Qatar

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.

30 May 2021; MEMO: 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, reports Reuters.

30 May 2021; MEMO: Qatar has held several rounds of talks with the United Arab Emirates to mend fences following an agreement to end an inter-Arab feud and there is a "positive vision" to overcome differences, the Qatari foreign minister said, reports Reuters.

29 May 2021; MEMO: Repeated Israeli provocations might end the ceasefire in Gaza, Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told Al Araby TV.

He reiterated that the Palestinian factions did not offer any concessions to the Israeli occupation in return for the ceasefire, pointing to his country's role in reaching the ceasefire, noting that several initiatives were proposed but met with Israeli arrogance.

26 May 2021; MEMO: Qatar National Bank [QNB] announced yesterday that it has sacked the country's former Finance Minister Ali Shareef Al-Emadi from its board of directors following his arrest earlier this month over fraud allegations, Reuters reported.

24 May 2021; MEMO: Chief of Hamas' Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh yesterday thanked Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani for his continuous support for Palestine and the Palestinian people, a statement issued by the movement said.

07 May 2021; MEMO: The Prosecutor's Office in Qatar has announced that it has ordered the arrest of finance minister Ali Sharif Al-Emadi on corruption charges. The move was made public in a brief statement issued by the official Qatar News Agency (QNA).

23 Apr 2021; MEMO: Qatar's Chief of Staff Ghanem Bin Shaheen Al Ghanem yesterday met with the president of Defense Industries of the Turkish Republic in the Qatari capital of Doha to discuss mutual cooperation.

The Qatari Defence Ministry said that the meeting discussed issues of common interest between the two countries, as well as prospects for cooperation between the armed forces and the institution, and ways to enhance them.

12 Apr 2021; MEMO: Qatar has begun distributing $100 to 100,000 poor Palestinian families in the besieged Gaza Strip, Qatar's Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza said yesterday.

Palestinians went to the government banks to receive the aid.

On Thursday, the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza said it would pay $100 each to 100,000 poor Palestinian families in the Gaza Strip.