Qatar

Coordinates: 25°30′N 51°15′E / 25.500°N 51.250°E / 25.500; 51.250

Qatar (/ˈkæˌtɑːr/,ⁱ/ˈkɑːtɑːr/, /ˈkɑːtər/ or ⁱ/kəˈtɑːr/;Arabic: قطر‎ Qaṭar [ˈqɑtˤɑr]; local vernacular pronunciation: [ɡɪtˤɑr]), officially the State of Qatar (Arabic: دولة قطر‎ Dawlat Qaṭar), is a sovereign country located in Southwest Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its territory surrounded by the Persian Gulf. A strait in the Persian Gulf separates Qatar from the nearby island of Bahrain, as well as sharing sea borders with the United Arab Emirates and Iran.

Following Ottoman rule, Qatar became a British protectorate in the early 20th century until gaining independence in 1971. Qatar has been ruled by the Al Thani family since the mid-19th century. Qatar is a hereditary constitutional monarchy and its head of state is Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The constitution was overwhelmingly approved in a constitutional referendum, with almost 98% in favour. In 2013, Qatar's total population was 1.8 million: 278,000 Qatari citizens and 1.5 million expatriates. After Saudi Arabia and Oman, Qatar is the most conservative society in the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Emmanuel Macron

Emmanuel Macron (born 21 December 1977 in Amiens) is a French senior official, politician and former investment banker. On 26 August 2014 he was appointed as the Minister of Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs in the Second Valls Government.

Early life and education

Macron is the son of Jean-Michel Macron, Professor of Neurology at the University of Picardy, and Françoise Macron-Noguès, MD. He was close to his grandmother, a school headmistress who had grown up in an illiterate household, and lived with her for some time. He studied piano for ten years.

He was educated for some years at the Jesuit-founded lycée La Providence in Amiens before he continued at the élite high school Lycée Henri-IV in Paris. He studied Philosophy at the University of Paris-Ouest Nanterre La Défense, obtaining a DEA degree. He worked as an assistant for Paul Ricoeur between 1999 and 2001 where he helped edit Ricoeur's book La Mémoire, l'histoire, l'oubli. He also obtained a degree in Public Affairs at Sciences Po, before training for a senior civil service career at the École nationale d'administration (ENA), graduating in 2004.

Qatar Ladies Open

The Qatar Ladies Open, known as the Qatar Total Open for sponsorship reasons, is a tennis tournament held in Doha, Qatar. Held since 2001, this WTA Tour event was a Tier I-tournament in 2008, and was played on outdoor hardcourts. Total S.A. was the main tournament sponsor. After a two year break the tournament returned in 2011.

History

The first tournament was held in 2001 as Qatar Total FinaElf Open for the prize money of $170,000, as a Tier III tournament. In 2004, the tournament got Tier II category because of an increase in prize money to $600,000, and in 2007 to $1,340,000. For the 2008 season, which was the last season it was held, the tournament became Tier I, for the prize money of $2,500,000. The tournament then took a two year break due to the venue hosting the WTA Tour Championship thus not being played in 2009 or 2010. The tournament returned in 2011 as a Premier Event with the prize money of $721,000 and a 32-competitor singles draw (16-pair doubles draw). In 2012, The tournament got Premier 5 status due to the success of last year's tournament that featured seven of the top ten players and also due to the recent history of the Dubai Tennis Championships. In the 2015 WTA Season, the tournament has got back its Premier status, while the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships has got back its Original status of Premier 5.

Maria Sharapova

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (Russian: Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова; IPA: [mɐˈrʲijə ˈjʉrʲjɪvnə ʂɐˈrapəvə]; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player, who is ranked world No. 6 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). A United States resident since 1994, Sharapova has competed on the WTA tour since 2001. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the WTA on five separate occasions, for a total of 21 weeks. She is one of ten women, and the only Russian, to hold the career Grand Slam. She is also an Olympic medalist, having earned silver for Russia in women's singles at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Sharapova became the world No. 1 for the first time on August 22, 2005, at the age of 18, and last held the ranking for the fifth time for four weeks from June 11, 2012, to July 8, 2012. Her 35 singles titles and five Grand Slam titles—two at the French Open and one each at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open—rank third among active players, behind Serena and Venus Williams. She won the year-ending WTA Finals in her debut in 2004. She has also won three doubles titles.

France 24

France 24 (pronounced France vingt-quatre [fʁɑ̃s vɛ̃t katʁ] on all three editions) is an international news and current affairs television channel based in Paris. Its stated mission is to "cover international current events from a French perspective and to convey French values throughout the world." It started broadcasting on 6 December 2006.

The service is aimed at the overseas market and is broadcast through satellite and cable operators throughout the world. During 2010 the France 24 channel started broadcasting through its own iPhone app.

Based in Issy-les-Moulineaux in the suburbs of Paris, the channel broadcasts world news. Currently it offers variants in English and Arabic in addition to French. The channel has since 2008 been wholly owned by the French government (via its holding company, l'Audiovisuel extérieur de la France (AEF)), having acquired the remaining shares held by its former partners Groupe TF1 and France Télévisions. Its budget is approximately €100 million per year.