FIFA is in talks with Qatari authorities about scrapping the mandatory vaccination requirements for next year’s World Cup. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani announced in June that it would require any fans wanting entry into next year’s tournament to be fully inoculated against the …
Read More »Gaza to begin rebuilding homes destroyed in May conflict
The reconstruction of homes in Gaza that were destroyed or damaged in the May conflict between Israel and Palestinians will begin in the first week of October using aid from Qatar, a senior Palestinian housing official said on Sunday. Hamas says Israeli airstrikes destroyed about 2,200 homes in the enclave …
Read More »Qatari minister in Kabul in highest level foreign visit since Taliban took power
Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani held talks with the Taliban-appointed prime minister on Sunday, a Taliban spokesman said, in the highest level foreign visit to Kabul since the group seized the capital last month. Qatar is considered one of the countries with the most influence over the …
Read More »First post-evacuation flight from Afghanistan lands in Qatar after Taliban approval
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized the Taliban and revealed that they were not allowing charter flights to evacuate US citizens and at-risk Afghans to depart the airport. The Taliban allowed a flight of foreigners, including American citizens, to finally depart Afghanistan on Thursday after the top …
Read More »Qatari official: Kabul airport 90 percent operational, expects gradual reopening
Afghanistan’s Kabul Airport is about 90 percent ready for operations but its reopening is planned gradually, a Qatari official said speaking on the tarmac on Thursday. There would be a flight on Friday, another Qatari official said speaking to journalists, adding that a flight out from Kabul on Thursday was …
Read More »After messy pullout, Blinken to intensify Afghanistan diplomacy in Qatar, Germany
A week after declaring America’s “new chapter” of engagement with Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will aim to form a united front with allies this week on how to tackle the Taliban and ensure continued support for the U.S. bid to help evacuate Americans and at-risk Afghans who …
Read More »Qatar plane carrying technical team lands in Kabul: Source
A Qatari aircraft landed in Kabul Wednesday carrying a technical team to discuss the resumption of airport operations after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. “A Qatari jet carrying a technical team has landed in Kabul earlier today to discuss the resumption …
Read More »Japan to relocate its Kabul embassy to Qatar: Top Japanese diplomat
Japan’s top diplomat says his country has temporarily moved its embassy from Afghanistan to Turkey but now plans to relocate it to Qatar, where the Taliban have an office Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi earlier this month had visited the Middle East. “I believe various forms of communication will take …
Read More »Egypt’s Sisi and Qatar’s Tamim meet for the first time since reconciliation at Baghdad Conference.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Baghdad on Saturday, the Egyptian presidency said, the first meeting since the two countries agreed in January to end a long-running dispute. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain had agreed to end the …
Read More »Emir of Qatar: we declare our support for Iraq
The Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, affirmed on Saturday that Iraq is qualified to play an active role in establishing security and stability in the region. During a speech at the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership, the Emir said that the region is going through challenges and …
Read More »Israel fires on protesting Palestinians in Gaza, 24 wounded
Israeli troops fired at Palestinian protesters who hurled firebombs and burned tires from behind the Gaza Strip’s border fence Saturday, with the Gaza health ministry reporting 24 injuries. “Twenty-four civilians were injured, including 10 children,” the ministry said in a statement. “Two of the injuries are critical, one of whom …
Read More »U.S. set to expand evacuation flights from Kabul to Europe- officials
The U.S. State Department is expected to announce that its evacuation flights out of Kabul will now be able to land in Europe, U.S. officials told Reuters on Friday, because of an overflow of people in Qatar. The United States is desperately trying to evacuate thousands of people from Afghanistan …
Read More »Merkel spoke to Pakistan’s Khan, Emir of Qatar on Afghanistan
German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Kahn, the Emir of Qatar and the head of the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Tuesday evening, her spokesman said on Wednesday. “The chancellor spoke yesterday, in the early evening, with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Kahn as well as with …
Read More »Iraq invites Emir of Qatar to participate in Baghdad Summit
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi sent an official invitation to the Emir of Qatar to attend the Baghdad Summit that will be held at the end of this August. The media office of the National Security Adviser said in a statement that Advisor Qassem Al-Araji arrived today in Doha on …
Read More »Online debate erupts over Qatar-Bahrain territorial dispute
An online debate has erupted on social media over a historical territorial dispute between Bahrain and Qatar. The decades-old territorial dispute between Qatar and Bahrain over Hawar Islands and Zubarah fort has resurfaced online over the past days triggering heated debates among users from the two countries on Twitter, according to Doha News. …
Read More »Qatar approves electoral law for first legislative polls
Qatar’s emir approved laws on Thursday for the Gulf Arab state’s first legislative election in October when Qataris will elect two-thirds of the advisory Shura Council, his office said. The election, plans for which were first approved in a 2003 constitutional referendum, is being held before the capital Doha hosting …
Read More »Kabul, Taliban Reportedly Agree to Continue Talks, Start Countrywide Humanitarian Aid Programme
This comes amid a recent surge in violence in Afghanistan following the start of the withdrawal of international troops from the country in line with an agreement reached between the Taliban* and the US in Doha last year. The delegations of the Afghan government and the Taliban issued a joint …
Read More »Taliban leader ‘strenuously favors’ political settlement to end the Afghan conflict
The Taliban’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada on Sunday said he “strenuously favors” a political settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan even as the movement has launched a sweeping offensive across the country. “In spite of the military gains and advances, the Islamic Emirate strenuously favors a political settlement in the …
Read More »Afghan leaders leave for Doha seeking to revive stalled peace talks
A delegation of Afghan political leaders led by top peace official Abdullah Abdullah left for Qatar on Friday to attempt to breathe life into stalled talks with the Taliban as violence escalates around the country. Abdullah, head of the country’s High Council for National Reconciliation and former government chief executive, …
Read More »Prominent UAE activist Alaa al-Siddiq dies in London car crash
Alaa was executive director of a UK-based non-profit that advocated for human rights in the Gulf.
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