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The United States said Wednesday it will delist Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism, a decades-old designation that severely impeded investment, in a new vote of confidence in leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.Secretary of State Marco Rubio notified Congress of the long-expected move, which will be effective in 45 days unless lawmakers take the unlikely step of blocking it.The step came as President Donald Trump met on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Turkey with Sharaa, a former jihadist who has sought to recast himself as a unifying figure after the 2024 toppling of the Assad family, which ruled with an iron fist for a half century.’This is yet another historic step by President Trump to give the Syrian people a chance at greatness,’ Rubio said in a statement.’Lifting sanctions on Syria will unlock international trade and investment, give Syria a chance to rebuild, and open up a new chapter for the Syrian people,’ he said.Trump's embrace of Sharaa comes despite misgivings from Israel, which has repeatedly launched airstrikes in Syria, one of its historic adversaries.Trump had earlier publicly pressed for Syria to make peace with Israel but went ahead with the delisting decision despite a lack of tangible progress.Rubio said in his statement that ‘a stable, unified Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors benefits not only the region, but the entire world.’Syria is seeking economic support to rebuild after years of brutal war that helped rise to the Islamic State extremist group and generated a major refugee crisis.Meeting in Ankara with Sharaa, who has traded his guerrilla fatigues for a suit, Trump said, ‘He's doing an unbelievable job in unifying Syria. What a job he's doing.”Syria was a mess with what happened with the previous government,’ Trump said. Source link
Key quotes from the 10th day of Wimbledon at the All England Club on Wednesday:”My thoughts are that it’s terrible. I think it’s very, very far from fair play for all the countries involved here, not just for Ukraine. I 100 percent don’t agree with this decision. I just want to go out there and hopefully beat every single Russian I play in Olympics, and that’s it.”– Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk slams the decision to provisionally lift the ban on Russians competing at the 2028 Olympics.”I felt emotions that I’ve never experienced before in my life in that last game. It just seems to get better and better every match. It was incredible playing on Centre Court for the second time and getting a second win. I was very nervous beforehand but I just kept going until the finish line. I just can’t believe it.”– Britain’s Arthur Fery was emotional after becoming the first male wildcard to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals in 25 years.”It’s OK, you guys can all be for Fery, I understand it. It is going to be an exciting day for both of us. For him, it is a Fery tale story for Arthur Fery. See what I did there! Last year at this time I was practising on the hard court already. It is a dream come true to finally play well at Wimbledon. I hope to play two more matches here.”– French Open champion Alexander Zverev joked with the crowd on Court One after being told his last four opponent will be Fery, who beat Flavio Cobolli.”We had two matches against each other, actually. Both of those, I was just kind of stunned that I was on the same court with Petra Kvitova. As a kid, I was always looking up to her. When I didn’t really know much about tennis, she was the face of Czech tennis. I would love to follow her in her footsteps.”– Linda Noskova, a semi-final debutant at the All England Club, aims to emulate fellow Czech and former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.”I almost wish I knew before so I could have just prepared to play a match where I was going to be playing through it. I felt like the whole first set I was, like I said, three games in is when I started feeling it. I was already down a break. I was just like panicking, What am I going to do? I just didn’t expect it at all.”– Taylor Fritz was hampered by an unexpected knee injury in his loss to Zverev.”Play a quarter-final against a guy that already played marathon match, many hours on court, ranking lower than me, so I felt like it was a chance to have a good day for me today. Maybe, like my team says, I wasn’t so humble since the first point, but I felt that it wasn’t my day. Can happen.”– Cobolli hinted he underestimated Fery after the Italian ninth seed’s loss to the world number 114. Related Story Source link
Demand for Arabic and other Eastern languages is expected to continue growing in Russia amid increasing cultural, academic and economic engagement with the Islamic world, according to experts speaking at the Festival of Eastern Cultures during the 17th International Economic Forum “Russia–Islamic World: KazanForum.”Andrei Zeltyn, a leading simultaneous interpreter, Arabist and senior lecturer at the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at the HSE University, said younger generations are showing a strong interest in language learning despite the rapid development of artificial intelligence and translation technologies.“Young people today are very drawn to languages. Neural networks have significantly improved the efficiency of translation programmes, but the lack of emotion in machine translation encourages people to learn languages themselves,” Zeltyn said during a press conference dedicated to the festival.He added that demand for Eastern languages, particularly Arabic, is likely to rise further in the coming years due to their growing importance in international relations and global cooperation. Zeltyn also highlighted the historic role of Kazan Federal University in the development of Arabic studies in Russia, describing it as one of the country’s pioneering centres for Oriental studies.Arabic remains one of the most widely spoken languages across the Middle East and North Africa and continues to play a key role in diplomacy, trade and intercultural communication, he noted.The Festival of Eastern Cultures was organised as part of the broader programme of the KazanForum, with the aim of promoting cultural dialogue and strengthening international academic and humanitarian cooperation.The festival featured a wide range of activities, including photo and art exhibitions showcasing Arab and Eastern cultures, competitions in photography, posters and video production, open lectures, workshops on Eastern languages and writing systems, cultural performances by representatives of Islamic countries, and screenings of documentary and educational films focusing on the East. Source link
Israeli forces were intercepting a Gaza-bound aid flotilla on Monday after it set sail from Turkey last week, with organisers saying one of the vessels was stopped west of Cyprus.”Military vessels are currently intercepting our fleet and IDF forces are currently boarding the first of our boats in broad daylight,” the Global Sumud Flotilla posted on X.”We demand safe passage for our legal, non-violent humanitarian mission. Governments must act now to stop these illegal acts or piracy meant to maintain Israel’s genocidal siege on Gaza.”Normalisation of the occupation’s violence is a threat to us all.” Around 50 ships had departed from southwestern Turkey on Thursday as part of the flotilla.On Monday, Israel had vowed to block the vessels. “Israel will not allow any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza,” the foreign ministry posted on X.”Israel calls on all participants in this provocation to change course and turn back immediately.” The ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether Israeli forces were intercepting the boats.The Global Sumud Flotilla is the third initiative in a year aimed at breaking an Israeli blockade of Gaza, which has suffered severe shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October 2023. Israeli authorities reject claims of aid shortages, saying the Palestinian territory is “flooded” with supplies.Israeli forces intercepted the second flotilla in international waters off Greece on April 30, expelling most of the activists to Europe. But they arrested two of them, who were held for several days in Israel before they were deported. Rights groups said the arrests were illegal and that the men suffered abuse while in Israeli detention.Israeli authorities have rejected the abuse allegations but filed no charges against the pair. Related Story Source link
Team Qatar secured gold and silver in the women’s singles competition through Aya Mohammed and Mariam Ali respectively, after Aya defeated Mariam 3-1 in the final. Qatar also won silver in the men’s doubles event through Mohammed Abdulwahab and Abdullah Abdulwahab after they lost 3-0 in the final to Saudi Arabia’s Ali Al Khudrawi and Abdulaziz Boushalibi.On Saturday, Team Qatar had already won gold and bronze in the mixed doubles event. Mohammed Abdulwahab and Aya Mohammed captured gold after defeating the UAE pair Ali Al Hawai and Noura Al Mazmi 3-0 in the final, while Abdullah Abdulwahab and Mariam Ali secured bronze after defeating Bahrain’s Rashid Khalid Sanad and Rayan Emad 3-0 in the third-place playoff. In the men’s team competition, Team Qatar secured bronze to raise their overall tally in the tournament to six medals — including two gold, two silver, and two bronze medals. Mohamed Abdulwahab and Abdullah Abdulwahab celebrate after winning the silver in the men’s doubles table tennis competitions.…
Area 23 under Division F of District 116, Toastmasters International in Qatar marked its Annual Confluence on 5th May 2026, with both a celebration of public speaking and a meaningful act of community service. A standout highlight was ‘Threads of Hope’, a clothing donation drive where contributions from across all five clubs were handed over to Qatar Charity’s TAYF In-kind Donations Program, a heartwarming reminder that great leaders give back.The event united nearly 50 members and guests from Doha Bank Toastmasters Club, EF Toastmasters Club, Goodwill Toastmasters, Msaiyan Toastmasters Club, and NAD Green Toastmasters Club, under the theme ‘Grow Together, Rise Together’, led by Area 23 Director TM Sruthy Anna Mammen and actively supported by TM Deepa Nair, TM Rijas Abdu, TM Ashok Maurya, TM Badreya AlMahmoud, TM Thasneem Abubacker, DTM Mahatab Alam, and TM Devanand Chandran.The Toastmasters team structure was briefed by DTM Ram Mohan Nair. The session was conducted by Toastmaster of the Day DTM Kunhikoya Thannieth, featuring speeches by TM Madan Parab, Dr. Suhail Awwad, and TM Sheeja Anis, evaluated by TM Rajesh Trikandiyoor, TM Maniraj M, and TM Simon Kurian respectively. Debate was facilitated by TM Dileep Nalli, with DTM Sabari Prasad as General Evaluator for the overall session.The event was graced by senior District 116 leaders, District Mentor DTM Manzoor Moideen, Program Quality Director DTM Sherwin Olimpo, Club Growth Director DTM Eman Salameh, Division F Director DTM Mahatab Alam, Division B Director DTM Ajaya Rogiye, and Division D Director TM Sampath Samarasekara. Source link
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