Section: Gulf News (United Arab Emirates)
Minister meets Russian envoy
HE the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad al-Muraikhi met the Russian ambassador to Qatar Nurmakhmad Kholov in Doha yesterday. The meeting discussed bilateral relations and ways of enhancing the prospects of co-operation between Qatar and Russia, as well as issues of mutual concern. The meeting was attended by a number of...
UN appeals for record $22.5bn in global aid
The United Nations appealed yesterday for a record $22.5bn (18.9bn euros) to provide aid in 2018 to soaring numbers of people slammed by conflicts and disasters around the world.The global appeal by UN agencies and other humanitarian organisations aims to raise funds to help the some 91mn most vulnerable of the nearly 136mn people expected to...
More governments manipulate media with ‘bots,’ trolls: study
More governments are following the lead of Russia and China by manipulating social media and suppressing dissent online in a grave threat to democracy, a human rights watchdog said Tuesday. A study of internet freedom in 65 countries found 30 governments are deploying some form of manipulation to distort online information, up from 23 the...
Political risk floors Russia’s Rosneft as rivals lift off
All around the world, oil company shares are in recovery mode, many of them climbing back to levels not seen since crude slumped three years ago. But Russia’s largest producer is still waiting for lift off.Rosneft shares have risen just over 3% since the end of June, just a fraction of the double-digit gains posted by Royal Dutch Shell,...
Trump trusts Putin’s denials on meddling
US President Donald Trump said he believed President Vladimir Putin when he denied accusations Russia meddled in last year’s US election despite US intelligence agencies’ conclusion of Russian interference. Trump made the comment after he and Putin met briefly at a summit in Vietnam yesterday and agreed on a statement supporting a...
Trump says he believes Putin’s election meddling denials
US president Donald Trump Saturday said he believes Vladimir Putin’s assurances that he did not meddle in US elections that propelled him to power, adding the Russian leader felt “very insulted” by the allegations. Trump, whose key former aides are under a US investigation for alleged collaboration with the Kremlin, said he...
Tensions rise between Serbia, Ukraine over ‘mercenaries’
Serbia this week summoned its ambassador in Kiev for consultations after Ukraine raised concerns over Serbian “mercenaries” fighting on the side of pro-Russian rebels in its conflict-torn east. A foreign ministry statement stressed that Serbia “respects Ukraine’s territorial integrity” and had undertaken “a...
Russia vows World Cup crackdown on scalpers
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev vowed yesterday to crack down harshly on people who intended to profit from reselling their tickets to the 2018 World Cup. The price of admission for the June 14-July 15 event ranges from 1,200 roubles ($22, 19 euros) for the nosebleed seats at the opening matches to 66,000 roubles for the best ones...
Nato allies agree on new military headquarters
Nato allies backed plans yesterday for two new military headquarters to help protect Europe in the event of a conflict with Russia, laying the ground for the US-led alliance’s biggest expansion in decades.Hoping to add to its deterrent factor against Russia, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) defence ministers agreed to create an...
Europe’s hard-core problem
President Emmanuel Macron’s election in France and the likely continuation of Angela Merkel’s chancellorship in Germany are dramatically at odds with developments in the rest of Europe, which has become increasingly unstable and unpredictable. One wonders if the European Union’s hard Franco-German core is becoming too hard for...
