Qatar

23 Aug 2021; MEMO: Qatar's first legislative polls for two-thirds of the advisory Shura Council will be held on October 2, according to a decree issued by the ruling emir on Sunday and published by his office, reports Reuters.

Qataris will elect 30 members of the 45-seat body while Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani will continue to appoint the remaining 15 members.

DOHA, Aug 18 (NNN-QNA) – Qatar and Germany, yesterday, called for stepping up necessary efforts, to achieve national reconciliation and peaceful power transition in Afghanistan.

The two sides issued the call, during a phone talk between Qatari Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, the Emir’s office said.

The Qatari Emir stressed the importance of continuing peace talks and efforts to achieve reconciliation and a peaceful power transition in Afghanistan, it said.

15 Aug 2021; MEMO: Qatar said it had urged the Taliban to cease fire and pull back their offensive in Afghanistan during a meeting between the Qatari foreign minister and a top representative of the Afghan insurgents in Doha on Saturday, Reuters reports.

Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani met the head of the Taliban's political bureau, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, to follow up on peace talks hosted by the Gulf country, the Qatari foreign ministry said in a statement on its website.

DOHA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Representatives of countries taking part in the Doha international meeting on Afghanistan on Thursday called on the Afghan warring parties to expedite the peace process, reach a political settlement and comprehensive ceasefire as quickly as possible, stressing their rejection of any government imposed by force.

23 July 2021; MEMO: The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani has instructed his country's authorities to allocate $100 million to stave off a famine in Yemen and support the United Nations' efforts to maintain food security in the war-torn country.

07 July 2021; MEMO: Qatar Charity (QC) has hired more than 50,000 Palestinian graduates and creatives remote jobs through its 'Taqat' initiative.

Described as one of the world's "unique humanitarian initiatives," the initiative aims to alleviate the burden of unemployment, improve the economic situation of Palestinian families and strengthen the role of creative youth in need of work, Qatar News Agency reported.

07 July 2021; MEMO: Qatar will provide the Lebanese armed forces with 70 tonnes of food a month, the Qatari state news agency QNA reported, as Lebanon seeks assistance amid its worst economic and political crisis since a 1975-1990 civil war, Reuters reported.

Lebanon's army chief Joseph Aoun had appealed to world powers at a meeting in France last month for assistance for soldiers, whose wages have plunged in value as the Lebanese pound has crashed and inflation has soared.

27 June 2021; MEMO: Qatari sprinter Abdalelah Haroun, who won the bronze medal in the 400 metres event at the 2017 World Championships, died on Saturday in a car accident, the global governing body of athletics said citing media reports, says Reuters.

He was 24 years old. The former world junior champion had been hoping to qualify for this year's Tokyo Olympics, though he was undergoing rehabilitation following an injury.

23 June 2021; MEMO: Qatar is the safest country in the Middle East according to the 2021Global Peace Index's Societal Safety and Security measures.

The Gulf state came in at 15th globally, but tops the regional list, with the UAE and Kuwait coming in second and third.

According to the Global Peace Index, Iceland is the safest country globally for the 13th year in a row.

(Reuters) --- Qatar has no plans to normalise ties with Syria, the Gulf state's foreign minister said, after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad won a fourth term in office last week in an election derided by the opposition and the West as a farce.

Qatar was among several regional states including Saudi Arabia that backed rebels in Syria's decade-old civil war. Some like the United Arab Emirates have sought to normalise ties after Assad regained control of most of the country.