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Qatar’s World Cup security operation will be bolstered by civilians enrolled on mandatory military service and diplomats brought back from overseas.

Some people who previously completed national service are being recalled for further work around the FIFA showpiece event that starts on November 20, officials in Doha said.

The conscripts are training to manage stadium security queues, frisk fans and detect alcohol, drugs or weapons concealed in ponytails, jacket linings or even fake bellies, Reuters news agency cited training materials as saying.

The civilians were told it was their “patriotic duty” to help, a source said.

“Most people are there because they have to be – they don’t want to get in trouble.”

They are being taught to approach fans with “positive body language, focus and a smile,” the source continued, and avoid discriminating against fans on any basis.

The current group of civilians are on four months paid leave from their jobs at key Qatari institutions like state-owned QatarEnergy and the foreign ministry, according to the source.

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Qatar is following the strategy of using conscripts that has been deployed on previous major events, including the 2019 world athletics champions.

A Qatari government official told Sky News: “Qatar’s national service program will continue as normal during the World Cup. Recruits completing their mandatory service will be supported by a small number of temporary recalls. This is standard practice, and happens every year during major public events such as the National Day celebrations.”

The diplomats have been brought back from the US, China and Russia, and are expected to return to their posts after the World Cup, the source added.

With a population of fewer than three million – of which just 380,000 are Qatari nationals – Qatar faces a shortage of personnel as it gears up for the FIFA tournament from 20 November to 18 December.

Exploitation ‘rampant’

Qatar, which is widely considered to be close to an absolute monarchy ruled by the Al Thani family, is accused of having an appalling human rights record in the run-up to the tournament.

Amnesty International says exploitation and abuse of migrant workers has been “rampant”, with people exposed to forced labour, unpaid wages and excessive working hours.

Since 2014, Qatari men aged between 18 and 35 have trained with the military for at least four months as part of mandatory national service. Diplomats abroad have been able to defer their service.

Anyone who fails to sign up faces a year in prison and a fine of 50,000 Qatari riyals (£12,700).

Read more:
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Women to officiate during major men’s tournament for first time ever

Last week, Turkey agreed to supply more than 3,000 riot police to help beef-up security at stadiums and hotels.

Under the agreement, Ankara will also deploy 100 special operations police to Qatar, along with 50 bomb specialists and 80 sniffer dogs and riot dogs.

Last month, Pakistan’s cabinet approved a draft agreement allowing the government to offer troops for security at the tournament.

It did not say how many personnel would be sent, and there has been no confirmation from either country that a final agreement has been reached.

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An end to the Israel-Hamas truce approaches – but the people of Gaza are desperate for help

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An end to the Israel-Hamas truce approaches - but the people of Gaza are desperate for help

The ceasefire clock is ticking down and everyone in Gaza knows it.

In the calm, people have been flooding to hospitals looking for treatment – almost overwhelming doctors.

At a hospital in southern Gaza, a Sky News team filmed as patient after patient was brought in for treatment, many of them children, with undiagnosed illnesses.

Follow the Israel-Hamas war live, as more hostages are released

The hospital’s corridors were crammed, with the injured placed on rickety beds.

In one doctor’s room, mother after mother entered with their ill children, desperate for help.

There is a real fear of a major spread of disease among the civilians, who are largely homeless and barely finding enough food to survive.

Hygiene fears in Gaza
Image:
Hygiene fears grow in Gaza

The head of the safety unit of the Ministry of Health in Gaza told Sky News the basic lack of hygiene and lack of clean water is making problems worse.

“There are many different types of diseases, such as skin diseases between the refugees, especially gut diseases and diarrhoea,” Estamily A’adeni explained.

“As you may know most of the displaced people have a basic lack of hygiene because of their evacuation, and lack of water hygiene, this is why we see an increase in some cases such as skin disease, respiratory illness, and children in particular are suffering from diarrhoea,” he added.

Mothers in a doctor's room in Gaza
Image:
Mothers in a doctor’s room in Gaza

Estamily A’adeni in Gaza
Image:
Estamily A’adeni in Gaza

Read more:
Hamas releases two Russian hostages after Kremlin negotiations
Who are the first 61 Israeli hostages released by Hamas?

Aid deliveries have continued both to the south and the north of the Gaza Strip, and the quantity of it coming in has increased.

But aid agencies have consistently said it is hopelessly inadequate.

People are increasingly desperate, and they know that when the war resumes life will get even worse.

Hundreds of thousands have already moved south, and they face the very real prospect of having to move again.

Of course, the current ceasefire has been entirely dependent on the release of hostages in Gaza, and the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

At the permanent vigil for hostages at a square in Tel Aviv, it’s clear that people are desperate for them to be returned.

At the same time though, there is widespread support for a resumption of the war on Hamas. And this is a conundrum for the Israeli government and the military – and Hamas of course always knew it would be.

This complex process has so far been remarkably successful, with negotiators staying in constant touch with both Israel and Hamas.

The vigil site itself is dominated by an enormous, fully dressed dinner table with place settings for all the hostages. Silhouetted pictures of people are hung over the back of chairs to symbolise that they’re still missing.

Vigil in Tel Aviv
Image:
Vigil in Tel Aviv

Site of a vigil in Tel Aviv

Chairs without the pictures represent the hostages who have been released and are now in hospital or back with their families in Israel.

Hundreds of people wander around the square looking at installations – including bound and blindfolded toy dolls that represent the children being held.

A few gazebos have been set up by survivors of the various kibbutzim attacked by Hamas on 7 October. Pictures of the dead and missing from the individual kibbutz adorn the gazebos, and people come to mourn and chat with friends and relatives.

In the crowd I met Sandra Cohen. I asked her if she, like others here, believed the war against Hamas had to restart, and I asked her about the complexities of the IDF’s tactics – how to attack Hamas and get the hostages out.

“They have a dilemma because getting them out and having a full destruction of the tunnels could put them in harm’s way, so they take it day by day and they do it slowly, obviously they have drones that watch and see what’s happening, but they do want to get them back alive, and we just have to wait and see what happens.”

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Henry Kissinger: Former United States secretary of state has died aged 100

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Henry Kissinger: Former United States secretary of state has died aged 100

Former United States secretary of state Henry Kissinger has died aged 100.

He passed away at his home in Connecticut on Wednesday, according to a statement from Kissinger Associates Inc.

The veteran politician had major influence on American foreign policy under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

Born in Germany in 1923, Mr Kissinger fled the Nazi regime with his family as a teenager and settled in the US in 1938.

During eight years as a national security adviser and secretary of state, Dr Kissinger was involved in major foreign policy events including the first example of “shuttle diplomacy” seeking peace in the Middle East, secret negotiations with China to defrost relations between the burgeoning superpowers and the instigation of the Paris peace talks seeking an end to the Vietnam conflict.

Mr Kissinger with President Gerald Ford and Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing in 1975
Image:
Dr Kissinger with President Gerald Ford and Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing in 1975

Analysis: A ‘top diplomat’ for some, a ‘war criminal’ for others

In 1973 he was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to negotiate an end to the Vietnam War.

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However, Dr Kissinger, along with President Nixon, also bore the brunt of criticism from the US’s allies following the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces in 1975 as the remaining US personnel fled what is now known as Ho Chi Minh City.

Henry Kissinger meeting President Xi Jinping in Beijing earlier this year. Pic: AP
Image:
Henry Kissinger meeting President Xi Jinping in Beijing earlier this year. Pic: AP

His influence over US diplomacy – which continued long after he left office – has not been without controversy, and some activists called for him to be prosecuted for war crimes.

He remained active in politics, even after his 100th birthday in May, attending meetings in the White House, publishing a book on leadership styles, and testifying before a Senate committee about the nuclear threat posed by North Korea.

In July 2023 he made a surprise visit to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Kissinger was a statesman for the ages

Henry Kissinger was a statesman for the ages – a scholar and celebrity who once spoke of how he was able to “do things” for a number of presidents.

But while the things he did earned him the moniker “top diplomat” for some, others chose “war criminal”.

As president Nixon’s architect-in-chief on US foreign policy, Kissinger built a relationship with the world based on American self-interest and, in doing so, drafted a legacy that divided opinion.

Supporters hail the “realpolitik”, a pragmatism that underpinned how the Nixon administration interacted with allies and adversaries.

Kissinger’s proactive engagement with China and diplomatic craft in dealings with the Soviet Union – dialogue, detente and nuclear arms control – is credited with reshaping the course of the Cold War.

His shuttle diplomacy during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war in the early seventies helped to contain the conflict and, in 1973, he shared a Nobel Peace Prize for his part in ending American involvement in the Vietnam War.

Read full analysis here

During his early life, after becoming a naturalised US citizen in 1943, Dr Kissinger joined the US Army the same year and was awarded a Bronze Star.

He would go on to serve with US counter intelligence in occupied Germany.

Dr Kissinger earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD degrees at Harvard University, where he taught international relations for almost 20 years before President Nixon appointed him national security advisor in 1969.

Henry Kissinger with Richard Nixon and Israeli prime minister Golda Meir
Image:
Henry Kissinger with Richard Nixon and Israeli prime minister Golda Meir

He is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Nancy Maginnes Kissinger, two children by his first marriage, David and Elizabeth, and five grandchildren.

According to the statement from Kissinger Associates: “He will be interred at a private family service. At a later date, there will be a memorial service in New York City.”

Senator and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney paid tribute to Dr Kissinger on X describing him as a “great one” and saying: “Fortunate indeed is America for his lifetime of diplomacy, wisdom, and love of freedom.”

Winston Lord, former US ambassador to China and Dr Kissinger’s one time special assistant said: “The world has lost a tireless advocate for peace.

“America has lost a towering champion for the national interest. I have lost a cherished friend and mentor.

“Henry blended the European sense of tragedy and the American immigrant’s sense of hope.”

Cindy McCain, the wife of late Senator John McCain said: “Henry Kissinger was ever present in my late husband’s life.

“While John was a POW and in the later years as a Senator & statesman.

“The McCain family will miss his wit, charm, and intelligence terribly.”

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An end to the Israel-Hamas truce approaches – but the people of Gaza are desperate for help

Published

on

By

An end to the Israel-Hamas truce approaches - but the people of Gaza are desperate for help

The ceasefire clock is ticking down and everyone in Gaza knows it.

In the calm, people have been flooding to hospitals looking for treatment – almost overwhelming doctors.

At a hospital in southern Gaza, a Sky News team filmed as patient after patient was brought in for treatment, many of them children, with undiagnosed illnesses.

Follow the Israel-Hamas war live, as more hostages are released

The hospital’s corridors were crammed, with the injured placed on rickety beds.

In one doctor’s room, mother after mother entered with their ill children, desperate for help.

There is a real fear of a major spread of disease among the civilians, who are largely homeless and barely finding enough food to survive.

Hygiene fears in Gaza
Image:
Hygiene fears grow in Gaza

The head of the safety unit of the Ministry of Health in Gaza told Sky News the basic lack of hygiene and lack of clean water is making problems worse.

“There are many different types of diseases, such as skin diseases between the refugees, especially gut diseases and diarrhoea,” Estamily A’adeni explained.

“As you may know most of the displaced people have a basic lack of hygiene because of their evacuation, and lack of water hygiene, this is why we see an increase in some cases such as skin disease, respiratory illness, and children in particular are suffering from diarrhoea,” he added.

Mothers in a doctor's room in Gaza
Image:
Mothers in a doctor’s room in Gaza

Estamily A’adeni in Gaza
Image:
Estamily A’adeni in Gaza

Read more:
Hamas releases two Russian hostages after Kremlin negotiations
Who are the first 61 Israeli hostages released by Hamas?

Aid deliveries have continued both to the south and the north of the Gaza Strip, and the quantity of it coming in has increased.

But aid agencies have consistently said it is hopelessly inadequate.

People are increasingly desperate, and they know that when the war resumes life will get even worse.

Hundreds of thousands have already moved south, and they face the very real prospect of having to move again.

Of course, the current ceasefire has been entirely dependent on the release of hostages in Gaza, and the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

At the permanent vigil for hostages at a square in Tel Aviv, it’s clear that people are desperate for them to be returned.

At the same time though, there is widespread support for a resumption of the war on Hamas. And this is a conundrum for the Israeli government and the military – and Hamas of course always knew it would be.

This complex process has so far been remarkably successful, with negotiators staying in constant touch with both Israel and Hamas.

The vigil site itself is dominated by an enormous, fully dressed dinner table with place settings for all the hostages. Silhouetted pictures of people are hung over the back of chairs to symbolise that they’re still missing.

Vigil in Tel Aviv
Image:
Vigil in Tel Aviv

Site of a vigil in Tel Aviv

Chairs without the pictures represent the hostages who have been released and are now in hospital or back with their families in Israel.

Hundreds of people wander around the square looking at installations – including bound and blindfolded toy dolls that represent the children being held.

A few gazebos have been set up by survivors of the various kibbutzim attacked by Hamas on 7 October. Pictures of the dead and missing from the individual kibbutz adorn the gazebos, and people come to mourn and chat with friends and relatives.

In the crowd I met Sandra Cohen. I asked her if she, like others here, believed the war against Hamas had to restart, and I asked her about the complexities of the IDF’s tactics – how to attack Hamas and get the hostages out.

“They have a dilemma because getting them out and having a full destruction of the tunnels could put them in harm’s way, so they take it day by day and they do it slowly, obviously they have drones that watch and see what’s happening, but they do want to get them back alive, and we just have to wait and see what happens.”

Continue Reading

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