Follow the latest news on the 2024 Paris Olympics
In what is becoming another established Olympics tradition, Google has started releasing its latest series of Doodles marking various sports throughout the Paris Games.
These are the seventh Games celebrated by Google, having started with Sydney 2000.
In addition to the sport-specific themes, expect to see other aspects of the competition highlighted from notable milestones to those celebrating the Olympic humanitarian and egalitarian values.
The Paris Olympics run until August 11. Here are all of this year's Google Doodles released so far.
July 26: Paris Olympics begin
Google’s first Olympics-themed doodle during this year's event pays homage to the grand sporting competition and host city. The image has five birds showcasing different Olympic sports on the Seine, in homage to athletes' floating parade as part of the opening ceremony.
July 27: Skateboarding
For the first day of the competition after the opening ceremony, Google highlighted the skateboarding event taking place at Place de La Concorde.
The Doodle highlights the acrobatic twists and turns of the sport, which made its debut at Tokyo 2020, which took place in 2021 due to Covid-19.
July 28: Football
With football one of the few competitions kicking off before the opening ceremony, the popular sport shined with its own Doodle of two birds playing the game on a Parisian street corner.
July 29 to 30: Artistic gymnastics
To mark one of the most fierce competitions of the Games, an animated Doodle has a bird doing a flawless axle jump on a windowsill. As for the judge, a sophisticated house cat, the routine was rated a perfect 10.
July 31: French cultural figures and Olympic sports
Google launched the latest update of its Most Searched Playground, a game in which users try to spot as many features of Paris and the Olympics in a park. These include the city's landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and the Seine as well as the gymnastics and water polo.
August 1: Surfing
After making its debut as part of Tokyo 2020, surfing is back. However, this time, the competition is being held on the beaches of Tahiti in French Polynesia. The Doodle features a sea turtle, a venerated animal in Tahitian mythology and considered a sign of good fortune and longevity.
August 1: Olympic diver Sammy Lee
The Doodle celebrates the career of diver Sammy Lee, who became the first Asian-American man to win a gold medal for Team USA (at the 1948 Olympics in London). He repeated the feat four years later at the Helsinki Games. Sammy Lee died in 2016 aged 96.
August 2 to 3: Sailing
Sailing has been part of the Olympics since the inaugural competition in 1896. For this year's Games, the event takes place at the Marseille Marina in southern France. Running until August 8, this year's competitions include the men's and women's single-handed dinghy and the mixed-foiling catamaran races.
August 4: Rings
Depicting the reverse butterfly, one of the most challenging moves on the rings at the artistic gymnastics competition, the animation pays tribute to the Olympic sport taking place at the Bercy Arena. The rings have been part of the Olympics since the inaugural games in 1896 in Athens.
August 5 to 6: Artistic swimming
With three birds dancing in synchronised form in a water fountain in a Parisian park, the Google Doodle pays tribute to the artistic swimming competition. It is a combination of water acrobatics and music. Contested in both duet and team formats, the panel of judges base their scores on several criteria, including the level of difficulty, artistry, synchronisation and execution.
August 7 to 8: Climbing
With the Google bird valiant striving to overcome a statue of its own image, the latest Doodle celebrates climbing. Returning for the second time, medals will be rewarded for competitions including speed climbing.
August 9 to 10: Breaking
A bird executing one of the main breakdancing moves "down rock" to a blaring boombox celebrates the new Olympic sport of breaking. Making its debut in Paris, the competition will take place on August 9 and 10 at outdoor venue La Concord and feature dancers from countries such as the US and Papua New Guinea.
August 11: Closing Ceremony
The conclusion of the Paris 2024 Olympics and its closing ceremony is being marked with a special Doodle. Set at the Stade de France, amid celebrations and fireworks, the doodle features the now-familiar bird standing on the highest of three podiums, merrily leaping and flailing its wings in victory. The two birds standing beside it on shorter pillars are less animated, but seem no less jovial, holding up bouquets. Other birds are cheering from the nearby rooftops and the Eiffel Tower looms in the background. The Doodle is a fun way to say au revoir to Paris Olympics, at least until the Paralympics begin at the end of the month.
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Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
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Name: JustClean
Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries
Launch year: 2016
Number of employees: 130
Sector: online laundry service
Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding
The five pillars of Islam
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
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The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
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1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
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3. More tax audits
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4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
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6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
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7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
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Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
The biog
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Favourite superhero: Batman
Favourite quote: We must become the change we want to see, by Mahatma Gandhi.
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