US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrives Monday in Kuwait, the key mediator between Qatar and its Arab neighbours, for talks aimed at defusing the Gulf’s worst crisis in years. Tillerson will shuttle between Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia from Monday to Thursday in what is the first serious intervention by Washington in the Gulf crisis. … Read more
Turkey marks one year on July 15 since a coup attempt aiming to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that failed within hours but etched far-reaching consequences into its society and politics. The country is in the throes of the biggest purge in its history against alleged coup supporters while Erdogan has seen his grip on … Read more
Qatar on Sunday announced it was establishing a committee to pursue compensation claims potentially worth billions of dollars over the country’s “blockade” by Gulf states. Attorney General Ali bin Fetais al-Marri said the Compensation Claims Committee would deal with cases including major companies, such as Qatar Airways, and individual Qatari students who have been expelled … Read more
More than a month since the start of the diplomatic crisis gripping the Gulf, hopes of a swift resolution seem as remote as a summer downpour in the desert. Both sides — the group of Saudi-led allies against Qatar — seem as entrenched in their positions as ever and as unlikely to find a face-saving … Read more
British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday urged Arab states to end their Qatar boycott, downplaying the odds of a military escalation in the worst crisis to grip the Gulf in years. Johnson met with his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah on Saturday and was scheduled to visit Qatar later in the day. “What … Read more
Qatar hit back Friday at a threat by four “siege countries” to impose further sanctions on the emirate over its refusal to bow to their ultimatum for ending the Gulf crisis. In a statement attributed to a senior foreign ministry source, a defiant Qatar said the demands of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates … Read more
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis reaffirmed America’s strategic security partnership with Qatar on Thursday, the Pentagon said, amid a diplomatic crisis in the Gulf. It was also announced that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will travel to Kuwait — one of the countries angry at Qatar in the spat — on July 10 at the … Read more
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis reaffirmed America’s strategic security partnership with Qatar on Thursday, the Pentagon said, amid a diplomatic crisis in the Gulf. Mattis, who spoke with his Qatari counterpart Khaled bin Mohammed al-Attiyah by phone, also discussed the status of operations against the Islamic State group. Qatar hosts a vital US-led command center … Read more
Saudi Arabia and its allies on Friday criticised Qatar’s refusal to accept conditions to end the Gulf’s biggest diplomatic crisis in years as a threat to regional security. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain said Qatar’s rejection of a list of demands they set to lift sanctions on Doha “reflects its intention … Read more
Saudi Arabia, which is leading a four-country blockade of Gulf neighbour Qatar, on Thursday accused Doha of being behind over 23,000 Twitter accounts it blames for trying to stoke dissent in Saudi Arabia. “We found over 23,000 Twitter accounts driven by Qatar, some of them linked to accounts calling for ‘revolution’ in Saudi Arabia,” Information … Read more
Saudi Arabia on Thursday said it had begun taxing foreigners working in the private sector as part of fiscal reforms aimed at coping with a drop in oil revenues. Long a tax-free haven for expatriates, the Saudi economy was dealt a serious blow in 2014 when global crude prices plummeted. The kingdom, the world’s largest … Read more
South Korea’s new football coach criticised his predecessor Uli Stielike on Thursday, accusing the veteran German of lacking strategies and blaming communication difficulties with the players for poor results. Stielike, 62, won the European Championship and was a World Cup runner-up with Germany as a player, and went on to manage Switzerland and Ivory Coast, … Read more
The UN’s political chief, Jeffrey Feltman, is in Kuwait for talks on ending the diplomatic crisis between Qatar and its Gulf neighbors, a spokesman said Wednesday. The senior UN envoy stepped in as Arab states vowed to maintain their boycott of the emirate, jointly criticizing its “negative” response to their list of demands to end … Read more
Barcelona star Jordi Alba has become the latest Spanish footballer to enter the Gulf diplomatic crisis after he was shown signing a T-shirt of Qatar’s leader on Wednesday. A video of Alba autographing the image of Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, which has become the symbol of Qatari resistance during the month-long row between … Read more
Foreign ministers of the Saudi-led bloc that imposed an embargo on Qatar said Wednesday they regretted the emirate’s “negative” response to a list of demands to end a diplomatic crisis. The ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates “regret the negative response from Qatar,” they said, in a statement read out … Read more
Emirates has said the cabin ban on laptops no longer applies on its flights to the United States. In March, the US banned laptops and other large electronic devices to and from eight mostly Muslim nations, fearing bombs may be concealed in them. Emirates, which flies to the US from its Dubai hub, said it … Read more
Emirates has said the cabin ban on laptops no longer applies on its flights to the United States. In March, the US banned laptops and other large electronic devices to and from eight mostly Muslim nations, fearing bombs may be concealed in them. Emirates, which flies to the US from its Dubai hub, said it … Read more
Arab states that have cut ties with Qatar meet in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss their next move in the Gulf diplomatic crisis, after Doha said their demands were impossible to meet. The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt are holding the talks a month after they severed ties … Read more
Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are to discuss the Qatar crisis, a month after they severed ties with the Gulf state. The meeting of foreign ministers in Cairo comes on the day a deadline expires for Qatar to accept a list of demands or face further sanctions. The demands to Qatar … Read more
Saudi Arabia and Arab allies that have cut ties with Qatar will hold talks in Egypt on Wednesday on the Gulf diplomatic crisis, after Doha said their demands were impossible to meet. The four Arab nations, which also include the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, accuse Qatar of supporting extremism, a charge which it … Read more