Qatar

Qatari sports executives, in a bid to refute calls for depriving Qatar of its 2022 World Cup hosting rights, have asked their human rights and trade union critics, as well as world football body FIFA, to give them more time to address criticism of the Gulf state's kafala or sponsorship system that puts employees at the mercy of their employers.

An Egyptian court will retry Al-Jazeera journalists from February 12, a judicial official said Feb. 8, after an Australian reporter was deported and a Canadian awaits his own deportation.
      

An heir to the trust that sold a celebrated Paul Gauguin painting refused Saturday to reveal the price, which was reported as a record $300 million (265 million euros).
      
The 1892 oil painting "Nafea faa ipoipo?" (When Will You Marry?) was created during a visit by the French post-impressionist master to Tahiti and is considered one of his major works.         

According to verifiable information, a private transaction took place in London, amounting to around 300 million USD. A Paul Gauguin painting was sold. The piece of art is dated 1892 and is titled “Nafea Faa Ipoipo” (“When will you Marry?”)

Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste left Egypt for his native Australia Feb. 1 after serving 400 days in a Cairo prison on charges that included aiding a terrorist group, security officials said. 

BELGRADE - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Rasim Ljajic, who is also the minister of trade, tourism and telecommunications, and Qatar's Charge d'Affaires Ahmed Al Missned Al-Mohannadi discussed the promotion of bilateral relations and announced that the Embassy of Qatar will open in Serbia in February.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Washington should pressure Turkey not to allow money and weapons into northern Syria, accusing Ankara and its president of backing ?terrorists.?

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said US plans to train vetted rebels to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) were "illusory" as they would eventually defect to the jihadists, in an interview published Monday.
      

Turkey's foreign minister was in Doha on Jan. 20 to hold talks with Qatari leaders and put on a united front in the wake of the recent Qatari-Egyptian thaw, which seemed to mark a shift in the long-running foreign policy alignment of both countries.

Politics play in the background each time a national squad enters the pitch during the the 2015 Asian Cup as diplomacy is expanded to cultural diplomacy Kuwait may have scored the first goal against Australia in the opening match of the Asian Cup, but when the match ended 4-1 in favor of the Australian hosts the message was not simply a defeat on the pitch.