the first woman diplomat representing Palestine abroad, died in southern France aged 76, her family said.”She died today,” her sister Zeina said.She did not provide further details. According to initial findings, Shahid, who had reportedly been ill for several years, apparently committed suicide, a source close to the investigation said.”Leila Shahid, the iconic ambassador of Palestine, has left us. This is a huge loss for Palestine and for the world that believes in justice,” Hala Abou-Hassira, the Palestinian representative in France, said on X.Born in Lebanon in 1949, Shahid was the first woman to represent the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) abroad, beginning her career in Ireland before also becoming representative in the Netherlands.She served as representative in France and later as the representative at the European Union. Related Story Source link
File photo shows President Donald Trump and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif shake hands as they pose for a photo, at a world leaders’ summit on…
Worshippers perform Tarawih prayers marking the start of the holy month of Ramadan at a mosque in Rawalpindi Wednesday. Source link
Veteran US civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson, one of the nation’s most influential black voices, died peacefully Tuesday morning at the age of 84, his family said.Jackson, a Baptist minister, had been a civil rights leader since the 1960s, when he marched with Martin Luther King Jr and helped fundraise for the cause.”Our father was a servant leader – not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” Jackson’s family said. “His unwavering belief in justice, equality, and love uplifted millions, and we ask you to honour his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by.” (FILES) Civil rights activist and Former US presidencial election candidate reverend Jesse Jackson gives a press conference after bilateral talks with Molefe Tsele, General Secretary…
Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has accused President Donald Trump of orchestrating a “cover-up” over files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to an interview with the BBC published on Monday.”Get the files out. They are slow-walking it,” Clinton, who is due to testify before a Congressional committee on the issue, told the British broadcaster in an interview in Berlin.The US Justice Department last month released the latest cache of so-called Epstein files – more than 3mn documents, photos and videos related to its investigation into sex criminal Epstein, who died from what was determined to be suicide while in custody in 2019.Clinton’s husband, former president Bill Clinton, features regularly in the files, but no evidence has come to light implicating either Clinton in criminal activity.The couple has been ordered to give closed-door depositions before the House Oversight Committee, which is probing the deceased financier’s connections to powerful figures and how information about his crimes was handled.”We will show up but we think it would be better to have it in public,” Hillary Clinton told the BBC. “I just want it to be fair. I want everybody treated the same way.”The former secretary of state said she and her husband “have nothing to hide. We have called for the full release of these files repeatedly”.The Department of Justice has said it has no more files to release, though lawmakers have criticised it for not publishing internal government memos, notes and e-mails on Epstein.Clinton said the Republicans probing her are trying to deflect attention away from Trump, whose name is also mentioned in the files many times.”Look at this shiny object. We’re going to have the Clintons, even Hillary Clinton, who never met the guy,” she said.Trump denies any wrongdoing. Mere mention in the files is not proof of having committed a crime.Former president Clinton has acknowledged flying on Epstein’s plane in the early 2000s for Clinton Foundation-related humanitarian work, but said he never visited Epstein’s private island.Hillary Clinton, who ran against Trump for president in 2016, has said she had no meaningful interactions with Epstein, never flew on his plane and never visited his island.In the interview with the BBC, she said she had met Ghislaine Maxwell, an Epstein associate who was convicted of conspiring with him to abuse minors, “on a few occasions”.Responding to Clinton’s comment that the congressional testimony was a bid to create a distraction, Trump denied it, telling reporters on Monday evening he had been “totally exonerated”.Hillary Clinton will appear for her deposition on February 26, while Bill Clinton will appear on February 27. Related Story Source link
Carlos Alcaraz made a triumphant return to action following his Australian Open triumph as he beat Arthur Rinderknech 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) in the first round in Doha on Tuesday. Alcaraz, who became the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam with his victory in Melbourne, saw off the 30th-ranked Rinderknech in two closely contested sets. “It was really difficult,” Alcaraz said after his one hour, 47-minute win. “Arthur is a really dangerous player. Nobody wants to play against him in the first round… I’m happy with the level. I’m happy that I got through difficult moments in the match. I’m happy that I stayed calm [and] positive, and played great tennis.” The world number one will face another Frenchman in round two, 60th-ranked Valentin Royer. Alcaraz took the first set after breaking in the fifth game but faced dogged resistance from Rinderknech, who brought up his first break points of the match with the top seed serving to force a tie-break in the second set. The Spaniard saved both and then closed out victory in the tie-break, ripping a forehand down the line on match point. This week, Alcaraz is aiming to improve on last year’s debut result in Doha, where he fell to Jiri Lehecka in the quarter-finals. The No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings will next meet Frenchman Valentin Royer. Alcaraz can only meet second seed Sinner — who surged past Tomas Machac on Monday — in the championship match, which would be the 17th chapter of their thrilling rivalry. Stefanos Tsitsipas ignited his Doha campaign with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Tunisian wild card Moez Echargui, booking a popcorn second-round clash with 2023 winner and longtime rival Daniil Medvedev. Tsitsipas trails 4-10 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, though they have not met since Shanghai in 2024. Jiri Lehecka, Zizou Bergs, Fabian Marozsan and Zhang Zhizhen also all advanced on Tuesday. Lehecka eased past Jenson Brooksby 6-3, 6-3, Bergs overcame Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4, Marozsan dispatched Ugo Humbert 6-3, 6-1 and Zhang downed Roberto Carballes Baena 6-4, 6-4. Alcaraz's chief rival Jannik Sinner is on the other side of the draw. No player other than Alcaraz or Sinner has won a tour-level title at an event featuring both of them since Andrey Rublev lifted the trophy in Madrid in May 2024. Source link
Oscar winner Robert Duvall, a versatile actor who made lasting impressions in a range of parts from starring to supporting roles like the napalm-loving colonel of Apocalypse Now or the spectral Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird, has died at age 95, his wife said in a Facebook post.The actor, who played Tom Hagen, a lawyer for the Corleone family, in The Godfather and its first sequel, and starred in the TV miniseries Lonesome Dove, died peacefully on Sunday, according to the statement, which did not give a cause of death.His death on Sunday was confirmed by his wife Luciana Duvall.”Yesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished friend, and one of the greatest actors of our time. Bob passed away peacefully at home,” she wrote.Blunt-talking, prolific and glitz-averse, Duvall won an Oscar for best actor and was nominated six other times. Over his six decades-long career, he shone in both lead and supporting roles, and eventually became a director. He kept acting in his 90s.Duvall won his Academy Award in 1983 for playing a washed-up country singer in Tender Mercies.However, his most memorable characters also included the soft-spoken, loyal mob consigliere Tom Hagen in the first two installments of The Godfather and the maniacal Lieutenant-Colonel William Kilgore in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Vietnam War epic Apocalypse Now. Related Story Source link