Doha, Qatar | AFP | Qatar’s state-of-the-art Hamad International bills itself as one of the most luxurious airports in the world — but on Tuesday, it was also one of the quietest. As a travel ban announced by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) came into …
Read More »Sudan urges ‘reconciliation’ to end Gulf row with Qatar
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan on Monday offered to launch “reconciliation” efforts between Qatar and its neighbouring Gulf Arab countries that have cut diplomatic ties with Doha after accusing it of supporting extremism. Arab nations Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Yemen announced earlier Monday that …
Read More »Kuwait emir in talks with Saudis, Qataris amid crisis
Kuwait City, Kuwait | AFP | Kuwait emir on Monday received a top Saudi envoy and phoned Qatar’s ruler in an apparent mediation effort after the kingdom and several Gulf states severed ties with Doha. The state-run KUNA news agency said Prince Khaled al-Faisal, an adviser to Saudi King Salman …
Read More »Gulf crisis could hit Qatar 2022
Doha, Qatar | AFP | The diplomatic crisis sweeping the Gulf could invigorate a campaign by critics of Qatar to strip Doha of the 2022 World Cup, experts said Monday. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt and Yemen were among those to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar on …
Read More »UAE’s Etihad to suspend flights to Qatar
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | AFP | Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways said Monday it would suspend flights to Qatar after the United Arab Emirates was among major Gulf states to sever ties with Doha in an unprecedented regional crisis. Etihad said flights would stop on Tuesday, after the UAE, …
Read More »Egypt cuts diplomatic ties with Qatar, following Saudi, Bahrain
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Egypt on Monday announced it was cutting diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting “terrorism”, as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates adopted similar measures. Egypt “has decided to sever its diplomatic relations with the state of Qatar,” the foreign affairs ministry …
Read More »Egyptians brace for austere Ramadan after reforms
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Ramadan is a time for daytime fasting and lavish evening feasts, but Egyptians are scaling back preparations for the Muslim holy month this year after austerity measures fuelled decades-high inflation. At a Cairo supermarket, Rana, a web designer and mother of two, said she was …
Read More »US envoy to Qatar says news from home ‘increasingly difficult’
Doha, Qatar | AFP | The US ambassador to Qatar has expressed her dissatisfaction with political events back home in a decidedly undiplomatic message posted on social media. Dana Shell Smith, who has been the American envoy to the Gulf emirate since 2014, took to Twitter in the hours after the …
Read More »US defence secretary visits key ally Qatar
Doha, Qatar | AFP | US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis met Qatar’s emir Saturday during a visit to the oil-rich Gulf state, home to the largest US air base in the Middle East. The visit to Doha is part of a regional tour that has included stops in Saudi Arabia, …
Read More »Uganda to open investment office in Doha, Qatar
Uganda plans to open an investment office in Doha, Qatar to facilitate prospective investors with information on trade, investment opportunities and to promote tourism. “Uganda will open an investment office in Doha. It will be part of Uganda’s Embassy in Qatar andwill also work on the promotion of tourism,” said President …
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