Riyadh to Host Peace and Sport Middle East Forum on 18-19 October

Riyadh to Host Peace and Sport Middle East Forum on 18-19 October
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Riyadh to Host Peace and Sport Middle East Forum on 18-19 October

Riyadh to Host Peace and Sport Middle East Forum on 18-19 October

Saudi Arabia's Capital Riyadh will host the Peace and Sport Middle East Forum for the first time, powered by the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee on 18-19 October.
The forum will be held under the theme, “Sport is an answer for peace”, at the Cultural Palace in Riyadh-based Diplomatic Quarter in cooperation with the Peace and Sport organization.
The forum aims to deploy sports to spread positive values, attitudes, and behavior to consolidate international peace, given the sports’ strong influence and role as a global communication tool and a language spoken by all.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki bin Faisal, the Minister of Sports and Chairman of the Saudi Olympic & Paralympic Committee, has thanked the Saudi leadership for its unlimited support for the sports sector in the Kingdom, SPA reported.
He added that such support has helped turn the Kingdom into a hub for major international sports events.
The minister welcomed all participants at the forum from around the world in their second home, hoping that it would contribute to enhancing the role of sports in achieving international peace.



‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
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‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)

The Paris Olympics look likely to get off to a soggy start.

Meteo-France, the French weather service, is predicting “flooding rains” Friday evening when the opening ceremony is set to unroll along the Seine River. But the show is set to go on as planned, starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT/7:30 p.m. CEST and should last more than three hours.

Already in the late afternoon, skies were gray with intermittent drizzle. There was a silver lining, though, with temperatures expected to stay relatively warm throughout the evening.

Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 6,800 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River for 6 kilometers (3.7 miles). Though 10,700 athletes are expected to compete at these Olympics, hundreds of soccer players are based outside Paris, surfers are in Tahiti and many have yet to arrive for their events in the second week, organizers said Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including 320,000 paying and invited ticket-holders, are expected to line the Seine’s banks as athletes are paraded along the river on boats.