Qatar

Qatar Signs Deal With France’s Total and Japan’s Marubeni to Build Solar Power Station

DOHA, Jan 20 (NNN-QNA) – Qatar signed an agreement with France’s Total and Japan’s Marubeni, to build a solar power plant, with a capacity of 800 megawatts, according to Qatar’s energy minister, on Sunday.

“The cost of the project is about 1.7 trillion Qatari riyals (467 million U.S. dollars),” Saad al-Kaabi, who is also chief executive of Qatar Petroleum (QP), told a news conference, in the Qatari capital, Doha.

Qatar further eases restrictions on migrant workers’ exit

DUBAI, Jan 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — QATAR said it had scrapped restrictions on leaving the country for nearly all migrant workers as part of reforms answering accusations of exploitation especially in the run-up to the 2022 World Cup.

The measure removes exit visas for hundreds of thousands of domestic workers left out of earlier reforms – mainly from Asian nations like Nepal, India and the Philippines – whom rights groups said were left open to abuse by being excluded.

Qatar to teach human rights in schools

15 Jan 2019; MEMO: The Qatari National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) and Ministry of Education and Higher Education yesterday launched the guide on human rights on the sidelines of the Doha International Book Fair.

The guide, which will be incorporated into the educational curricula from primary school during the next academic year, covers the right to identity, the right to play, the right to education, the right to health, the right to equality and others.

Mnuchin says trade deal with China to boost global economy

DOHA (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday a “phase one” trade deal between the United States and China was “very good” for global economic growth, and added that the second phase could come in several steps.

The United States and China cooled their trade war on Friday, announcing a “phase one” agreement that reduces some U.S. tariffs in exchange for what U.S. officials said would be a big jump in Chinese purchases of American farm products and other goods.

Malaysian PM again hints he could stay on beyond 2020

Doha, Dec 14 (AFP/PTI) Malaysia's 94-year-old Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad again raised the prospect on Saturday that he could stay in office beyond 2020, declining to give a definitive pledge to step down.

Mahathir returned to power last year after dealing a historic election defeat to the corruption-plagued coalition that he once led and which had been in power for six decades.

Mahathir led Malaysia for more than two decades before his retirement in 2003 which paved the way for the leadership of now disgraced former prime minister Najib Razak.

U.S. sent troops to Saudi Arabia on defensive basis: Mnuchin

DOHA (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday U.S. troops were in Saudi Arabia on a defensive basis only and that the United States would end all sanctions on Iran when Tehran fulfilled necessary conditions.

Mnuchin also told the Doha Forum conference that attacks on Saudi oil facilities, which the United States has blamed on Iran and Tehran has denied - were attacks on the world’s economy.

U.S. sanctions on Iran violate international law: Mahathir

DOHA (Reuters) - The American sanctions imposed on Iran violate the United Nations charter and international law, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told a conference in Qatar on Saturday.

‘’Malaysia does not support the reimposition of the unilateral sanctions by the US against Iran,’’ he told the Doha Forum, also attended by Qatar Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.

Malaysia and other countries have lost a ‘’a big market’’ because of the sanctions on Iran, he said.

Malaysia PM suggests he could stay in office beyond 2020

DOHA (Reuters) - Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad suggested on Saturday he may seek to stay in power after 2020, just four days after he promised to make way for his anointed successor Anwar Ibrahim.

Asked at the Doha Forum in Qatar if he would step down in 2020, the world’s oldest prime minister said he wanted to fix problems that he said had been left by the previous government before resigning.

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