1. On August 9, 2024 (local time, August 8), the leaders of the United States, Egypt and Qatar issued a joint statement on negotiations over the release of hostages and ceasefire regarding Gaza, expressing that they are prepared as mediators, to present a final bridging proposal that resolves the remaining issues related to the implementation of the agreement. The joint statement also urged both parties to resume urgent talks on August 15 in Doha or Cairo to close all remaining gaps and commence implementation of the deal without further delay.

2. Japan appreciates the vigorous diplomatic efforts made by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to improve the situation, and strongly supports the joint statement by the leaders and the efforts made by the three countries. Even to this day, many people who have been held hostage are yet to be released, and at the same time the humanitarian situation on the ground is becoming increasingly dire due to the prolonged fighting, and the further destabilization caused by the spillover across the region remains a serious concern. Japan strongly urges all parties concerned to seize this opportunity and steadily work toward the release of all hostages and a sustainable ceasefire.

3. In close coordination with countries concerned, Japan will continue to persistently and proactively make diplomatic efforts towards the release of the hostages, the improvement of the humanitarian situation, the early settlement of the situation, and the prevention of escalation.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

The opening ceremony has been described as fluid and the IOC has adapted to this fluidity and all in all it is also understandable: life requires that nowadays everyone, person or organization, be a bit of a chameleon.

Thomas Bach, the president of the IOC, has brought forward his usual end-of-Games press conference to today, effectively avoiding being able to animate another at the end of tomorrow’s IOC Session, when there will certainly be talk of the balance of this exceptional edition of the Games and perhaps an attempt will be made to make an exception to the rule, modifying the Olympic Charter, to allow Bach to continue his work of defending sport, which at this moment is certainly not easy.

Jokingly, the president said that he is not aware of any new appointment with the media because this matter is in the hands of the IOC spokesman Marc Adams…

SHAKE THE TREE – In the last session in Mumbai, Mustapha Berraf, president of the Association of African Olympic Committees, suddenly asked to speak and argued that it was necessary to find a way for Bach to continue to maintain the presidency in this difficult period, overcoming the barriers of the Olympic Charter. A vote was not requested, but the operation was: “shake the tree” to see how many fruits fall on the ground and count them.

THE WHISPERS – Now, since the beginning of these Games, in the 5-star circles, people have only been talking about this: what path will he take: will he say that next year he will thank and leave the place to his successor or will he accept a change to the Olympic Charter, which considers the possibility that in exceptional conditions the rule of two reigning mandates can be overcome? There is also the third solution, more legal, of simply changing the rule and allowing re-election for a third term.

FANTASIES – Some argue that all these are fanciful conjectures, because the problem does not exist: Bach has finished his cycle and has accepted this reality. But then why did he answer a specific question on this topic: “I cannot talk about this, the ethics commission requires it.” If he had accepted the end of his mandate, he could have spoken calmly because the Ethics Commission in that case could not suggest any behavior to him.

FLUIDITY – The Ethics Commission itself here, in this fascinating Paris, seems to have become rather fluid, in fact it did not lift a finger when the Session decided to assign the 2030 Winter Games to the French Alps right here, when a few years ago a Session was scheduled in Milan, but due to the fact that a decision had to be made for the 2026 Olympics and Milan-Cortina was a candidate, the Session was moved to Lausanne. Here they said that there was impartiality because it was the only candidate, but the current system of selection of candidates is quite fluid…

HYPOTHESIS – If Bach were to continue beyond 2025, this would mean the end of the dreams of some of those who aspire to succeed him, those older like Sebastian Coe and Juan Antonio Samaranch junior, and could favor the rising star: the fifty-one-year-old Frenchman David Lappartient, president of the UCI and a skilled politician, who in the event of Bach’s abandonment could still be the favorite after the success of these Games. The going gets tough.

BAN – The Ivory Tower in which the IOC “lives” in Paris is not open to us, we have not had access to their hotel for the first time. The fancy excuse is that the lobby is too small. It is not exactly so, but the ban is a sign of weakness.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of International Sports Press Association (AIPS).

Government has introduced a new reform in the health sector to uplift the status of health centre IVs to community hospitals.

This was revealed by the Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja during the plenary sitting on Thursday, 08 August 2024, chaired by Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa.

“Based on the Ministry of Health Draft National Health Policy 2024, Government has introduced a reform of upgrading the status of health centre IVs with 24 bed capacity to community hospitals with 60 bed capacity,” Nabbanja said.

She added, “this will be undertaken in a phased manner prioritising health centre IVs with high catchment population, and 135 constituencies without health centre IVs based on geographical access, population coverage and resource availability”.

Nabbanja was responding to a question raised by Omoro County Member of Parliament, Hon. Andrew Ojok, who inquired of the updates on the presidential directive to construct a hospital in each district.

She said the move to construct community hospitals will save the country high costs required to construct a general hospital in each of the 82 districts without a hospital, noting that the estimated cost of construction and equipping a general hospital is Shs 70 billion.

On the other hand, the estimated cost of constructing and equipping a community hospital is Shs 12 billion, according the Premier.

Additionally, to fully operationalise a general hospital, government will require recurrent costs including wage, non-wage, medicines and health supplies estimated at Shs 12.238 billion per annum, yet Shs 4 billion will be the annual recurrent costs to operationalize a community hospital,” said Nabbanja.

She also revealed that 381 health centre IIs have been uplifted to health centre III status since Financial Year 2018/2019 and that 87 percent of sub-counties and town councils have a functional health centre III.

Another 31 health centre IIIs are under construction. Shs 4 billion is required to cover the remaining 488 sub counties, Nabbanja said.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda.

Today, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received a phone call from Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides. The two presidents stressed the need to continue developing relations across various fields, both bilaterally and through the tripartite cooperation mechanism with Greece, especially with regard to economic aspects and energy sector. This is in addition to ongoing political consultations on various issues.

The call touched on the regional situation. The Cypriot president listened to President El-Sisi’s views regarding the escalation in the region. The President reviewed the priorities of the Egyptian position and efforts made to stop the escalation in the Gaza Strip, stressing the danger of the continuation of the war, and warning of the continued deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The President underlined the need to maintain the region’s security and stability through the de-escalation of tension in the Palestinian territories as well as regionally, given the gravity of entering a vicious circle of response and counter-response, which does not serve the interests of all the peoples of the region.

The Cypriot president expressed appreciation for the Egyptian efforts, stressing his keenness to coordinate and consult with Egypt within the framework of efforts to spare the region the scourge of war. He also stressed his country’s support for the Egyptian-American-Qatari statement regarding the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza. The call also confirmed the two countries’ position on the necessity of advancing the political track based on the two-state solution, being the means to achieve peace, security, and stability in the region.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Presidency of the Arab Republic of Egypt.