Abyzemen

Once an impoverished British protectorate known mostly for its pearl-diving industry, today Qatar is the richest country on Earth, with over $100,000 US per capita GDP. It is a regional leader in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Peninsula, regularly mediating disputes among nearby nations, and is also home to the Al Jazeera News Network. Modern Qatar is diversifying from a petroleum-based economy, and coming into its own on the world stage. Capital and Largest City Doha, population 1,313,000 Government The government of Qatar is an absolute monarchy, headed by the Al Thani family. The current emir is Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who took power on June 25, 2013. Political parties are banned, and there is no independent legislature in Qatar. The current emir's father promised to hold free parliamentary elections in 2005, but the vote has been postponed indefinitely. Qatar does have a Majlis Al-Shura, which acts only in a consultative...

All 47 people on-board the Air Niugini flight survived after the plane crashed into the sea near the island of Weno in Micronesia. A passenger plane has crashed into the sea after missing the runway of a tiny Pacific island - with everyone on-board surviving. The Boeing 737-800 plane was attempting to land at Chuuk Airport on the remote island of Weno in Micronesia but ditched in a lagoon at about 9.30am local time (12.30am UK time). Images posted online showed dozens of people on boats surrounding the wreckage as they attempted to rescue those on-board the Air Niugini plane. All 36 passengers and 11 crew members escaped without any serious injuries, officials said. Jimmy Emilio, general manager of Chuuk Airport, said the plane landed about 150 yards short of the runway and the cause of the crash was unclear

John Sparks, Africa correspondent If you decided to make a list of post-war spy missions that ultimately failed to achieve their objectives it would be difficult to think of an operation that has been so utterly unsuccessful as the Russian government's attempt to kill Sergei Skripal. Two highly experienced operatives from the Russian military's GRU intelligence division bungled their attempt to assassinate the former double agent and his daughter at their modest red-brick home in Salisbury. Furthermore, the pair managed to expose their movements on passenger manifests, broadcast their physical and facial features courtesy of the UK's extensive system of CCTV cameras and provide enough information about themselves from passport lists that the diggers at Bellingcat and Russia Insider magazine have managed to positively identify one of them. Would-be tourist and early-English gothic architecture fan, Ruslan Boshirov, has come in from the cold after passport data a...

The far-right activist says: "If I believe I'm morally right then I'm not bothered about what your law says. Tommy Robinson has told Sky News he does not care whether his message "incites fear" of Muslims as long as it "prevents children from getting raped". The English Defence League founder spoke about being found guilty of contempt of court in May last year for videoing and expressing views about suspects in a sexual grooming case in Canterbury. He said: "If I believe I'm morally right then I'm not bothered about what your law says." The right-wing activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, says he wanted to warn people about the men on trial in Canterbury because they were on bail and he believed still posed a threat. Image:Robinson told Sky News he does not care whether his message 'incites fear' of Muslims He said: "I believe that forewarned is forearmed. All I wanted to do was get a video of ...