Doha AlJazeera News 12 June 2017 Iraq's prime minister has rejected Saudi and UAE media claims that a $500m ransom was paid by Qatar to Shia Muslim armed groups in Iraq to secure the release of 26 kidnapped Qatari hunters, saying that the money was received by the Iraqi government and that the sum was...

Islamabad 12 June 2017 (APP) Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif will leave for Kingdom of Saudi Arabia today (Monday) in context of the emergent situation among Gulf countries, PM’s Office said on Monday. It is not disclosed by Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), Pakistan's official News Agency whether Pakistan Prime Minister will also be visiting...

Astana, 10 June 2017 Daily 'Dawn' Pakistan on Friday became a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, DawnNews reported. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in his inaugural speech during the 17th SCO summit welcomed Pakistan as full member of the organisation. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, addressing the summit, said, "The SCO goals resonate with Pakistan's...

Doha 11 June 2017 (AlJazeera News) Following recent statements by the Saudi foreign minister calling on Qatar to end its support of Hamas, social media users in the Arab world reacted in support of the Palestinian resistance movement and to counter the minister's statements which characterised Hamas as a "terrorist organisation". Adel al-Jubeir's remarks came...

Doha 11 June 2017 National Human Rights Committee of State of Qatar (NHRC) has said today that the directives issued by Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain to take into consideration the humanitarian situation of mixed families (Saudi-Qatari, Emirati-Qatari and Bahraini-Qatari families) are vague, lacking a practical mechanism for implementation on the ground. The NHRC said...

Libya 11 June 2017 (AlJazeera News) Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been released from prison, according to fighters who control the facility. A statement from the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion, a militia which controls Zintan, a mountainous region southwest of the capital Tripoli, said Saif al-Islam was released...

Doha 11 June 2017 (AlJazeera News) Saudi authorities have prevented Qatari nationals from entering the Grand Mosque in Mecca, marking a sharp escalation in the Gulf diplomatic crisis, Doha-based Al Sharq newspaper has reported. Qatar's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) received complaints from Qatari citizens that pilgrims from Qatar were barred from entering the Masjid...

Doha 10 June 2017 Chairman, National Human Rights Committee Qatar, Dr. Ali Marri during his briefing this late evening in Doha told that a number of Human Rights World Bodies understands the grievances of citizens of the Saudi led blockade including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar. These organizations have issued statements and...

U.S. Department of Defense 09 June 2017 The Navy will commission its newest Independence-variant littoral combat ship, the future USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10), during a ceremony on Saturday, June 10, at 12:00 p.m. CDT on the waterfront in Galveston, Texas. The future USS Gabrielle Giffords, designated LCS 10, is named after former United States...

Amnesty International 9 June 2017 Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are toying with the lives of thousands of Gulf residents as part of their dispute with Qatar, splitting up families and destroying peoples’ livelihoods and education, Amnesty International said today. The organization’s researchers have interviewed dozens of people whose human rights...