FIFA chiefs will decide today whether to back an expansion of the 2022 World Cup to 48 teams but a final decision will only be taken at a meeting in Paris in June, sources said yesterday. According to AFP, the FIFA Council meeting in Miami today will give its verdict on an internal feasibility study,…

Every so often someone asks me: “What’s your favorite country, other than your own?” I’ve always had the same answer: Taiwan. “Taiwan? Why Taiwan?” people ask. Very simple: Because Taiwan is a barren rock in a typhoon-laden sea with no natural resources to live off of — it even has to import sand and gravel…

Bahrainis head to the polls Saturday, but experts have questioned the value of a parliamentary election in which dissolved opposition groups have been banned from taking part.

Saudi Arabia and key allies have denounced as "biased" a resolution that renewed a UN-backed investigation of alleged war crimes in Yemen, where Riyadh leads a coalition battling Shiite rebels. The condemnation was issued in a joint statement released late Friday by the Riyadh-backed Yemen government, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt.…

Bahrain on Sunday announced it has discovered the largest oil and gas field in the history of the small kingdom, which unlike its Gulf neighbours is not energy-rich.

Bahrain's top military court sentenced six men to death on Monday after convicting them of charges including plotting to assassinate the Gulf state's armed forces chief, state media reported.

Gulf kingdom Bahrain has accused Iran of being behind a pipeline fire that temporarily halted oil supplies from Saudi Arabia, but Tehran rejected the allegation as "childish".

Qatar refuses to bow to Saudi-led demands to "outsource" its foreign policy to resolve the Gulf crisis, its government spokesman told AFP in an interview.

Arab states that have cut ties with Qatar vowed Wednesday to maintain their boycott of the emirate, criticising its "negative" response to their list of demands to end the diplomatic crisis.

Arab states that have cut ties with Qatar meet in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss their next move in the Gulf diplomatic crisis, after Doha said their demands were impossible to meet.

Qatar on Monday demanded neighbouring states lift their "blockade" of the emirate as a pre-condition for crisis talks, even as the United Arab Emirates warned its isolation could last years.

Bahrain Thursday followed the United Arab Emirates in announcing that expressing sympathy for Qatar over sanctions imposed by its Gulf neighbours was an offence punishable by a lengthy jail term.