A fascinating roaming parade marked the opening of the Winter Festival at the Old Doha Port, Mina DIstrict, Friday, enthralling a large number of residents and visitors.Taking place four times daily until January 7, the parade – against a backdrop of stunning murals and colourful buildings – engages festival-goers, mostly families and children, with wholesome entertainment, attractions and other activities such as face painting, juggling shows and sea mascots.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani participated in the opening session of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate.text-box { float:right; width:500px; padding:10px; border:1pt solid black; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 15px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 20px;}@media only screen and (max-width: 767px) {.text-box {width: 65%;}}Amir highlights Qatar's active rolein work on climate changeHis Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani stressed Friday that Qatar is an active partner and player in international work on climate, adding that the country will continue to honour its commitments to combat the negative and dangerous repercussions of climate change.His Highness said in a post on X that he participated yesterday in COP28 in Dubai and thanked his brother HH President of the United Arab Emirates Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan for hosting the conference. His Highness then stressed the State of Qatar's active role and partnership in international work on climate change, adding that the country will continue with the international community its role of honouring its commitments to fight the negative and dangerous repercussions of climate change.Change (COP28), which was held on Friday in Expo City Dubai of the sisterly United Arab Emirates.A number of leaders of countries, heads of governments, delegations, and representatives of regional and international organizations also participated in the session.The session was attended by HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, a number of Their Excellencies members of the official delegation accompanying His Highness the Amir, Their Excellencies members of delegations, senior officials and guests of the summit.

Many fans will remember the family of five desert rodents unveiled as the official mascots of the Asian Cup Qatar 2023 from 2011. Saboog, Tmbki, Freha, Zkriti and Traeneh will once again be the face of Asia’s most prestigious football tournament, after making their debut twelve years ago when Qatar last hosted the AFC Asian Cup. The familiar characters were presented as mascots for the Asian Cup Qatar 2023 at a special ceremony at the Barahat Msheireb in Doha.For Hassan al-Kuwari, Marketing and Communications Executive Director of the Asian Cup Qatar 2023 Local Organising Committee (LOC), the return of the mascots to this year’s edition of the tournament is a testament to a long legacy of excellence in hosting mega sporting events in Qatar.“The mascots of the 2023 Asian Cup invoke wonderful memories from 2011, but also embody the excitement and energy of what will certainly be an amazing competition,” said al-Kuwari. “The five characters are inspired by Qatar’s natural environment and present us with yet another wonderful opportunity to showcase our culture and heritage to football fans from around the world.”The characters are the creation of Qatari artist Ahmed al-Maadheed. When working on the characters, al-Maadheed wanted to attribute different characteristics to each of the family members, much like the different roles football players take on during a football match. The artist also wanted to create a set of characters that resemble a traditional household in Qatar, while paying tribute to all four corners of country.“From the very beginning, we wanted to do something that inspired families and young people to be a part of the Asian Cup,” said al-Maadheed. “We wanted to do dig deep into our rich ecological heritage and find an animal that could represent the best of what happens on the pitch and also in our daily lives, and that was the jerboa.”Al-Maadheed added: “We decided to present a family of jerboas, each with its own distinctive personality, as a way of acknowledging the importance of teamwork in football, but also acknowledging the importance of family life to societies in Qatar.”The characters have been brought to life for the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 through an anime-inspired animation produced by Katara Studios. In the buildup to the event, and throughout the tournament, which takes place between January 12 and February 10, 2024, audiences will be treated to an animated work that invokes the nostalgia of iconic cartoons of the past. The animation was directed by Fahad al-Kuwari, with the song performed by Qatari artist Dana al-Meer and the legendary Tarek Al Arabi Tourgane.The mascots of the Asian Cup Qatar 2023 are Saboog, Tmbki, Freha, Zkriti and Traeneh. Since first making an appearance 2011, they have grown up, matured, and are now ready for a new edition of the AFC Asian Cup.The first in the series of five mascots is Saboog, the blue colored son of the family. His name is derived from the commonly used word to refer to the jerboa in Qatar. Second is Freha, the pink-colored eldest daughter of the family named after an area with the same name in the north of Qatar. Third is Tmbiki, a yellow-colored younger son named after the Timbic region in the east of the country. The parents are Zikriti and Traeneh, a green-colored father and a purple-colored mother respectively. They are named after Zikrit in Qatar’s west, and Tranaa in the north of the country.