Qatar

8 July 2019; MEMO: Qatar’s inward foreign investments have grown by 6.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2019, local media reported yesterday.

Quoting a joint study by the Qatari planning ministry and the country’s central, the media pointed out that the total foreign investments in Qatar had amounted to 722.6 billion Qatari riyals ($199.7 billion) at the end of the first quarter of 2019.

Doha, Jun 29 (AFP/PTI) The United States and the Taliban opened fresh negotiations in Doha on Saturday, a Taliban spokesman said, as Washington eyes a breakthrough before Afghanistan's September presidential election.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid tweeted that the "seventh round of talks between US representatives and the negotiation team of the Islamic Emirate have begun in Doha".

The talks mark the seventh round of negotiations aimed at ending America's longest war.

29 June 2019; AFP: The US has deployed F-22 stealth fighters to Qatar for the first time, its military said Friday, adding to a buildup of US forces in the Gulf amid tensions with Iran.

The Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighters have been deployed "to defend American forces and interests," the US Air Forces Central Military Command said in a statement that did not specify how many of the hi-tech planes had been sent.

22 June 2019; MEMO: Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed Bin Abdel-Rahman Al-Thani has said that his country is “ready to talk” with Saudi Arabia on the basis of reciprocal respect.

This came in response to a tweet by the Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubier saying that Qatar has to change its behaviour if it wants to talk with Saudi Arabia.

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — To all appearances, life in the Qatar capital of Doha still glimmers, nearly two years after its Arab neighbors declared a boycott of the tiny country.

Construction teams work around the clock to complete eight stadiums ahead of the 2022 World Cup. Visitors still flock to the city’s architectural gems, many designed by top world builders, and the city’s futuristic skyline shimmers over the Persian Gulf, projecting an image of wealth and stability in a region where tensions have soared in recent weeks.

3 June 2019; MEMO: Qatar on Sunday condemned the Israeli attacks on worshippers at the east Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, reports Anadolu Agency.

The foreign ministry added in the statement that the attacks on worshippers and religious sites are “clear provocation to the feelings of Muslims”.

It also called on the international community to carry out its moral and legal responsibilities to stop the repeated Israeli attacks and provide the necessary protection for Muslim worshippers.

DOHA, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Tuesday met with Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who is currently on a visit to Doha, according to Qatari Foreign Ministry press release.

The two officials discussed bilateral relations, means to boost them and a number of regional issues of common concern.

The two sides reviewed the situation in the region and expressed concern about the escalation and problems in the region.

Doha, May 27 (AFP/PTI) Qatar said on Sunday that it had received an invitation from Saudi Arabia to attend emergency regional talks to discuss mounting tensions between Iran and the United States.

Riyadh had called two gatherings -- one for Arab League members, the other for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) regional bloc nations -- after a spate of attacks.

Several tankers in Gulf waters were targeted under mysterious circumstances and a Saudi crude pipeline was hit by drone strikes coordinated by Yemen rebels who Riyadh said were acting on Iranian orders.

23 May 2019; DW: World football's governing body was hoping to expand the competition to include 48 countries. However, that would have needed another Gulf country to host games along with Qatar, amid deteriorating ties in the region.

FIFA finally abandoned its hopes to fast-track its expansion of the World Cup on Wednesday, announcing that it had run out of time in its bid to find a way to accommodate 48 teams in Qatar and the wider region in 2022. 

6 May 2019; AFP: Talks between the Taliban and the US have become bogged down over the key issue of when foreign forces might leave Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesman told AFP on Sunday.

The Taliban and US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad have met repeatedly in the Qatari capital Doha in recent months in a bid to finally end Afghanistan's gruelling war.