TheNewsGuru

Tag: Qatar

  • Maria Sharapova knocked out of Qatar opener by Romanian Niculescu

    Maria Sharapova looked out of sorts after surrendering an early advantage as she was stunned 4-6 6-4 6-3 by Romanian qualifier Monica Niculescu in the Qatar Open first round on Monday.

    Wild card Sharapova, playing in Doha for the first time since 2013, looked on course for victory after taking the first set.

    But she struggled to carry forward the momentum against a determined opponent and crashed out after two hours 38 minutes.

    Five-times Grand Slam winner Sharapova was not helped by 11 double faults and 52 unforced errors while her opponent, who fired 12 winners, grew in confidence as the contest went on.

    Qualifier Niculescu used her slices to good effect and converted six out of seven break points in the match to oust Russian Sharapova.

    She will now take on Wimbledon semi-finalist Magdalena Rybarikova or local wild card Fatma Al Nabhani next.

    Earlier, Dominika Cibulkova rallied past Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6(8) 6-4 as she progressed to a second round meeting with France’s seventh seed Caroline Garcia.

    Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu eased past Lesia Tsurenko to set up a clash with sixth-seeded French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.

    American qualifier CiCi Bellis advanced after Daria Kasatkina pulled out of their opener with an injury.

    Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Anna Blinkova aslo reached the second round.

  • U.S. lifts flight electronic ban on Qatar, Turkey, others

    Qatar on Thursday became the third nation on a list of eight Muslim-majority countries, where ban on electronic devices in aircraft cabins heading to the U.S. has been lifted.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the U.S. had earlier (on Tuesday) removed Turkey and Dubai-based Emirates Airlines from the list.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that in late March, the Trump’s administration imposed a ban on large electronic devices from airline cabins on direct flights out of Middle Eastern airports in eight countries.

    The 10 affected airports are in Abu Dhabi, Amman, Cairo, Casablanca, Doha, Dubai, Istanbul, Jeddah, Kuwait City and Riyadh. US authorities cited security concerns for the ban.

    The U.S. move followed President Donald Trump’s 90-day ban on most travellers from Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, and a 120-day halt to refugee approvals from around the world.

    A few days later, the British government said that Britain would follow the U.S. ban on electronic devices.

    “We have been in close touch with the Americans to fully understand their position,” Prime Minister Theresa May’s office said.

    After three-and-a-half months of restricting the devices on Middle East flights to the U.S., the United Arab Emirates announced that the ban had been lifted on Etihad Airways on Sunday.

    The relaxation of the order came after the UAE, Turkey and Qatar implemented additional security measures.

    The U.S. had justified the decision as a protective security measure against potential terror attacks.

    The U.S. said intelligence authorities suspected terrorist groups of continuing “to target commercial aviation, to include smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items”.

    Saudi Arabia may be the fourth country where the ban on electronic devices will be lifted.

    Saudi Arabian Airlines is working with the General Authority of Civil Aviation on implementing new security measures in connection with the guidelines issued by the U.S. Department Homeland Security, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.

    “As soon as Saudi Arabian Airlines meets the U.S. Homeland Security Department’s requirements, all passengers will be allowed to carry electronic devices on flights heading to the U.S. latest by July 19,’’ the agency said.

    Turkey is also in talks with Britain to lift a similar ban, the Turkish transportation minister told private broadcaster, NTV.

    On April 19, Dubai-based airline, Emirates, said it would decrease flights to five from its 12 U.S. destinations starting May 1 due to weakened demand.

    Turkish Airlines said the ban affected a total of 1,087 flights in the past months.

    However, the U.S. laptop ban is still being considered for flights from Europe, with the Department of Homeland Security saying on May 30 that the ban was still “on the table.”

    By the end of June, the U.S. said it would require more stringent screening of passengers boarding commercial flights to the U.S. as part of a series of aviation security measures.

    The new measures are independent of the ban on large electronic devices and would affect 280 airports in 105 countries and 180 airlines.

    The measures include enhanced screening of electronic devices, more thorough passenger vetting and new measures designed to mitigate the potential threat of insider attacks.

  • We are not worried about suspension from GCC – Qatar

    We are not worried about suspension from GCC – Qatar

    The Qatari government has said it is not worried that its membership in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will be suspended as its rival neighbours threaten to escalate their sanctions against Doha.

    “No, they cannot take such a decision because it should be by consensus,” Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdulrahman said during a meeting at the Chatham House think tank in London.

    He was referring to the six-member political and economic alliance in the Gulf, which includes Kuwait and Oman, who have taken a neutral stance since the crisis began a month ago.

    Three members of the GCC, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, along with Egypt cut diplomatic and transportation links with Qatar in June.

    Since then, Kuwait has been mediating the crisis.

    The media reports that Qatar faces further isolation and possible expulsion from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) if its response to a list of demands made nearly two weeks ago is not satisfactory.

    Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain foreign ministers are due to meet in Cairo to discuss Qatar’s reply to 13 demands they sent to Qatar in return for the lifting of sanctions imposed in June.

    The dispute revolves around allegations that Qatar supports Islamist militants, including the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been designated a terrorist organisation by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt.

    Qatar denies it supports terrorism and says Arab countries want to control its foreign policy.

    Abdulrahman had said at a joint news conference with his German counterpart on Tuesday that its response was “given in goodwill and good initiative for a constructive solution.

    However, he insisted that Doha would not compromise on its sovereignty.

    Gulf officials have said the demands are not negotiable, signalling more sanctions are possible, including “parting ways” with Doha a suggestion it may be ejected from the GCC, a regional economic and security cooperation body founded in 1981.

    “Qatar is walking alone in its dreams and illusions, far away from its Gulf Arab brothers, after it sold every brother and friend and bought the treacherous and the one far away at the highest price.

    “A Gulf national may be obliged to prepare psychologically for his Gulf to be without Qatar,” the editor of the Abu Dhabi government linked al-Ittihad newspaper wrote in an editorial said.

    Some newspapers said that remarks by Abdulrahman in which he stressed his country would not compromise on its sovereignty suggest that Doha would not change its policies.

     

     

    (dpa/NAN)

  • Barcelona shirts banned in Saudi Arabia with possible prison sentence

    Barcelona shirts banned in Saudi Arabia with possible prison sentence

    The Saudi authorities have banned football fans from wearing Barcelona shirt which is being sponsored by Qatar Airways, with a possible 15-year prison sentence and £120,000 fine if anyone is caught.
    The ban comes after Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Libya, Yemen and the Maldives cut off all ties with its neighbor, after they accused Qatar of supporting extremist groups. Although, Qatar have rejected the claims.
    According to Sky Italy, those caught wearing shirts with the Qatar Airways wording now face a £120,000k fine and up to 15 years in prison.
    The Spanish football club that has been sponsored by Qatar Airways for the past four seasons, have already agreed on a new four-year deal with Japanese online retailer Rakuten from the start of the 2017-18 campaign.
    Barcelona is not the only club affected by political tensions, Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain was also affected as the French club’s Qatari owners have a shirt sponsorship deal with Emirates.
    Paris Saint-Germain, who have two more seasons with Emirates, told Le Parisien: “It will have no effect on the club, there is no worry.”

     

  • Al Jazeera gets hit by unprecedented cyberattack

    Al Jazeera gets hit by unprecedented cyberattack

    Qatar-based TV channel Al Jazeera has claimed all its systems, websites and social media accounts have been hit by a cyberattack.

    The company said it was experiencing “systematic and continual hacking attempts” which were “gaining intensity and taking various forms”.

    But a senior employee told the Reuters that the company is “combating” the onslaught and all its systems are still “operational”.

    Al Jazeera is owned by Qatar’s government and funded by the Gulf state’s ruling Al Thani family.

    The claim of a cyberattack comes as Qatar is embroiled in a row with fellow Arab states over allegations it supports terrorism.

     

  • Qatar row: Trump claims credit for isolation

    Qatar row: Trump claims credit for isolation

    United States President Donald Trump has claimed credit for the pressure being placed on Qatar by Gulf neighbours who accuse it of supporting terrorism in the region.

    He said his recent visit to Saudi Arabia was “already paying off” and the development might mark the “beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism”.

    Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, Yemen, Libya’s eastern-based government and the Maldives have all cut diplomatic and other ties with Qatar.

    Qatar strongly denies the allegations.

    Mr Trump’s recent speech in the capital Riyadh, in which he blamed Iran for instability in the Middle East and urged Muslim countries to take the lead in combating radicalisation, is seen as likely to have emboldened Gulf allies to act against Qatar.

    “During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar – look!” Mr Trump tweeted on Tuesday.

    He later tweeted: “So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding… extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!”

    Qatar is home to the biggest US military air base in the Middle East, with about 8,000 personnel based at al-Udeid.

    The official statement from White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the US was in communication with all parties “to resolve issues and restore co-operation”.

    “The US still wants to see this issue de-escalated and resolved immediately, in keeping with the principles that the president laid out in terms of defeating terror financing and extremism,” he said.

    In the same week as Mr Trump’s Riyadh speech, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE blocked Qatari news sites, including Al Jazeera.

    On Monday, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the UAE gave Qatari nationals two weeks to leave, banned their own citizens from travelling to Qatar, and cut all transport links.

    Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Tuesday that the economic measures should persuade Qatar to change its policies and behave “like a normal country”.

    Speaking in Paris, he called on Qatar’s rulers to end their support for the Muslim Brotherhood, the Palestinian militant group Hamas and what he called “hostile media”.

    “We believe that common sense and logic and will convince Qatar to take the right steps,” he said.

    The emir of Kuwait – one of the Gulf countries not involved in the dispute – travelled to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday in an attempt to mediate. He later left after a “brotherly visit” but there was no word on the outcome of the talks.

    Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told Al Jazeera that his country would not retaliate but was unhappy with regional rivals “trying to impose their will on Qatar or intervene in its internal affairs”.

    He told the BBC that Qatar was well prepared to withstand a “blockade”, but also complained that the people of Qatar were the victims of “collective punishment” by other countries.

    The foreign minister said his government had told President Trump during his Middle-East trip that there was no evidence that Qatar was supporting radical Islamists, adding that the claims were based on “fabricated evidence and lies”.

  • Qatar Airways hit by airspace ban as Gulf diplomatic row intensifies

    Qatar Airways hit by airspace ban as Gulf diplomatic row intensifies

    Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have cut military and diplomatic ties with Qatar, alleging the country has been supporting extremist groups.

    Airlines including Emirates and Etihad have been told to stop flying to Qatar.

    Emirates announced: “As instructed by the UAE government, Emirates will suspend its flights to and from Doha, starting from the morning of 6 June 2017, until further notice.

    “All customers booked on Emirates’ flights to and from Doha will be provided with alternative options, including full refunds on unused tickets and rebooking to alternate Emirates destinations.”

    Fare-comparison website, Skyscanner, is listing complex and expensive one- and two-stop connections between Doha and Dubai, rather than the usual 70-minute hop.

    At 3.34am local time, Emirates flight 848 departed from Doha to Dubai – the last link between these two Middle Eastern hubs until a furious diplomatic row ends.

    On a normal day there are almost 20 flights each way between the Qatari airport and Dubai, making it the busiest route in the region. But from 4am today, they are all grounded – along with dozens of other departures and tens of thousands of passengers.

    Saudi Arabia’s closure of airspace to Qatar Airways planes seriously affects the airline’s connections with Africa. The overnight arrival from Johannesburg, QR1368, was routed via Oman and Iran to avoid Saudi airspace.

    While as signatories to the 1945 International Air Services Transit Agreement, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE are obliged to allow overflights, the evidence from flight paths monitored by The Independent shows that Qatar Airways is avoiding their airspace.

    The world’s longest flight, from Doha to Auckland, became even longer with a lengthy diversion over Iran.

    Early arrivals at Doha on Tuesday morning displayed on FlightRadar24 showed a range of sub-optimal routings. The arrivals from Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth took a northern course over Pakistan and Iran rather than the direct track across the UAE. They all approached Doha from the north, arriving late in Doha.

    Qatar Airways flight 1149 from Muscat in Oman took an extremely circuitous route to avoid UAE airspace, initially heading east, away from Doha, before turning north-west to Iran.

    Qatar Airways flies from Heathrow, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh to Doha. These routes are unlikely to be affected, with aircraft using Turkish and Iranian airspace. But the vast majority of passengers transferring to onward flights. With aircraft flying circuitous routes and picking up delays en route, the potential for disruption of the complex “hub and spoke” operation is significant.

    The Independent has asked Qatar Airways how British passengers are likely to be affected, but has not yet had a response.

    Air Transport World reported that Qatar Airways’ CEO, Akbar al-Baker, abandoned an airline chiefs’ event, the IATA annual general meeting, to return to Doha. He is reported to have flown back on Monday on a private jet.

    It is unclear what the effect will be on other airlines’ flights. Qatar Airways is the biggest shareholder in British Airways’ parent company, IAG, with one-fifth of the equity. BA flight 123 from Heathrow to Doha arrived on time, after flying over Turkey and Iran.

    A reciprocal ban by Qatar on aircraft from the countries which have imposed the restrictions will not have a significant effect on operations.

     

    The Independent

     

  • Qatar row: Saudi, Egypt to cut Doha links

    Qatar row: Saudi, Egypt to cut Doha links

    A number of Arab countries including Saudi Arabia and Egypt have cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of destabilising the region.

    They say Qatar backs militant groups including so-called Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda, which Qatar denies.

    The Saudi state news agency SPA said Riyadh had closed its borders, severing land, sea and air contact with the tiny peninsula of oil-rich Qatar.

    Qatar called the decision “unjustified” and with “no basis in fact”.

    The unprecedented move is seen as a major split between powerful Gulf countries, who are also close US allies.

    It comes amid heightened tensions between Gulf countries and their near-neighbour, Iran. The Saudi statement accused Qatar of collaborating with “Iranian-backed terrorist groups” in its restive eastern region of Qatif and in Bahrain.

    The diplomatic withdrawal was first put into motion by Bahrain, then Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Yemen, Libya’s eastern-based government and the Maldives all followed suit.

    SPA cited officials as saying the decision was taken to “protect its national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism”.

    Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain have given all Qatari visitors and residents two weeks to leave their territory. The three countries have also banned their citizens from travelling to Qatar.

    However, Saudi Arabia says it will still allow Qataris to take part in the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

    So far, there has been no sign of reciprocal moves by Qatar.