Japan is set to approve its first arms export following relaxation of its self-imposed ban, as the nation aims to boost its global military and economic presence, a report said Sunday.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries plans to export a high-performance sensor to the United States, which will use it in the Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) missile defense system to be exported to Qatar, the Nikkei business daily said without citing sources.
Full StorySunni Muslim religious scholar Yusef al-Qaradawi said on Saturday that the declaration of an Islamic caliphate by jihadists fighting the governments in Syria and Iraq violates sharia law.
Last Sunday, the jihadists declared an "Islamic caliphate" in areas they control in Iraq and Syria and ordered Muslims worldwide to pledge allegiance to their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Full StoryThe leaders of Shiite Iran and Sunni Qatar vowed Sunday to cooperate to fight "terrorism in the region," President Hassan Rouhani's office reported as Iraqi forces counter a militant onslaught.
The pledge to play a "constructive role to establish security and stability" came in a phone call between Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Rouhani, a statement from the Iranian president's office said.
Full StoryAn Al-Jazeera journalist whose jailing triggered global outrage has donated 15,000 Egyptian pounds to a fund initiated by the president to boost Egypt's ailing economy, his brother said on Thursday.
Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, who was sentenced to seven years in jail along with two other Al-Jazeera journalists for allegedly aiding the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood, made the donation to Tahya Misr (Long Live Egypt), an initiative of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Full StoryQatar, facing growing corruption allegations over the 2022 World Cup and a backlash over Islamists it supported, finds itself isolated a year after its young emir acceded to the throne.
But analysts say the gas-rich emirate could bounce back by being "pragmatic" and capitalizing on a legacy of aggressive diplomacy and media clout represented by its Al-Jazeera television network.
Full StoryIsrael's foreign minister said Sunday a final decision has yet to be made on his threat to expel the U.N.'s peace envoy for offering to help transfer Qatari funds to Gaza.
Avigdor Lieberman was reported to have said by Channel Two television that he wants to declare Robert Serry persona non grata and expel him from Israel over the alleged offer.
Full StoryDenmark's largest purpose-built mosque, including the country's first minaret, opens on Thursday in Copenhagen's gritty northwest district after receiving a 150 million kroner (20.1 million euros, $27.2 million) endowment from Qatar.
The longstanding political influence of the anti-immigrant Danish People's Party (DPP), as well as the row over Prophet Mohammed cartoons that led to deadly protests in Muslim countries have strained relations between Denmark's largest religious minority and the majority population.
Full StoryU.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said Tuesday that developments in Iraq, where jihadist-led militants have seized swathes of the country, emphasize the need to combat terror financing.
Lew told a press conference in Jeddah after talks with Saudi counterpart Ibrahim al-Assaf that close cooperation between the two countries "is even more important given our shared concerns about developments in Iraq".
Full StorySaudi Arabia and Qatar have blamed "sectarian" policies by Iraq's Shiite-led government against the Sunni Arab minority for the unrest that has swept the country.
Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia, whose relations with the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have been strained, also warned against foreign intervention in Iraq.
Full StoryQatar's foreign minister has accused Iraq's Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of triggering the unrest that has swept his country through his policies of "marginalization" of the Sunni Arab minority.
Militants spearheaded by powerful jihadist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and joined by supporters of executed dictator Saddam Hussein, have in the past week overrun a large chunk of northern and north-central Iraq, although their advance has since been slowed by a government counter-offensive.
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