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His Excellency Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani met on Tuesday with Commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM) Admiral Charles Bradford Cooper, who is currently visiting the country. The meeting discussed the close strategic relations between the State of Qatar and the United States and ways to support and strengthen them, particularly in the areas of military and defense cooperation, in addition to a number of topics of common interest.

The Qatari men’s volleyball team secured a crucial victory on Monday, defeating hosts Saudi Arabia 3–1 in an exciting encounter at the 6th Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh until November 21.Qatar recovered well after dropping the opening set 21–25, taking control of the match with confident attacking play and solid defense to claim the next three sets 25–16, 25–20, and 25–21 in front of a large crowd at Riyadh Boulevard.With this result, Qatar moved a step closer to advancing to the medal rounds. They will face Bahrain Wednesday in a decisive fixture that could confirm their qualification to the knockout stages.Tamer qualifies for 100m Freestyle FinalQatar’s swimmer Ali Tamer qualified for the final of the men’s 100m freestyle, to be held today at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Olympic Complex. Tamer clocked 50.44 seconds in the heats and 50.53 seconds in the semi-finals.Meanwhile, teammate Mohammed Aziz Ismail narrowly missed out on the 200m butterfly final after finishing fourth in his heat with a time of 2:12.26. Hamza al-Shaalan withdrew from the 200m breaststroke final after sustaining an injury during warm-up. He had earlier qualified with a time of 2:23.35 in the heats.Today, Ismail will compete in the 100m butterfly, while al-Shaalan and Mohammed Mahmoud will contest the 50m breaststroke.Elsewhere, Qatar’s table tennis players begin their individual campaigns today, while Mona Al-Kharafi will represent the nation in the women’s under-50kg karate category.Turkey tops medal tableTurkey continues to lead the medal standings at the Games with 58 medals — 37 gold, 12 silver, and 9 bronze. Egypt sits second with 18 medals (6 gold, 4 silver, 8 bronze), followed by Nigeria in third with 10 medals (5 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze). Indonesia ranks fourth with 18 medals (4 gold, 11 silver, 3 bronze), and Uzbekistan is fifth with 21 medals (4 gold, 10 silver, 7 bronze).

Russia and Ukraine traded claims on Wednesday over the downing of military drones, as the conflict between the two countries continues unabated since Feb. 24, 2022. Ukrainian authorities said their air defense systems had shot down 61 Russian drones across northern, southern, and eastern regions of the country.Meanwhile, Russia's Ministry of Defense announced in a statement that its air defense forces had destroyed 40 Ukrainian drones over several areas during the previous night.Reports from both sides regarding the ongoing Russian military operation in Ukraine have frequently contradicted each other, particularly in terms of battlefield developments.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong agreed Sunday to establish a strategic partnership between their countries and expand cooperation across various sectors, including defense and trade.The two leaders announced the launch of the strategic partnership during a joint press conference at the presidential office following their summit talks, which took place as part of Prime Minister Wong’s official visit to South Korea.“Our two countries share many similarities. We have both achieved remarkable growth based on human capital and an open, free-trade order despite limited land, scarce resources, and a challenging geopolitical environment,” President Lee said.According to Yonhap News Agency, the two sides agreed to deepen cooperation in the areas of security, defense, artificial intelligence, advanced technology, people-to-people exchanges, and combating transnational crimes such as online scams.Under the new strategic partnership, South Korea and Singapore will also strengthen collaboration to address global challenges, including climate change and cross-border crimes, amid a shifting international order that has long underpinned global growth and prosperity, according to the presidential office.Prime Minister Wong highlighted significant potential for collaboration in the green economy, digital innovation, security, and defense, and expressed his full support for South Korea’s efforts to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and US President Donald Trump affirmed at their summit in Tokyo to bolster cooperation on defense and the economy.On the security front, Takaichi and Trump are likely to have confirmed the importance of reinforcing the alliance's deterrence and response capabilities amid growing challenges posed by China and North Korea, while Washington is calling for allies to spend more on defense, Japan news agency (Kyodo) reported.Takaichi and Trump signed documents, including one on cooperation to secure and supply critical minerals, including rare earths, in an effort to enhance economic security, according to Kyodo.Takaichi described the Japan-US alliance as "the greatest alliance in the world."She is expected to stress her plan, pledged in her parliamentary speech last week, to increase Japan's defense spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product by March, two years ahead of the previously set goal of fiscal 2027, Kyodo added.Japan has been raising its defense budget significantly since the fiscal 2027 target was set when the government in late 2022 revised its long-term National Security Strategy, which Takaichi has vowed to update next year.The two sides are also expected to have affirmed the steady implementation of a trade agreement struck in July, which includes a Japanese commitment to invest $550 billion in key US industries such as semiconductors, critical minerals and shipbuilding as well as increased purchases by Japan of US agricultural and other products.Based on the bilateral deal, Trump lowered US tariffs on goods from Japan, reducing the levy on automobiles to 15 percent from the previous rate of 27.5 percent.Trump is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Seoul next Thursday, the next stop on his Asian tour.

The Paris Masters debuts in its new La Defense Arena home this month, with the vast showpiece court second only in size terms to the US Open’s Arthur Ashe Stadium on the current global circuit.Tournament director Cedric Pioline told AFP it showed the indoor event was “evolving” and the new venue in the western suburbs of the French capital would allow for innovations such as an improved walk-on for the players that will feature a laser show.The new base will be familiar to TV viewers as the venue for the swimming events at the Olympics last year.It is also the home of French Top 14 rugby club Racing 92 and regularly hosts the world’s best-known performing artists.“The centre court will have a capacity of around 17,500 people, making it the second biggest court in the world for (tournaments held annually), behind the US Open centre court,” Pioline, a former world number five-ranked player who was a beaten finalist at Wimbledon and the US Open, said.“There will be just over 4,000 seats on Court No. 1 and 4,000 on Court No. 2. Court No. 3 has a capacity of a few hundred seats,” the Frenchman added.The ATP Masters 1000 event runs from October 27 to November 2.In early 2024, organisers signed a 10-year contract to stage the event at La Defense Arena, a decision made in order to comply with ATP requirements for its biggest tournaments.Rumours had long circulated that the event would lose its Masters status due to the size of the Bercy Arena – its home since 1986.“Without any changes on our part, over a medium-term cycle – we are talking about four to five years – there was a possibility of being downgraded (to a Masters 500 or 250 event),” Pioline said.As well as enjoying a boost in seating capacity, the tournament’s new venue will allow for more room on-court for players.“We have also decided to increase the playing surface for the comfort of the players,” Pioline said.“(At Bercy), the outside courts were a little small in relation to the physical commitment of the players and their coverage of the court.“Overall, it felt a bit cramped,” he added.“We simply needed to be able to evolve,” he added of the decision to leave Bercy.‘Confident’ for Alcaraz, SinnerPioline emphasised one tradition would be carried on from Bercy to La Defense: the Paris Masters’ glitzy player walk-ons. But it will be substantially updated.“The tunnel that was created (at Bercy) in the 2010s was a great innovation,” he said.“We came to the conclusion that a new venue meant a new show. It will be much more vertical, even more based on laser-type lighting.“It has to be a truly immersive experience.”Pioline shared he was “confident” the experience for fans would include seeing the top two players in the men’s game, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.“The thousand ATP points awarded to the winner will carry weight” in the battle between the Spaniard and the Italian to finish the season at the top of the world rankings, he argued.After injuring his ankle at the end of September during his victory at the Japan Open, world number one Alcaraz decided to skip the recent Shanghai Masters.Sinner was forced to withdraw in the third round of the event in China.With the ATP Finals scheduled in Turin from November 9-16, followed by the Davis Cup finals from November 18-23 in Bologna, the end-of-season schedule is “clearly busy, but we are confident”, Pioline said.

The Civil Defense in the Gaza Strip revealed that more than 10,000 Palestinians remain missing to date, since the onset of the genocide war on Gaza on October 7, 2023.In remarks to Qatar News Agency (QNA) on Saturday, spokesperson for the Civil Defense in Gaza, Mahmoud Basal, stated that Civil Defense teams are awaiting the full withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from all agreed-upon locations under the ceasefire agreement, in order to carry out their duties of recovering the bodies of martyrs and searching for the missing.He pointed out that thousands of citizens have been lost beneath the rubble and destroyed homes since the beginning of the aggression, and could not be reached due to the presence of occupation forces or because the bodies are trapped under residential buildings and towers that were demolished by their inhabitants.He noted that Civil Defense lacks the heavy equipment necessary to remove the debris and extract the bodies, adding that field teams will face significant challenges in retrieving or identifying the remains due to decomposition over time.Basal explained that on the first day of the Israeli army's withdrawal from various areas of the Strip, more than 140 bodies of martyrs were recovered, including over 60 in Gaza City, with many others still under the rubble.He noted that Civil Defense teams continue to receive reports of remains beneath the debris but are unable to retrieve them due to the lack of necessary equipment.He further stated that within a single day following the ceasefire, Civil Defense and municipal and service teams carried out more than 850 rescue and relief operations, including body recovery, debris removal, and securing destroyed areas.Basal confirmed that Civil Defense headquarters in areas vacated by the Israeli army were completely destroyed, emphasizing that the occupation committed horrific crimes by targeting humanitarian and service personnel. More than 1,670 medical staff, 140 Civil Defense members, and over 1,000 Civil Defense and civilian police personnel were martyred while conducting rescue operations, delivering aid, or performing their duties to serve and protect citizens. Hundreds of municipal employees and humanitarian aid workers were also killed.The Civil Defense spokesperson highlighted the immense challenges facing the humanitarian and relief sectors in Gaza, amid the collapse of the health infrastructure and destruction of hospitals, medical facilities, municipal buildings, Civil Defense and rescue centers.He called on the international community and relevant organizations to act urgently to deliver aid, medical supplies, and rescue and emergency equipment.The ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israeli entity, reached in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, came into effect Friday afternoon, following the Israeli government's approval of the deal and the beginning of its military withdrawal from populated areas in the Strip.The return of displaced residents to northern Gaza also began, as part of the first phase of US President Donald Trump's initiative to end the war on Gaza.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced Monday that its air defense systems shot down 251 Ukrainian drones overnight. In a statement, the Ministry said that air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 251 Ukrainian drones, and that its forces shot down 40 of them over Crimea, in addition to 62 over the Black Sea. Dozens of additional drones were shot down over the Kursk and Belgorod regions. For its part, Ukrainian forces announced carrying out strikes targeting Russian oil refineries and other energy facilities. Since the outbreak of the war in February 2022, Russia and Ukraine have issued near-daily reports claiming to have repelled attacks by the other side. Due to the conditions of the ongoing conflict, these claims cannot be independently verified.

Saudi Minister of the National Guard Prince Abdullah bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz discussed Monday with South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, and Minister of Defense Acquisition Program of South Korea Seok Jong-gun, who are visiting Riyadh, ways to enhance bilateral military and defense cooperation and opportunities to develop partnerships in the military industries. During these talks, the two sides also exchanged views on several topics of mutual interest.

The Russian forces succeeded in taking out 1,150 Ukrainian troops and shooting down 230 drones of the Ukrainian air defense systems, the Russian Defense Ministry reported in a statement on Tuesday. The statement added that the Russian troops optimized their military posture and took control of critical sites along numerous axes, targeting Ukrainian Armed Forces formations engaged across 140 locations along the frontlines. These operations resulted in the neutralization of 1,150 Ukrainian troops, along with the destruction of several armored combat vehicles, artillery systems, ammunition storage sites, and electronic warfare nodes, the statement continued. Russia and Ukraine have been trading, since the outbreak of the war in February 2022, near-daily reports on advances or the repelling of mutual attacks, without the ability to verify the accuracy of each side's data.

Russia's Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday that its forces had seized a new town in eastern Ukraine and eliminated 1,020 Ukrainian soldiers.In a statement, the ministry said units from the Russian military's "Center" group had taken control of the town of Pervomaiske in the Donetsk region.It added that Russian forces had targeted Ukrainian military units and equipment in several areas of the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, resulting in the deaths or injuries of 1,020 soldiers and the destruction of dozens of combat vehicles, cars, artillery pieces, ammunition depots, and electronic warfare stations.The ministry added that Russian tactical and operational aviation, drone attack aircraft, and missile and artillery forces had inflicted damage on a Ukrainian military airfield, as well as drone production plants and storage depots.Since the beginning of the war, which has now entered its third year, Russia and Ukraine have exchanged daily reports claiming advances or the repelling of attacks from the other side. These reports cannot be independently verified due to the ongoing war and fighting since Feb. 24, 2022.