Tag Archives: Diplomacy

Merkel’s G20-Africa meet aims to reduce poverty, migrant influx Berlin, Germany | AFP | German Chancellor Angela Merkel will on Monday meet African leaders in Berlin on initiatives aiming to reduce the poverty and conflict driving a mass migrant influx to Europe. The idea is to team up African nations …

Tehran, Iran | AFP |  Iran has sent five planes of vegetables to Qatar, Iran’s national carrier told AFP on Sunday, days after Gulf countries cut off air and other transport links to the emirate. “So far five planes carrying… vegetables have been sent to Qatar, each carrying around 90 …

Moscow says ‘zero’ proof Russian hackers involved in Qatar crisis Moscow, Russia | AFP |  Moscow on Wednesday dismissed allegations that Russian hackers helped spark the diplomatic crisis around Qatar, after CNN reported that US officials believed they planted a false news story. “We’re getting tired of reacting to unsubstantiated …

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP |  US President Donald Trump threw his weight behind efforts to isolate Qatar on Tuesday, backing Saudi Arabia and its allies after they cut ties with Doha over claims it supports extremism. In a surprise move against a key US ally, Trump suggested Qatar — …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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, …

Beijing, China | AFP | China has expressed “firm opposition” to remarks made by US Pentagon chief Jim Mattis during a regional defence summit over the weekend, after he criticised Beijing’s “militarisation” of the South China Sea. Washington has repeatedly expressed concerns that China’s development of artificial islands in the …