Latest news with #Algeria
Asharq Al-Awsat
2 hours ago
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
OPEC+ Oil Producers Announce another Big Hike for July
The world's largest group of oil producers, OPEC revealed Saturday another big increase of 411,000 barrels per day for July. Having spent years curbing production - more than 5 million barrels a day (bpd) or 5% of world demand - eight OPEC+ countries made an modest output increase in April before tripling it for May, June and now July. The eight countries held an online meeting on Saturday to set July production. They also discussed other options, an OPEC+ delegate said. On Friday, sources familiar with OPEC+ talks had said they could discuss an even larger hike. In a statement OPEC+ cited a "steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories" as its reasoning for the July increase, Reuters reported. Algeria was among a small number of nations that requested a pause in the output hikes on Saturday, a source familiar with the matter said. Oil prices fell to a four-year low in April, slipping below $60 per barrel after OPEC+ said it was tripling its output hike in May and as US President Donald Trump's tariffs raised concerns about global economic weakness. Prices closed just below $63 on Friday. Global oil demand is expected to grow by an average of 775,000 bpd in 2025, according to a Reuters poll of analysts published on Friday, while the International Energy Agency in its latest outlook saw an increase of 740,000 bpd. Besides the 2.2 million bpd cut that the eight members started to unwind in April, OPEC+ has two other layers of cuts that are expected to remain in place until the end of 2026.
South China Morning Post
4 hours ago
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Olympic champ Imane Khelif must undergo genetic sex screening to fight under new boxing body
Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif must undergo genetic sex screening to participate in upcoming events with the sport's new governing body. Advertisement World Boxing announced mandatory sex testing for all athletes on Friday. The governing body specifically mentioned Khelif when announcing the policy, saying the Algerian gold medal winner must be screened before she would be approved to fight at any upcoming events, including the Eindhoven Box Cup next month in the Netherlands. 'The introduction of mandatory testing will be part of a new policy on 'Sex, Age and Weight' to ensure the safety of all participants and deliver a competitive level playing field for men and women,' World Boxing wrote in a statement. The fighters' national federations would be responsible for administering the tests and providing the results to World Boxing. Khelif won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics last summer amid international scrutiny on her and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, another gold-medal winner. The previous governing body for Olympic boxing, the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association, disqualified both fighters from its 2023 world championships after claiming they had failed an unspecified eligibility test. Taiwanese gold medallist Lin Yu-ting with her medal. Photo: Reuters The IOC ran the past two Olympic boxing tournaments after the banishment of the IBA for decades of misdeeds and controversy, and it applied the sex eligibility rules used in previous Olympics. Khelif and Lin were eligible to compete under those standards.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Olympic boxing champ Imane Khelif must undergo genetic sex screening to fight for new governing body
Algeria's Imane Khelif poses after defeating China's Yang Liu to win gold in their women's 66 kg final boxing match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File) Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif must undergo genetic sex screening to participate in upcoming events with the sport's new governing body. World Boxing announced mandatory sex testing for all athletes Friday. The governing body specifically mentioned Khelif when announcing the policy, saying the Algerian gold medal winner must be screened before she will be approved to fight at any upcoming events, including the Eindhoven Box Cup next month in the Netherlands. Advertisement 'The introduction of mandatory testing will be part of a new policy on 'Sex, Age and Weight' to ensure the safety of all participants and deliver a competitive level playing field for men and women,' World Boxing wrote in a statement. The fighters' national federations will be responsible for administering the tests and providing the results to World Boxing. Khelif won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics last summer amid international scrutiny on her and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, another gold medal winner. The previous governing body for Olympic boxing, the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association, disqualified both fighters from its 2023 world championships after claiming they had failed an unspecified eligibility test. The IOC ran the past two Olympic boxing tournaments after the banishment of the IBA for decades of misdeeds and controversy, and it applied the sex eligibility rules used in previous Olympics. Khelif and Lin were eligible to compete under those standards. Khelif intends to return to international competition next month in Eindhoven as part of her plan to defend her gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics, but some boxers and their federations had already spoken out to protest her inclusion. Advertisement Chromosome testing was common in Olympic sports during the 20th century, but was largely abandoned in the 1990s because of numerous ambiguities that couldn't be easily resolved by the tests, collectively known as differences in sex development (DSD). Many sports switched to hormone testing to determine sex eligibility, but those tests require governing bodies to make difficult decisions on the eligibility of women with naturally high testosterone levels. Three months ago, World Athletics — the governing body for track and field — became the first Olympic sport to reintroduce chromosome testing, requiring athletes who compete in the women's events to submit to the test once in their careers. World Boxing has been provisionally approved to replace the IBA as the governing body at the Los Angeles Games, but it has faced significant pressure from boxers and their federations to create sex eligibility standards. World Boxing announced that all athletes over 18 years old in its competitions must undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genetic test to determine their sex at birth. The PCR test detects chromosomal material through a mouth swab, saliva or blood. Advertisement If an athlete intending to compete in the women's categories is determined to have male chromosomal material, 'initial screenings will be referred to independent clinical specialists for genetic screening, hormonal profiles, anatomical examination or other valuation of endocrine profiles by medical specialists,' World Boxing wrote. The policy also includes an appeals process. The boxing body's decision is the latest development in a tumultuous period in Olympic sex eligibility policy. The issue of transgender participation in sports has become an international flashpoint, with President Donald Trump and other conservative world leaders repeatedly weighing in. Earlier this year, World Athletics also proposed recommendations that would apply strict rules to athletes who were born female but had what the organization describes as naturally occurring testosterone levels in the typical male range. In 2023, World Athletics banned transgender athletes who had transitioned male to female and gone through male puberty. World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said he felt confident that the body's new rules would withstand legal challenges. Advertisement The 26-year-old Khelif had competed in women's boxing events under the IBA's auspices without controversy until the 2023 world championships. She had never won a major international competition before her dominant performance in the women's welterweight division in Paris. ___ AP boxing:
Al Jazeera
15 hours ago
- Health
- Al Jazeera
Olympic boxing champ Imane Khelif requires gender test to continue fighting
Algeria's Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif must undergo genetic sex screening in order to participate in upcoming events, the sport's governing body said, as it introduced mandatory sex testing for all boxers in its competitions. World Boxing announced the new policy on Friday and specifically mentioned Algeria's Khelif, who won the women's welterweight gold at the Paris Olympics last year and prompted a gender-eligibility row. 'Imane Khelif may not participate in the female category at … any World Boxing event until Imane Khelif undergoes genetic sex screening in accordance with World Boxing's rules and testing procedures,' the organisation said in a statement. 'World Boxing has written to the Algerian Boxing Federation to inform it that Imane Khelif will not be allowed to participate in the female category at the Eindhoven Box Cup or any World Boxing event until Imane Khelif undergoes sex testing,' it added. World Boxing is responsible for organising bouts at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, after being granted provisional recognition by the International Olympic Committee. Under the new policy, all athletes above the age of 18 who want to participate in a World Boxing-owned or sanctioned competition will need to undergo a PCR, or polymerase chain reaction genetic test, to determine what sex they were at birth and their eligibility to compete. The PCR test is a laboratory technique used to detect specific genetic material, in this case the SRY gene, that reveals the presence of the Y chromosome, which is an indicator of biological sex. The test can be conducted by a nasal or mouth swab, or by taking a sample of saliva or blood. National federations will be responsible for testing and will be required to confirm the sex of their athletes when entering them into World Boxing competitions by producing certification of their chromosomal sex, as determined by a PCR test. Reuters news agency reported that Khelif could not be reached for comment, while the Algerian Boxing Federation did not immediately respond to questions about the development. Khelif said in March: 'For me, I see myself as a girl, just like any other girl. I was born a girl, raised as a girl, and have lived my entire life as one.' 'I have competed in many tournaments, including the Tokyo Olympics and other major competitions, as well as four World Championships,' she said at the time. 'All of these took place before I started winning and earning titles. But once I began achieving success, the campaigns against me started.' The 26-year-old is targeting a second gold medal at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles after her triumph in Paris. Her Olympic success, along with that of Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, led to a raging gender eligibility debate in Paris, with high-profile figures such as United States President Donald Trump and Elon Musk weighing in. In February, Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from competing in women's sports. Khelif said she would not be intimidated by Trump as she is not transgender.
Malay Mail
16 hours ago
- Health
- Malay Mail
World Boxing mandates gender tests for all fighters, targets Olympic champion Khelif
PARIS, May 31 — World Boxing announced yesterday it will introduce mandatory gender testing to determine the eligibility of male and female athletes wanting to take part in its competitions. The international federation said it was introducing the policy after the furore surrounding boxers including women's welterweight gold medallist Imane Khelif of Algeria at the Paris Olympics last year. World Boxing will organise the boxing competition at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics after being granted provisional recognition by the International Olympic Committee. World Boxing said it had informed the Algerian Boxing Federation that Khelif would have to undergo the test if she wanted to compete at the Eindhoven Box Cup in the Netherlands on June 5-10. 'World Boxing has written to the Algerian Boxing Federation to inform it that Imane Khelif will not be allowed to participate in the female category at the Eindhoven Box Cup or any World Boxing event until Imane Khelif undergoes sex testing,' it said in a statement. Under the new policy, all athletes over 18 that want to participate in a World Boxing owned or sanctioned competition will need to undergo a PCR, or polymerase chain reaction genetic test, to determine what sex they were at birth and their eligibility to compete. The PCR test is a laboratory technique used to detect specific genetic material, in this case the SRY gene, that reveals the presence of the Y chromosome, which is an indicator of biological sex. The test can be conducted by a nasal or mouth swab, or by taking a sample of saliva or blood. National federations will be responsible for testing and will be required to confirm the sex of their athletes when entering them into World Boxing competitions by producing certification of their chromosomal sex, as determined by a PCR test. Khelif said in March: 'For me, I see myself as a girl, just like any other girl. I was born a girl, raised as a girl, and have lived my entire life as one.' The 26-year-old is targeting a second gold medal at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles after her triumph in Paris. Her success, along with that of Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, sparked a raging gender eligibility debate, with high-profile figures such as US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk weighing in. Khelif and Lin were disqualified from the International Boxing Association's 2023 world championships after the organisation, the long-standing governing body of amateur boxing, said they had failed gender eligibility tests. The IOC has severed links with the IBA over financial, governance and ethical concerns. The IBA is led by the Kremlin-linked Russian Umar Kremlev. Last month the IOC provisionally recognised World Boxing as the body to oversee the sport at future Games. — AFP
