London                                                                                                                                                                                                  04 Oct. 2017                                                                                                                                                                                      (Daily Express, UK)

Law enforcement are hoping to obtain answers from Ms Danley, who Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said was a "person of interest" in the investigation.

On Tuesday morning, Ms Danley, 62, arrived back on US soil and was escorted out of the airport in a wheelchair.

Ms Danley was in the Philippines during the massacre but flown back to the US to be questioned by the FBI as part of the investigation.

Speaking yesterday, Sheriff Lombard said: "We are in conversations with her"

Her return may help shed light on what led the mass murderer to unleash chaos from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Hotel, firing down on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival.

More than 500 people were injured as the shooter fired bursts from a semiautomatic weapon which had been adapted to fire fully automatic rounds.

It comes as more details on the 64-year-old gunman are revealed following his campaign of slaughter.

A law enforcement official has confirmed Paddock sent £75,500 ($100,000) to the Philippines before Sunday's terrifying attack.

However, officials currently don’t know the recipient and the FBI are working with authorities in the Philippines to determine additional details.

But it is alleged the money was sent to the gunman's girlfriend.

Paddock’s 62-year-old partner Marilou Danley travelled to Hong Kong on September 25 and then went on to the Philippines on October 1 as he opened fire on thousands of people.

Investigators say it is believed she was there to visit family, although this has not been confirmed.

Police say the pair lived together near Vegas.

Ankara                                                                                                                                                                                                 04 Oct. 2017                                                                                                                                                                                      (Anadolu News)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pointed out the role of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad in the recently-held illegitimate referendum in northern Iraq.

Speaking at a joint news conference with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani in capital Tehran, Erdogan said: “What is the referendum organized by northern Iraq’s regional administration for? No country in the world apart from Israel recognizes it.

“A decision made at the table with Mossad is not legitimate, it is illegitimate.”

On Sept. 25, Iraqis in Kurdish Regional Government (KRG)-held areas -- and in several areas disputed between Baghdad and Erbil -- voted on whether to declare independence from Iraq.

According to results announced by the KRG, almost 93 percent of registered voters cast ballots in favor of independence.

The illegal referendum continues to face sharp opposition from most regional and international actors, many of whom warn that the poll would distract frm Iraq’s ongoing fight against terrorism and further destabilize the already-volatile region.

The Turkish president said Iraq was the primary topic of discussion during his meeting with Rouhani.

“We have stated that Turkey does not recognize the northern Iraq regional administration's illegitimate referendum.

“I believe that northern Iraq’s local administration will be condemned to isolation by siding with a certain figure on one end and another figure on the other, and then taking action with those certain figures.”

He reiterated Turkey’s position that it would continue to engage with the central government in Baghdad.

“Turkey and Iran's determination on the matter is evident. Turkey will only engage with the central government in Iraq and we certainly term this referendum as illegitimate,” he said.

'Some foreigners' plan strife

“As you know, there are steps we, both Turkey and Iran, have taken on the matter. But there are more severe steps we will take in the upcoming period.”

Rouhani saw the poll in northern Iraq as an attempt by “some foreigners” to create sectarian and ethnic strife.

“Some foreigners plan to split the area to increase ethnic and sectarian discrimination. Both countries do not accept such acts of discrimination,” he said.

“Whatever name they give to it, we will fight against terrorism. The terrorists should know that we will not allow their brutal acts.”

About efforts to resolve the conflict in Syria, Erdogan said: “There is a process framed for Syria through [talks in Kazakh capital] Astana together with Iran, Russia and Turkey. Here we strongly emphasize on the de-conflict zone.

The Astana talks are being brokered by Turkey, which backs the Syrian opposition, along with Russia and Iran, both of which support the Assad regime.

The three guarantor states, as well as representatives of the Damascus-based Bashra al-Assad regime and some opposition factions, met in Astana in September for a sixth round of talks aimed at ending the six-year conflict.

Rouhani said political, regional, and global ties between Iran and Turkey were developing with each passing day.

“We made very important decisions, both during our one-on-one meeting with Turkey’s distinguished president and at the 4th High Level Cooperation Council meeting on economic development between the two countries,” the Iranian president said.

“One of the most important decisions made was using the national currency in commerce for developing banking relations between the two countries. The decisions will be finalized next week.”

Erdogan added: “We have decided to improve the financial sector through chairmanship of our countries' central banks and cooperation between our banks. In efforts to rescue our economic relations from currency rate pressure, we have decided to conduct investments through own currencies [Turkish Lira and Iranian Rial].”

Meeting with Khamenei

The two leaders also said the goal is to increase the trade volume between the two countries up to $30 billion, which is currently “stuck” at $10 billion. “We have encouraged our colleagues for intense efforts in the fields of energy to tourism, from transportation to defense industry,” Erdogan said.

In an effort to boost tourism and commerce between the countries, Rouhani said the leaders also decided to open three customs borders for 24 hours to ease travel and accelerate transit of goods.

“Two customs gates will be open for 24 hours starting from tomorrow. The third gate will be open at the soonest since it is closed due to construction and some technicalities.”

The Turkish president later also held a closed-door meeting with Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei termed the illegitimate referendum in northern Iraq as a threat to the future of the region, according to Iranian news agency IRNA.

"The referendum is an act of betrayal towards the entire region and poses threat to its future," the Iranian leader said during the meeting with Erdogan.

"Baghdad should also make serious decisions," he said.

The religious leader emphasized the importance of Turkey-Iran cooperation, saying that both states must take necessary measures against the vote.

"The perspective of the U.S. and the European countries is totally different from the perspective of Turkey and Iran.

"The U.S. always wants to hold a trump card against Turkey and Iran. For this reason, the U.S. and Europeans cannot be trusted in any way," Khamenei said.

Erdogan was given a red-carpet welcome upon his arrival in Tehran Wednesday.

He was accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Berat Albayrak, Minister of Trade and Customs Bulent Tufenkci, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, Minister of Culture and Tourism Numan Kurtulmus as well as the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party’s Deputy Chairman Mehdi Eker.

The president and his delegation left for home later in the evening.

Dubai                                                                                                                                                                                                 04 Oct. 2017                                                                                                                                                                                  (REUTERS)

Qatar’s government has enough reserves to support its banks in the face of sanctions imposed by other Arab states and reports of its banking system being under strain are false, its central bank governor said on Wednesday.

”The government and the central bank are able to support banks with the holdings of the large sovereign wealth fund and the large state reserves,” Qatar’s Lusail news service quoted Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud al-Thani as saying. The central bank posted excerpts from the report on its website.

However, Sheikh Abdullah warned that banks should only consider the government and the central bank suppliers of funds in the last resort, implying that they must first seek other sources of financing.

“The bank will not intervene in the management of the private liquidity of banks as long as they obey prudential requirements,” Lusail quoted him as saying.

As the sanctions have cut off many of Qatari banks’ funding sources in the Gulf, some banks are turning to Asia and Europe to compensate; last month Qatar National Bank QNBK.QA completed a US$630 million Formosa bond issue in Taiwan.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar on June 5, disrupting its foreign trade and prompting banks and investors from the four Arab states to pull deposits from Qatari banks.

The central bank is several weeks late in releasing its monthly monetary statistics for July and August, and has not explained the delay or said when the data will be published.

This has left investors guessing about how much the sanctions are reducing liquidity in the banking system and depleting the central bank’s foreign reserves.

But Sheikh Abdullah said on Wednesday that domestic liquidity was up 8.3 percent at the end of July while the monetary base had grown 1.7 percent. He did not specify whether those growth rates were year-on-year or month-on-month.

Statistics for June, released on July 30, showed the central bank’s net international reserves plunged by $10.4 billion from the previous month to $24.4 billion. M2 money supply grew 7.7 percent from a year earlier.

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, has responded to the crisis by pumping billions of dollars into local banks to shore up their deposits. Banking sector data suggests such injections totaled about $8 billion in August alone.

Pressure on deposits may now ease as the Arab states no longer have as much money left in Qatar to withdraw. The QIA is believed to have had about $300 billion of assets before the crisis, so most analysts believe it can easily continue defending the banks and replenish the central bank’s reserves.

Nevertheless, the diplomatic crisis has raised funding costs for banks and hurt their foreign business. Credit rating agency Moody’s cut the outlook for Qatar’s banking sector to negative from stable in August.

“Qatari banks’ reliance on confidence-sensitive external funding has increased in recent years due to a significant decline in oil-related revenues. This leaves them vulnerable to shifts in investor sentiment,” said Nitish Bhojnagarwala, a vice president at Moody‘s.

Doha                                                                                                                                                                                                  05 Oct 2017                                                                                                                                                                                  (Daily Gulf Times)

Coffee shops and restaurant businesses are booming in Qatar despite the siege, Mohamed Asad, general manager of a popular restaurant told Qatar Urdu Radio’s live show Haqeeqat yesterday.

“One of the fastest growing businesses in Qatar right now is that of coffee shops, restaurants and food chains.

There are so many new malls opening up in the country and all of them have many restaurants waiting in queue for space,” he said.

“Despite the fact that people of blockading Gulf countries are not travelling to Qatar anymore, there are people from other countries who still visit Qatar and this will further increase, especially after the visa-free entry granted by the government to 80 countries,” Asad said, adding that Qatar earned a revenue of $4bn from the tourism industry in 2016.

Haqeeqat, which aims to engage and interact with the large South Asian expatriate community in Qatar, is a joint venture of Gulf Times and Qatar Media Corporation Urdu Radio. It is broadcast from Sunday to Thursday on FM107. The show is hosted by Saif-ur-Rehman.

Log on to Qatar Urdu Radio on Facebook and ‘@QatarUrduRadio’ on Twitter for feedback and comments about the show.

Hague                                                                                                                                                                                                04 Oct. 2017                                                                                                                                                                                      (QNA/Gulf Times)

The Hague Institute for Global Justice stressed that the siege imposed by the four countries (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt) on Qatar has not only created major political and economic disturbances in the region, but also raised many issues of international law.

Speakers at a seminar entitled “International legal means available in the light of the four siege countries’ measures against Qatar”, organised by the Diplomatic Institute, said that the siege is seen as a dangerous escalation of friendly relations between Qatar and those countries, and an attempt to interfere in Qatar’s internal affairs.

Ambassador Dr Mutlaq bin Majed al-Qahtani, Foreign Minister’s special envoy on counter-terrorism and mediation in disputes’ settlements, said that the main problem facing the world community is the implementation and application of international law.

He added that the focus on this problem is because there are violations by the siege countries, stressing that these violations are clear to all .

Dr Al-Qahtani said “we must prove to the world that there are violations of international obligations through the law.”

The four countries, with their siege of Qatar, have committed an act that contravenes international law.

He noted that there are important organisations that can be resorted to in the application of international law, namely the UN and specialised organisations, which in his view more effective than others because they have mechanisms to resolve disputes in a binding manner, but on condition of proof of these violations.

For their part, experts at the Hague Institute stressed that an important principle of conduct among countries was the UN General Assembly resolution (No. 2625) of 1970, also known as the Declaration on Friendly Relations, and although it was not a binding international agreement, UN affirmed that the principles of the UN Charter embodied in this declaration constitute fundamental principles of international law.

Doha                                                                                                                                                                                                  04 Oct. 2017                                                                                                                                                                                      (Daily 'Gulf Times')

Doha                                                                                                                                                                                                      25 Sept. 2017

Ambassador Li Chen of China said that Chinese contribution of 30 % towards world's economic growth makes China a “main engine” of the world economy. Addressing recently at a reception hosted by him on the occasion of 68th anniversary of Founding of the People’s Republic of China, Li Chen said China stands as world's second largest economy and second largest country of trading and foreign direct investment.

He lauded strong relations in all fields between both the countries and told that during first half of 2017, bilateral trade between China & Qatar exceeded US $ 3. 3 Billion, a  growth of 19.82 %  to the same period of year 2016.

Present on the occasion were Dr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry of Qatar,  Dr. Hassan Lahdan Al-Mohannadi, Minister of Justice of Qatar, ambassador Ibrahim Yousif Abdullah Fakhroo, Director of Protocol, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State of Qatar, ambassador of Eritrea Ali Ibrahim Ahmed, Head of Diplomatic Corps, ambassadors, dignitaries and guests.

Full text of speech

' Ever since its founding in 1949, the People’s Republic of China has made remarkable achievements. Especially over the past three decades of reform and opening up, both the Chinese economy and society have experienced rapid growth with a rising comprehensive national strength, and a significant improvement of the people’s living standards. China has now become the second largest economy in the world, the second largest country of trading and foreign direct investment. In 2016, despite the sluggish recovery of the world economy, the Chinese economy achieved a steady GDP growth of 6.7%. Making over 30% of contribution to global economic growth, the highest among all nations. China has thus become a “main engine” of the world economy. China’s development has not only improved the quality of living of the Chinese people which covers 19.2% of world population, and effectively promoted the stability and development of the global economy.

Next month, the Chinese Communist Party will be holding its 19^th National Congress. It is a major political event for the Chinese people which is held every five years. The Chinese Communist Party led the Chinese people to realize national liberation 68 years ago, and united the Chinese people on the course of opening up and reforms, which contributed to great achievements in development that attract the attention of the world. The Congress will be planning new blueprints and starting another glorious five years for China’s development.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear friends,

Over 1,300 years ago, ancient Chinese merchant ships set sailing from Guangzhou port in the South of China, crossing the waters in Southeast Asia and finally arrived in the Arabian Peninsula. China and the Gulf Countries were connected by the ancient Maritime Silk Road ever since.

In 2013, Chinese President H.E. Xi Jinping proposed The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (the Belt and Road initiative), once again creating close ties between China and the Gulf States as well as other countries along the routes. Qatar is an important country with unique influence in the Gulf region, and has been a supportive partner in the Belt and Road cooperation. It is one of the first countries that offer actively respond to Belt and Road initiative, thus becoming an important partner in making joint contributions to the initiative.

During H.H. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani Emir of Qatar’s visit to China in 2014, the two heads of state agreed to raise the China-Qatar relations to a strategic partnership, and signed the MoU of jointly building the Belt and Road.

In recent years, under the common concern of the two heads of states of China and Qatar, strategic partnership of the two countries continues to contribute healthy and rapid development. Since the end of last year, H.E. Minister of State for Defense Affairs Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah, H.E. Minister of Energy and Industry Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Sada, H.E. Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani had made successful visits to China, H.E. Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Saif Al-Sulaiti had attended the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, these have all effectively promoted bilateral cooperation between our two countries.

Right now, Staff Major General Saad Bin Jassim Al-Khulaifi, the the Director General of Public Security is paying a visit to China, the tow countries will sign agreements of cooperation in the security field.

January to June this year, total volume of import and export trade between China and Qatar exceeded 3.3 billion dollars with a growth of 19.82%. Qatar has become the second largest exporter of LNG to China, while China is the fourth largest trading partner and the second largest exporter to Qatar. Chinese companies has participated in strategic and major projects in Qatar like the Hamad Port and the main stadium of the 2022 World Cup. Additionally, the Chinese Navy fleet visited Qatar, China-Qatar 2016 Year of Culture had made a successful conclusion, which has greatly enhanced the understanding and friendship between the people of China and Qatar.

The next year will mark the 30^th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Qatar, the China-Qatar relationship is entering a new phase of rapid development. China is willing to continue working together with the State of Qatar to enhance political trust, deepen economic cooperation and increase cultural exchanges.

At the present time, the Chinese people are striving to fulfill the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, the Qatari people are also devoted to realize the Qatar National Vision 2030. We are convinced that the China-Qatar relationship if full of opportunities and broad prospects, and will continue to achieve even more development and delivering greater benefits to the people of the two countries.

Thank you all again for your presence tonight. Let us wish China and Qatar a progressive and prosperous future, wish the China-Qatar relationship lasts forever, and wish everyone here tonight all the best !

Thank you!

Doha                                                                                                                                                                                                    03 Oct. 2017 - 1145 PM                                                                                                                                                                      (AlJazeera News/QNA)

Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, has met Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for talks on relations and strengthening "cooperation" between the two countries after almost four months of a blockade against Qatar.

The visit is Zarif's first to Doha since four Arab countries - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt - cut diplomatic ties with Qatar on June 5 and imposed a land, air and sea blockade.

"During the meeting, they reviewed relations of cooperation between the two countries in various fields as well as exchanged views on the current situation in the region," a statement from Qatar News Agency said, referring to Tuesday's talks.

Zarif's trip comes after Qatar restored full diplomatic relations with Iran in August.

In January 2016, Qatar had pulled its ambassador from Tehran over attacks on Saudi Arabia's diplomatic mission there, after the kingdom executed a Shia religious scholar.

Iranian state media published images of Zarif at the Doha meeting and quoted him as saying: "None of the regional crises have a military solution.

All sides should "give priority to regional initiations for restoring collective stability and security".

Zarif on Monday met Omani officials, including Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who has ruled Oman since 1970 and has served as an interlocutor between the West and Iran.

Kuwait has tried unsuccessfully to mediate the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) crisis, as has the US, which has a major military base in Qatar.

On June 22, the Saudi bloc issued a 13-point list of demands, including the shutdown of Al Jazeera, limiting ties with Iran and expelling Turkish troops stationed in the country, as a prerequisite to lift the sanctions.

The quartet accuse Qatar of supporting "extremism" and fostering ties with Iran. Qatar has rejected the allegations as well as the demands, and the quartet now consider the list "null and void".

Survey on Iran

Against this backdrop, a new academic survey published this week suggests that the average citizens in the Arab members of the GCC do not see Iran as an existential threat in the same way some of their leaders do.

Face-to-face surveys of over 4,000 GCC citizens conduced in recent months found that with the exception of Bahrain, the spread of violent organisations like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group represented their biggest worry, said Justin Gengler, a senior researcher at the Social and Economic Survey Research Institute at Qatar University.

Gengler said the survey, funded by the Qatar National Research Fund before the Gulf crisis began and conducted along with researchers from the University of Michigan, was conducted in every GCC country except the UAE.

Gengler first published his results on Monday in the prestigious Foreign Affairsmagazine. The margin of error was below four percent among the surveys in each country.

Asked about the results, Gengler told the Associated Press news agency Iran offered a convenient foe for Arab Gulf states struggling with internal problems and low global oil prices.

Political differences

Leaders in the Arab Gulf countries, those in Saudi Arabia and the UAE especially, view Iran with suspicion after its recent advances on the battlefields of Iraq and Syria.

They also worry about Iran's nuclear programme and the 2015 deal that Iran struck with world powers over it.

Late last month, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar's foreign minister, said the quartet's blockade was pushing Qatar into closer economic ties with Iran despite political differences.

"They said Qatar was now closer to Iran. By their measures they are pushing Qatar to Iran," he said in comments in Paris.

"Is that their objective, to push one country, a GCC member state towards Iran? This is not a wise objective."

Doha                                                                                                                                                                                                    28 Sept 2017

British members of the parliament have asked for immediate lifting of blocked of Qatar. Lord Grahame Morris of House of Lord  and head of the visiting eight members delegation said during his address to media at a press conference held at the Headquarters of National Human Rights Committee of Qatar.

Lord Grahame Morris, member of the British House of Lords  told media in Qatar that the delegation has met a number of victims of the blocked including local families, patients, children, traders and investors.  All members of the delegation believe these cases are real and painful. He said that they believe siege as being illegal and violating international and humanitarian laws and conventions, Lord Grahame Morris asked the blocked countries to  lift their blocked immediately.

British eight members delegation, three members from British House of Lord, one from British House of Common, two members of Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the United Kingdom (AOHRUK) and one from media are on a fact finding mission in Qatar on the impact of blocked of Qatar by the four countries, i.e. Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt.

Lord Grahame Morris told that he has invited Dr. Ali Samekh Al Marri, President of NHRC to visit London and address the parliament providing facts and figures.

He said that by last week of October 2017, their report will be ready to submit to various organisations including British parliament, concerned institutions within UK and member states  of the European Union.

'We have met a number of victims from the on-going blocked of Qatar who are passing through serious situation including students, patients, business community members, separated family members, investors, such cases are real, solid and are painful, said Lord Grahame Morris of House of Lord  and head of the visiting delegation.

He said during his address to media at a press conference that  we believe siege as being illegal and violating international and humanitarian laws and conventions, Lord Grahame Morris asked the blocked countries to  lift their blocked immediately.

Press Conference was held at the Head Quarters of of Qatar National Human Rights Committee this evening. Present on the occasion were Lord Nazir Ahmad, Lord Qurban Hussain, both also from House of Lords and Lord John KilClooney of House of Common.

Lord Grahame Morris said that he has invited Dr. Ali bin Samekh AlMarri, President of NHRC to address to British parliament and present their findings.

“These violations are painful, especially with regard to medical treatment, education, reunification, investment, mobility and the exercise of religious rites,” Lord Morris said.

He stressed that it is not only people of Qatar suffering but people of blocked countries are also victim of the crisis. Lord Morris added that the siege imposed on Qatar violates the basic human rights that should be respected rather than violated.

He pointed out that there are international obligations on the countries to abide by them, stressing that it is in everyone's interest that the current Gulf crisis be resolved urgently.
The head of the British Parliamentary Committee, currently visiting Doha, said that the committee invited the

He said that the members of the committee will present the results of their visit to the British Parliament by last week of October. He also said that after meeting with the victims here in Qatar, and  have questioned them, we believe them and have collected number of witnesses.

Lord Grahame said that his delegation members will use their pressure on members of the parliament and the Prime Minister to push blocked countries to remove their blocked of Qatar immediately.

“The committee met with officials of the British embassy in Qatar, who said that it supports efforts to lift the siege on Qatar, which is the position of the British government itself which supports the mediation efforts of the Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah to end the crisis.

"The issue of Qatar is just in that it is an illegal blockade that violates international laws and human rights. The violations are documented. The region is an extended family. The blockade has greatly affected the rights of people and the ties between families. We will do our utmost to lift it. He said the committee would prepare a report on its visit to Qatar and its meetings with the victims of the siege. The report will be published in about a month, he added.