Paris, July 27 (IANS) Let the Games begin! Amid thunderclouds and heavy rains, the 2024 Paris Olympics got off to a stunning start as the Organising Committee (OC) made sure that the world got to see why the French capital is called ‘la Ville Lumiere’ — the city of light.

For the first time in the history of the Olympic Summer Games, the Opening Ceremony didn’t take place in a stadium; it was held in the heart of the city along its main artery: the Seine river.

The event started with representatives from Greece leading the athletes from nearly 200 countries in the Parade of the Nations on boats on the river.

And it was the American singer and songwriter Lady Gaga who set the pulses racing with a mesmerising show, setting the stage for more scintillating performances to come in what is expected to be a nearly three-hour ceremony showcasing the French culture and heritage.

The global superstar sang the French classic ‘Mon truce en plume’ by Zizi Jeanmaire and received thunderous cheers from the fans who had lined up the riverbank since the afternoon.

The ceremony was bold, original and no doubt unique. Taking on a new guise, the parade of athletes was held on the Seine with boats for each national delegation. These boats were equipped with cameras to allow television and online viewers to see the athletes up close.

A majority of the 10,500 athletes crossed through the centre of Paris, the overall playing field for the Games on which these competitors will display their sporting prowess over the next 16 days. The parade came to the end of its 6-km route in front of the Trocadero.

Eighty giant screens and strategically placed speakers allowed everyone to enjoy the magical atmosphere of this show reverberating throughout the French capital.

Athletes onboard the parade boats got glimpses of some of the official Games venues, including Parc Urbain La Concorde, the Esplanade des Invalides, the Grand Palais, and lastly the Iena Bridge where the parade will come to a stop before the ceremony’s finale at the Trocadero.

But the best part of the ceremony was when legendary Zinedine Zidane passed the Olympic Flame to Rafael Nadal. The crowd went berserk and shouted their lungs out, cheering for the two stars.

The torch was then taken down the Seine in a boat with Nadal, Serena Williams, Carl Lewis, and Nadia Comaneci.

At last, the Games were declared open.

* Rain pain, no way!

Rain tried to spoil the mood of the organisers but the fans remained on their seats to see the history in the making.

Notably, Paris is hosting the Olympics for the third time after 100 years and the city is leaving no stone unturned to make it a big success.

* Indian contingent led by P.V. Sindhu and Sharath Kamal

As many as 78 Indian athletes and officials from 12 disciplines participated in the parade. Women athletes were wearing blue sarees while the men were in blue blazers and blue trousers.

* Action begins on Saturday

Indian athletes will be in action on the first day of the quadrennial event in seven sports disciplines including hockey, shooting and badminton.

As per the schedule for Saturday (July 27), Indian rower Balraj Panwar will compete in the men’s single sculls (Heat 1) at 12:30 p.m. IST.

In shooting, Elavenil Valarivan & Sandeep Singh and Arjun Babuta & Ramita Jindal will compete in the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team Qualification at 12:30 p.m. followed by 10m Air Pistol Men’s Qualification, in which Arjun Singh Cheema and Sarabjot Singh would be in action.

Manu Bhaker and Rhythm Sangwan will also start their campaign on Saturday with the 10m Air Pistol Women’s Qualification at 4 p.m.

In tennis, Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji will take on the French pair of Fabian Reboul and Edouard Roger Vasselin in the men’s doubles first-round match at 3:30 p.m.

In badminton, Lakshya Sen will be up against Kevin Gua Cordon in the men’s singles group stage match at 7:10 p.m.

In the men’s doubles category, India’s top pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will lock horns with France’s Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar in their opening match at 8:30 p.m.

In the women’s doubles category, Ashwini Ponappa and Tanisha Crasto will play against the Korean pair of Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong in their first group stage match at 11:50 p.m.

Harmeet Desai will start his campaign against Jordan’s Yaman Zaid Jor Abo in the men’s singles table tennis event in the preliminary round at 7:15 p.m.

After the historic bronze finish in the Tokyo Olympics, the Indian men’s hockey team will aim to change the colour of their medal as they start their journey against New Zealand in a Pool B match at 9 pm (IST).

In boxing, Preeti Pawar will be up against Vietnam’s Vo Thi Kim Anh in the women’s 54kg round of 32 clash at 11:40 pm.

–IANS

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Prague, July 27 (IANS) In a telephone conversation, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico proposed a “technical” solution to his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Shmyhal, to partially restart the transit of Russian company Lukoil’s oil via Ukraine.

Without disclosing any details, Fico’s office on Friday said that the proposed scheme would require the participation of several countries, including Slovakia, Xinhua news agency reported.

Restoring at least partial access to Russian oil is extremely important for the Bratislava-based Slovnaft refinery, as alternative sources of oil are more expensive and may not be technologically compatible, it said.

Slovakia’s Economy Ministry said last week that oil deliveries from Lukoil had stopped flowing to Slovakia via Ukraine following the company’s inclusion on Ukraine’s sanctions list. The move has heavily affected Slovnaft.

Intensive negotiations will take place at the highest political and technical levels in the coming hours and days, reported the News Agency of the Slovak Republic (TASR), citing government sources.

Slovak President Peter Pellegrini said on Wednesday that his country might take retaliatory measures against Ukraine for its decision to cut off oil supplies from Lukoil to Slovakia.

Slovakia’s Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar, together with Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto, on Monday asked the European Commission to intervene in this matter.

–IANS

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Ramallah, July 27 (IANS) The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) added an archaeological site in the Gaza Strip to its list of World Heritage in Danger, the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism has said.

Palestine succeeded in the emergency registration of the Monastery of Saint Hilarion in Gaza on the list of World Heritage in Danger during the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee held in India, Xinhua news agency quoted the ministry as saying in a statement on Friday.

The urgent and emergency registration comes to preserve the Palestinian cultural heritage in Gaza in light of the Israeli war on the enclave, which destroyed more than 100 heritage, archaeological and cultural sites, completely or partially, said the Palestinian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Hani Al-Hayek in the statement.

The Monastery of Saint Hilarion, one of the oldest sites in the Middle East, was founded by Saint Hilarion and was home to the first monastic community in the Holy Land, according to UNESCO on Friday.

Situated at the crossroads of the main routes of trade and exchange between Asia and Africa, it was a centre for religious, cultural and economic exchanges, illustrating the prosperity of desert monastic sites in the Byzantine period, it added.

Inclusion on the list of World Heritage in Danger automatically opens the door to enhanced international technical and financial assistance mechanisms to guarantee the protection of the property and, if necessary, to help facilitate its rehabilitation, according to UNESCO.

–IANS

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Kampala, July 27 (IANS) Norway has officially closed its embassy in Uganda, marking the end of 19 years of diplomatic presence in the east African country.

The embassy posted on its official handle on X, formerly Twitter, Friday, saying that the country’s flag had been formerly lowered.

“It is with mixed emotions as we lower the Norwegian flag for the last time. The Embassy is now closed, but Norway remains engaged in Uganda,” the embassy posted. The lowered flag was handed to Norwegian Ambassador to Uganda Kristin Hermansen.

According to the embassy, the flag was raised in Uganda in 2005.

At an earlier function, Uganda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Odongo Jeje Abubakher emphasised the “strength and tangible results of the Uganda-Norway relationship over the years, expressing Uganda’s deep appreciation for this partnership”, Xinhua news agency reported.

“He acknowledged Norway’s sovereign decision to close its embassy in Kampala while welcoming the assurance that bilateral relations will persist and flourish,” an embassy statement posted on X said.

Norway shut down five missions in 2022. The closure of its embassy in Uganda, which was also overseeing Rwanda and Burundi, was first announced last October, signalling that several changes were underway in the country’s diplomatic presence abroad.

Norway supports a variety of projects in Uganda, including education, health, agriculture, and assistance to refugees.

–IANS

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Washington, July 27 (IANS) Former US President Donald Trump on Friday pledged to bring peace to West Asia if re-elected to the White House and that he will stop the spread of anti-Semitism in America.

In a statement released by the Trump campaign after his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the former President also expressed solidarity with Israel on the “heinous” October 7 attack. The former President pledged that “when he returns to the White House, he will make every effort to bring peace to the Middle East and combat anti-Semitism from spreading throughout college campuses across the United States”.

The Trump campaign said the Israeli Prime Minister “thanked President Trump and his Administration for working to promote stability in the region through, among many historic achievements, the Abraham Accords, moving the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, eliminating Qasem Soleimani, ending the horrific Iran Nuclear Deal, as well as combating anti-Semitism in America and abroad”. Soleimani was the head of Iran’s Quds Force who was killed in a US drone strike in 2020.

Trump welcomed Netanyahu and his wife Sara Netanyahu warmly at his Mar-a-Lago in Florida, a video of which was posted on Truth Social, a social media platform he owns.

Trump and Netanyahu had shared a close bond going back to the former President’s first term, when he had moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, in recognition of a long-standing Israeli demand for the world to consider Jerusalem as the capital, despite its status as a city party claimed by the Palestinians. Trump had also recognised Golan Heights as a part of Israel, which had captured the territory from Syria in the 1967 war. The former President had capped his tight embrace of Israel by brokering the Abraham Accords that paved the way for the normalization of ties between Israel and Bahrain and Israel and the UAE.

They fell out in early 2021 when Netanyahu became one of the first world leaders to call and congratulate President Joe Biden, whose election Trump has continued to dispute to this day.

Netanyahu is a close observer of US elections and has inserted himself into US politics several times over the years. He has recently quarrelled with Biden over military supplies for Israel and could be preparing himself for Trump’s return to the White House, a possibility that is being considered in capitals around the world.

–IANS

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