Qatar

Prime Minister eyes more Tongans for work in Qatar and surrounding countries

Hu'akavameiliku said both Fiji and Samoa have a lot of workers who are making their living in the country and neighbouring nations.

The Prime Minister is in Doha attending the Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5),  

 

Photo PM Press 

Qatar 2022 on the brink of becoming Lionel Messi's World Cup

Just like Diego Maradona stamped himself indelibly on Argentina's 1986 win in Mexico and Brazil striker Ronaldo wrote a redemption story in Yokohama in their 2002 triumph, this will be known as Messi's World Cup if he inspires victory against either France or Morocco in the final.

Argentina's campaign in Qatar opened with the ignominy of what is still this World Cup's biggest shock, when they lost to Saudi Arabia.

Cook Islands football will head to Qatar

The national team was scheduled to play Tonga in the qualifiers match for a place in the group stage of the competition.

The Cook Islands will now get a chance to play against Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Vanuatu.

     

Match schedule set for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ OFC preliminary competition

The tournament will determine which nation will represent Oceania in the FIFA intercontinental play-off in June 2022, from which the winner earns a spot at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ finals.  

A standalone match between the two lowest-ranked OFC nations, Tonga and the Cook Islands, will be held on March 13 to determine who qualifies through to join Group A and contest the preliminary competition. 

Group A, which will be made up of the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tahiti and the qualifying match winner, will have its first Match Day on March 17. 

Oceania FIFA World Cup qualifiers set for early next year

The Oceania Football Confederation confirmed all matches will take place in Qatar from 14 to 30 March 2022.

The OFC qualifiers will be played in a mini-tournament format featuring eight teams, consisting of a round-robin group stage, semi-finals and the final.

Australian women sue over Qatar airport strip-searches

The women were ordered off a flight and checked for whether they had given birth after a baby was found in a bin at Hamad Airport in October 2020.

They described their experience as state-sanctioned assault and the incident sparked widespread outrage.

Qatar later apologised and one airport official was handed a suspended jail sentence.

But the women say their cases have since been ignored.

They were taken off the Qatar Airways plane by armed guards before being taken into ambulances on the tarmac where they were inspected by nurses.

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Qatar and Turkey become Taliban's lifeline to the outside world

But militancy alone is likely to leave the Taliban on its own - globally isolated, with millions of Afghans facing an even more uncertain future.

The world's powers are now scrambling to exert influence amid the return of the country's Islamist rulers. And in the process two nations from the Arab and Muslim world have been emerging as key mediators and facilitators - Qatar and Turkey.

David Beckham has reportedly signed a deal to become an ambassador for Qatar

  He went on to represent Real Madrid, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and LA Galaxy where his world-renowned brand exploded before eventually retiring and venturing into club ownership with MLS franchise Inter Miami.

With a current net worth of an estimated £360m (R7.4-billion), Beckham has now reportedly agreed to lead a role to promote the nation with a key influence of the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Qatar to prosecute officials over forced exams of women at airport

The group - which included women from Australia, the UK and New Zealand - was checked for evidence they had recently given birth after a baby was found in a bin at Doha airport on 2 October.

New Zealand's foreign ministry called the actions of Qatari authorities "appalling" and "completely unacceptable".

Qatar's government said today that "standard procedures were violated". It also offered its "sincerest apology" for what the women went through.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne called the referrals for prosecution an "important step".

Qatar buys 24 Eurofighter Typhoon jets in £6bn deal

BAE Systems employs about 5,000 people in the UK to build the fighter jets, mainly at Warton in Lancashire.

Qatar's purchase of 24 jets includes a support and training package from BAE, with deliveries due to start in 2022.

The deal was announced in Doha by Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson and his Qatari counterpart, Khalid bin Mohammed al Attiyah.

Mr Williamson said it was a "massive vote of confidence, supporting thousands of British jobs and injecting billions into our economy".