Middle East

Dubai, Jun 21: Qatar’s 2008 bailout of Barclays has come back to haunt the British banking giant, with the leveling of fraud charges against it and four former senior executives over multibillion-pound deals nine years ago. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the UK’s top financial prosecutor, announced charges as Qatar’s financial sector showed signs of further strain under the weight of sanctions

Doha, Jun 20: Qatar's foreign minister today called on neighbouring states to lift their "blockade" of his country before Doha takes part in any negotiations on ending the Gulf diplomatic crisis. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani called measures to isolate Qatar imposed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and others "an act of aggression", adding that lifting them was a "pre

Madinah, Jun 18: The Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques announced the number of mutakifeen — those who seclude themselves in the Prophet’s Mosque for the last 10 days of Ramadan — numbered 13,575. Of this number, 11,432 are men and 2,143 are women, according to an undersecretariat official, Saud Al-Saedi, who was quoted by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). Three areas have been designated for men and

Beirut, Jun 17: The diplomatic crisis pitting Saudi Arabia against Qatar has put Syrian rebels in a difficult position, analysts say, after rivalries between Gulf backers had already weakened the opposition. Both Sunni-ruled monarchies sided with the protesters in March 2011, when the war started with the brutal repression of anti-government demonstrations. They continued supporting the mostly

London, Jun 17: A list of grievances involving Qatar is being drawn up and will be made public soon, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said Friday. Al-Jubeir said Qatar should respond to demands to halt its support for “extremism and terrorism” which, he said, were being made by the whole world and not just Gulf states. Speaking to journalists in London, Al-Jubeir said: “I would not call them

Moscow, Jun 16: Russia on Thursday accused the US-led coalition of deploying missiles against Syrian troops at a garrison in the east of the country, where opposition fighters battling Daesh are being trained. In a statement, the Defense Ministry said the “United States has moved two HIMARS multiple rocket launchers from Jordan to Al-Tanf US special forces base.” That suggested that the equipment

Doha, Jun 15: The sanctions imposed by Saudi Arabia and other Arab states on Qatar have been a blessing for Mohammed Kuwari and his al-Rawa brand of yoghurt. With competing Saudi products off the shelves, his business is booming. “Our sales doubled! There's lots of production as you can see and we have a big share in the market now,” said the 30-year-old dairy factory owner. Previously he

Berlin, Jun 15: Germany’s biggest Islamic association on Wednesday said it won’t take part in what is being billed as a Muslim “peace march” against terrorism over the weekend. The Turkish-Islamic Union said the demonstration in Germany’s western city of Cologne would send a wrong signal. A group calling itself “Not With Us” says it expects several thousand people to come to the Saturday march

Doha, Jun 14: Jawaher has lived in this tiny nation her whole life. But a political showdown threatens to unravel her world, potentially forcing her to move to a country she hardly knows and splitting her family apart. Jawaher's mother is a Qatari citizen, and her father is Bahraini. That fact seldom has caused problems. But when several other Arab nations severed ties with Qatar last week, three

Washington, Jun 14: The US Senate on Tuesday turned back a bipartisan bid to reject President Donald Trump’s plan to sell the Kingdom more than $500 million in precision-guided munitions. The vote Tuesday was 53-47, clearing the way for the sale to be finalized. The precision munitions are part of Trump’s proposed $110 billion arms package to Riyadh, which the administration said would create US