Al Jazeera: Qatar-Gulf Crisis

23:15 – Qatari FM discusses Gulf crisis with Italian, Ukrainian, Australian counterparts and EU foreign affairs chief in New York

• Qatar’s foreign minister met with several dignitaries on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York to discuss, among others, the blockade imposed on Qatar by a group of Arab countries.
• Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani held talks with Federica Mogherini, the European Union foreign affairs chief, as well as his Italian, Ukrainian and Australian counterparts, Angelino Alfano, Pavlo Klimkin and Julie Bishop respectively.
• During the meetings, the Qatari foreign minister discussed the humanitarian impact of the blockade and stressed the importance of dialogue to solve the crisis.

9:00am – Qatar and Saudi Arabia to compete at show jumping competition

• At Ashghabat 2017 in Turkmenistan, riders from Qatar and Saudi Arabia will compete while their countries are locked in a bitter political dispute.

• The Gulf diplomatic crisis spilled over onto sports when it led to the cancellation of this year’s Gulf Cup of Nations in football. However, there is hope that the games in this horse-loving nation can promote cooperation and understanding.

10:40 – Qatari emir discusses Gulf crisis with Russian FM at the UN

• Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met on Wednesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York City.
• The two discussed the Gulf dispute among other topics.
• A similar meeting took place at the UN between Sheikh Tamim and UN’s human rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.

10:35 – Qatargas to sell 1.5 million tonnes of LNG a year to Turkey’s Botas

• State-run Qatargas, the world’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), said on Wednesday it had signed a medium-term sales and purchase agreement with Turkey’s Botas to deliver 1.5m tonnes of LNG each year for three years.

• “Qatargas said it would supply the LNG from Qatargas 2 to either the Egegaz LNG Terminal, the Marmara LNG Terminal or the Etki LNG terminal in Turkey.
• “We are very pleased to announce this new agreement with Botas which will further strengthen our relationship with our friends in Turkey,” said Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, president and CEO of Qatar Petroleum and chairman of board of directors of Qatargas.

11:41 – Trump expects Gulf dispute to be quickly resolved

• US President Donald Trump has said on Tuesday he thought the dispute between Qatar and some of its Arab neighbors would be resolved quickly.

• “We are right now in a situation where we’re trying to solve a problem in the Middle East. And I think we’ll get it solved, I have a very strong feeling that it will be solved pretty quickly,” Trump said in New York as he met Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani

11:10pm – Qatari emir condemns ‘unjust blockade’ at UNGA speech

• Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has said that a group of Arab countries imposing an “unjust blockade” on Qatar are seeking to destabilise a sovereign state.

• “I stand before you while my country and my people are subjected to an ongoing and unjust blockade imposed since June 5 by neighbouring countries,” Sheikh Tamim said, addressing the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.

• He asked if this what not a definition of “terrorism”, saying that the moves by the blockading countries were an assault against a sovereign state and a violation against human rights.

9:30am – Snapchat blocks Al Jazeera in Saudi Arabia

• Snapchat has blocked access to Al Jazeera news articles and videos in Saudi Arabia following a request from the government, a spokesperson for Snap Inc has said.

• Saudi Arabia’s government told the social media company that the Al Jazeera Discover Publisher Channel violated local laws.

• “We make an effort to comply with local laws in the countries where we operate,” a Snapchat spokesperson said in a statement.

• Morad Rayyan, head of Incubation and Innovation Research at Al Jazeera, said the move was “unprecedented”.

• “Snapchat is a US-based company, publicly traded, and it stands for freedom of expression. We are working on contingency plans to ensure our content is available on other platforms,” Rayyan said.

6:00am – Qatar proposes a compensation committee

• Qatar’s National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) proposed the establishment of a compensation committee, within the framework of the UN General Assembly, for victims of the unilateral actions taken against Qatar.
• The proposal was made during the NHRC’s comments in a report presented to the Human Rights Council by Idriss Jazairy, Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures.
• The NHRC said that the current situation met all the conditions for the creation of specialised compensation committees, as outlined in the report, adding that this committee must be established under strict guidelines and must have wide authority to make decisions.

6:30PM – UK to supply Qatar with 24 Typhoon fighter jets

• Qatar’s Defence Minister Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah and the United Kingdom’s Defence Secretary Michael Fallon signed a letter of intent on Sunday in Doha to purchase 24 Typhoon aircraft.
• “This will be the first major defence contract with Qatar, one of the UK’s strategic partners. This is an important moment in our defence relationship and the basis for even closer defence cooperation between our two countries,” said Fallon.
• “We also hope that this will help enhance security within the region across all Gulf allies.”

5:45pm – Qatar’s FM calls on world leaders to do more against terrorism

• Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has said the world leaders are not doing enough to combat terrorism.
• Speaking at the US-Islamic World Forum in New York City, he said: “Terrorism is a scary phenomenon… violence and hatred have helped a lot in the eruption and creation of the terrorist organisations. The international community and the world in general has not done enough against terrorism.”

12:00pm – Qatari stocks continues to slide

• Qatar’s stock market headed for its tenth straight losing session on Sunday while Saudi Arabia’s index bucked an otherwise weak region because of gains in the petrochemical sector.
• On Friday, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani said Qatar was ready to sit at the negotiating table to try to end a dispute with its Gulf Arab neighbours. But in the absence of a positive response from the Saudi-led coalition boycotting Qatar, investors did not take the remarks as a sign that the dispute was moving closer to resolution.
• Qatar’s index slipped 0.5 percent with Doha Bank dropping 2.6 percent.
• In Saudi Arabia, all but one of the 14 listed petrochemical shares rose after Brent crude closed near a five-month peak on Friday.

11:20am – Qatar’s foreign minister to keynote US-Islamic World forum

• Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani will deliver a keynote address at the US-Islamic World Forum in New York on Sunday.
• The annual forum, now in its 13th year, is organised by the Brookings Institution in conjunction with the state of Qatar. This year’s theme is “Crisis and Cooperation” and discussion topics include ending conflicts in the Middle East and the future of pluralism in the Arab world.