Media watchdog: Al Jazeera targeted in Gulf crisis

Jordan on Tuesday closed the Amman office of the Doha-based television news channel [FILE: Reuters]

Reporters Without Borders condemned Arab countries for targeting Al Jazeera Media Network, saying the broadcaster was a "collateral victim of [the] diplomatic offensive against Qatar".

The media rights group slammed Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for closing Al Jazeera's office and revoking its operating licence. Jordan, which has lowered the level of its diplomatic representation in Doha, closed the Amman office of the Doha-based television news channel on Tuesday.

"Closing Al Jazeera’s bureaux is a political decision that amounts to censoring this TV broadcaster," Alexandra El Khazen, the head of the group's Middle East desk, said in a statement.

Egypt extends detention of Al Jazeera journalist by another 45 days

El Khazen singled out Saudi Arabia.

"This violation of the freedom to inform compounds the country's already very bad record on free speech and media freedom. We urge the Saudi authorities to rescind this decision and to let Al Jazeera resume operating," she said.

The decision to close Al Jazeera’s office in the Saudi capital came hours after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates on Monday announced they were severing all ties with Qatar over its alleged support of "extremism".

Egypt quickly followed suit and other countries have also done so in the days since.

Egypt shut down Al Jazeera in 2013 and seized equipment out of its Cairo office. The government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has also locked up Al Jazeera journalists, some for years, including Mahmound Hussein who has spent 169 days in prison.

The countries targeting Qatar have reportedly issued a list of 10 demands, which include shutting down Al Jazeera.

"This is not the first time that Saudi authorities have imposed such restrictions on Al Jazeera's operations… We firmly believe these are unjustified measures," Al Jazeera said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia is ranked 168th out of 180 countries in Reporter Without Border's 2017 World Press Freedom Index.

Questions raised over $110bn arms deal to Saudi Arabia

Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud take part in a signing ceremony in Riyadh last month [Mandel Ngan/AFP]

Washington DC - President Donald Trump's highly touted deal to sell Saudi Arabia $110bn in American weapons is coming under new scrutiny in Washington where politicians are increasingly concerned about the kingdom's conduct of the war in Yemen and, now, the sudden blockade of Qatar.

As details have emerged about the arms sale, it's become clear the $110bn value Trump claimed is exaggerated. The new sales are actually just proposed offers and most of the underlying weapons systems were previously organised under former president Barack Obama.

Congress is poised to vote in coming days on a resolution of disapproval of a portion of the announced deal. US law provides Congress an opportunity to veto arms sales to foreign countries. While Republican lawmakers are likely to support their president, the resolution will draw more than 40 supporters in the Senate, more than previous measures and a sign of trouble for Riyadh.

"The $110 billion is definitely inflated, but it's not zero," said William Hartung, an arms trade analyst at the Center for International Policy in Washington.

US arms sales hit record levels

"It's very hard to evaluate. They haven't been very specific about some of the categories they are talking about," Hartung told Al Jazeera.

What's new is Trump's offer to the Saudis of the US' high-tech THAAD missile defense system, now being deployed in South Korea, and the proposed future sale of 150 Blackhawk combat helicopters, as well as new cyber-warfare capabilities. These are all future propositions, analysts say.

More practically and immediately, Trump is green-lighting sales of precision-guided, air-to-ground missiles that Obama had withheld because of concerns over the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and civilian casualties.

In addition, Trump is moving forward to replenish and expand the Saudi's supply of battle tanks and armoured vehicles, replacing equipment damaged in the Yemen conflict.

"The Saudis are in a war in Yemen and they need weapons. You want to win, you need weapons," Senator John McCain, a Republican, told Al Jazeera. "We are in a war."

Separately, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon both announced major sales in connection with Trump's trip. But "this seems more in the nature of a promise than a finished deal", Hartung said.

READ MORE: Qatar diplomatic crisis: All the latest updates

Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow and foreign policy analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington, published a blog post earlier this week saying Trump's announced weapons deal with the Saudi's was "fake news".

"There is no $110bn deal," Riedel said. "Instead there are a bunch of letters of intent, but not contracts."

About $24bn of the claimed $110bn in Trump's deal are weapons sales that were already in the pipeline, analysts say. Obama had offered the Saudis and other Gulf states new military assistance to gain acquiescence to the Iran nuclear deal in 2015.

Trump attempted to score political points at home with the agreement, announced during his visit to Riyadh, by touting the economic value to US defense contractors. He claimed it would create "many thousands of jobs".

Previously announced sales included more than $7bn in munitions and support for the war in Yemen, $3.5bn in Chinook cargo helicopters, and $1.15bn in tanks and armoured vehicles, according to a fact sheetput out May 20 by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

Trump's Saudi Arabia visit sparks online reaction

"That $110 billion is a mix of old sales and future prospective sales that have not been announced or signed," Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat, told Al Jazeera.

Four US senators led by Murphy are demanding a Senate vote disapproving of that portion of the arms sales related to guided missiles that Obama would not have approved. A companion measure is pending in the House of Representatives.

Citing the suffering of civilians in Yemen's war, US Senator Ben Cardin said on Wednesday he would oppose arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

He noted the "catastrophic" humanitarian crisis with millions of Yemenis on the brink of famine, and hundreds of thousands at risk from a cholera outbreak.

"Given this deplorable context, I am disappointed that we have yet to learn of the administration's strategy to support a political process, or any statement from the administration that more military action in Yemen is counterproductive, will disproportionally affect civilians, and will likely generate conditions for expanded activities by Al Qaeda and Iran, as well as Russian influence. Instead, this administration's approach appears to be more weapons sales," Cardin said in a statement.

With the Saudis' surprise moves against Qatar, positions of senators on Murphy's resolution are "shifting hour to hour", said Trevor Thrall, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a Washington-based think-tank.

"It means something different to vote against this resolution now than it did a few days ago. Now a vote against it looks like it is more of a blank check to Saudi Arabia," Thrall told Al Jazeera.

READ MORE: US and Saudi Arabia sign arms deals worth almost $110bn

Trump's speech to a gathering of Muslim leaders in Riyadh on May 21 was widely interpreted as a signal the new American president would not raise human rights issues. Instead the US will focus on combating "terrorism", for which Trump placed primary blame on Iran in the speech.

Middle East experts in Washington were scrambling to understand what prompted the Saudi move and how Trump's conduct may have encouraged it. Qatar is a US ally and host of a major military air base, the biggest in the Middle East.

"It's possible just his blanket endorsement of the Saudis may have emboldened them to do something they've been wanting to do for a while. And they are certainly hoping to escalate the tensions with Iran. I don't think they thought Qatar was on board with that," Hartung said.

Wreckage and bodies found in Myanmar missing plane search

A number of bodies and wreckage have been found in the search for a plane that went missing off the coast of Myanmar with around 120 people on board.

Rescuers have found 10 bodies, including children, as well as pieces of luggage, safety jackets and a tyre presumed to be from the aircraft's wheel.

A total of 15 children were on board, the military said.

"We have found the plane and some dead bodies this morning..." a spokesman from the military's information team said.

The commander in chief's office confirmed wreckage had been found off the coast of Launglon, in southern Myanmar.

The Chinese-made Y-8F-200 took off from the southern coastal town of Myeik at 1.06pm local time on Wednesday and was heading to Myanmar's largest city, Yangon.

It was on a regular, weekly flight that takes in several coastal towns.

Those on board included 106 soldiers and family members and 14 crew, the military said.

Myanmar's military said it lost contact while flying at 18,000ft over the Andaman Sea, 29 minutes after take-off.

It is monsoon season in Myanmar but there were no reports of stormy weather in the area at the time.

Military aircraft with 120 people on board goes missing off Myanmar

A military aircraft with 120 passengers and crew on board has gone missing off the coast of Myanmar.

The Chinese-made Y-8F-200 took off from the southern coastal town of Myeik at 1.06pm local time on Wednesday and was heading to Myanmar's largest city, Yangon.

It was on a regular, weekly flight that takes in several coastal towns.

Those on board included 106 soldiers and family members and 14 crew, the military said.

Myanmar's military said it lost contact while flying at 18,000ft over the Andaman Sea, 29 minutes after take-off.

A statement on the Facebook page of military commander Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said the plane was believed to have been about 20 miles (32km) to the west of Dawei when it went missing.

Six navy ships and three military planes were mobilised to look for it, with the hunt continuing as darkness fell.

A civil aviation official at Myeik airport, Kyaw Kyaw Htey, said: "We don't know what exactly happened to this plane after the loss of contact," adding that the weather at take-off had been "normal", with good visibility.

The plane, with a maximum capacity of 200, was bought in March 2016 and had 809 flying hours.

There were 2.4 tons of supplies on board, the military said.

Turkey to fast-track troop deployment in Qatar

Turkish officials say decision will be brought forward due to worsening Gulf diplomatic rift [File: Murad Sezer/Reuters]

Turkey's parliament is expected to fast-track on Wednesday a draft bill allowing its troops to be deployed to a Turkish military base in Qatar.

Sources in the Turkish parliament, speaking to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity, said that the decision to deploy troops in Qatar - first made in May - will be brought forward in light of the worsening Gulf diplomatic rift.

Qatar faces embargoes as biggest regional diplomatic crisis in years escalates

Turkey is a key ally of Qatar and is setting up a military base in the country which also hosts the largest US air base in the Middle East.

The Turkish move appears to support the Gulf Arab country as it faces diplomatic and trade isolation from some of the biggest Middle Eastern powers.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain severed relations with Qatar and closed their airspace to commercial flights on Monday, accusing it with financing extremist groups.

Qatar vehemently denies the accusations. It is the worst split between powerful Arab states in decades.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has criticised the Arab states' move, saying isolating Qatar and imposing sanctions will not resolve any problems and adding that Ankara will do everything in its power to help end the crisis.

Turkey has maintained good relations with Qatar as well as several of its Gulf Arab neighbours.
Turkish-Qatari military cooperation

Lawmakers from Erdogan's AK Party have proposed debating two pieces of legislation: allowing Turkish troops to be deployed in Qatar and approving an accord between the two countries on military training cooperation, AKP and nationalist opposition officials said, according to Reuters news agency.

Both draft bills, which were drawn up before the spat between Qatar and its Arab neighbours erupted, are expected to be approved by the Ankara parliament later on Wednesday.

READ MORE: Qatar-Gulf crisis - Your questions answered

Turkey set up a military base in Qatar, its first such installation in the Middle East, as part of an agreement signed in 2014. In 2016 Ahmet Davutoglu, then Turkish prime minister, visited the base where 150 troops have already been stationed, the Turkish daily Hurriyet reported.

In an interview with Reuters in late 2015, Ahmet Demirok, Turkey's ambassador to Qatar at the time, said 3,000 ground troops would eventually be deployed at the base, planned to serve primarily as a venue for joint training exercises.

Twelve dead in suicide attacks on Iran's parliament and Khomeini shrine

Islamic State claims to have carried out twin gun and bomb attacks on Iran's parliament and the shrine of the modern country's founder, Ayatollah Khomeini.

At least 12 people were killed and 42 injured when several gunmen and suicide bombers targeted the two locations in Tehran.

Four attackers at the parliament were killed and the fate of four reported hostages is unclear.

:: Analysis - Islamic State is plotting to spread terror into the streets of Iran

Image:Iranian forces could be seen taking cover in central Tehran

One of the assailants is believed to have blown himself up on the fourth floor.

Photos showed people climbing down from exterior windows of the building as they tried to escape.

Iranian security forces were seen hiding behind bollards and running for shelter carrying guns.

Image:Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini pictured in 1979. He died 10 years later

A 24-second video released by Islamic State's Amaq news agency while the siege was ongoing purported to have been filmed inside the parliament building.

It showed a gunman and the bloody, lifeless body of a man lying on the ground.

A voice on the video praises God in Arabic and says: "Do you think we will leave? We will remain! God willing."

An interior ministry official said the attackers had been dressed as women and gained access through a visitors' entrance.

Image:The mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was targeted

At the same time as the parliament siege, two militants attacked the mausoleum of the country's venerated revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini, in the south of the city.

A gardener was killed and several others were injured when one exploded a suicide vest. The other attacker was shot dead.

Iran, an ally of Syria's Bashar al Assad, backs Shia militia that are waging war on IS militants in both Iraq and Syria.

Image:Members of Iranian forces take cover during an attack on the Iranian parliament

IS, a Sunni organisation, has been losing ground in both countries.

Iran's leaders sought to play down the attacks, with neither President Hassan Rouhani nor supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei commenting by early evening.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed the attack was linked to the meeting between Saudi Arabian leaders - who they regard as enemies - and Donald Trump.

Image:Iranian MPs attempt to continue their session amid a terror attack on their building

A statement published by the Guards said: "This terrorist attack happened only a week after the meeting between the US president (Donald Trump) and the (Saudi) backward leaders who support terrorists.

"The fact that Islamic State has claimed responsibility proves that they were involved in the brutal attack."

Some members of parliament attempted to show they were undeterred by posting selfies of themselves in the chamber as regular business continued, despite the ladders that were brought in to help staff escape.

Hawaii defies Donald Trump by backing Paris climate change deal

Hawaii has become the first US state to formally adopt pledges in the Paris Agreement to drastically tackle climate change.

The volcanic island state's Governor David Ige has signed two landmark laws supporting "the commitments and goals" of the accord.

It makes Hawaii the first state to defy President Donald Trump, who pulled the US out of the treatysigned by 148 other countries.

The first law to come into force is Senate Bill 559, which states that "not only is climate change real, but it is the overriding challenge of the 21st century".

The bill continues: "Regardless of federal action, the legislature supports the goals of the Paris Agreement to combat climate change and its effects on environments, economies, and communities around the world."

Image:Donald Trump says the Paris Agreement helped China but hindered the US

It commits Hawaii to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by publishing emission contribution levels every five years, promoting "environmental integrity", conserving forests, wetlands and nature preserves and incentivising companies to be more carbon-neutral

The second law, House Bill 1578, commits to creating a certification scheme for farmers that measures and promotes carbon-neutrality.

A task force will be created to set up the scheme and advise on "climate resiliency".

Mr Trump, who had previously dismissed climate change as a hoax, had declared he would fulfil a campaign commitment to withdraw from the UN-brokered Paris Agreement because it "disadvantaged" his country.

He claimed it would cost the US $3tn (£2.3tn) and more than 6 million jobs.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the move was "extremely regrettable", while French President Emmanuel Macron urged people to "make our planet great again".

In the US, former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said: "One man cannot destroy our progress. One man can't stop our clean energy revolution."

Eleven other states that account for more than a third of US GDP have made pledges to follow suit.

They are able to fight Mr Trump's plans because energy policy in the US is shared between national, state and local government.

President Obama faced a similar struggle when trying to impose stricter greenhouse gas emissions limits during his administration.

This is not the first time Hawaii has waived national policy pursued by Mr Trump.

In March, a Hawaiian judge indefinitely suspended the President's "travel ban" on seven Mulism-majority countries.