Latest news with #Qatari-owned
ILoveQatar.net
24-07-2025
- Business
- ILoveQatar.net
Doha ranks 5th on the Tax Friendly Cities Index 2025
Global mobility platform Multipolitan has released its Tax Friendly Cities Index 2025, identifying the top cities that foster favourable tax environments backed by stable governance. The index assesses tax friendliness in 164 countries based on three main metrics: Tax Rate Environment, International Tax Accessibility, and Governance Quality. Tax Friendly Cities Index 2025 GCC cities, including Doha, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Kuwait City, stand out as top performers. Doha ranks 5th with a score of 611.9. According to the General Tax Authority, Qatar does not impose personal income tax on employees' salaries, wages, or allowances. Additionally, inheritance, estates, and net wealth are also not taxed. Most foreign businesses are subject to a flat 10% profit tax, whereas local Qatari-owned companies are often exempt from corporate tax.
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First Post
10-07-2025
- Business
- First Post
West Asia News Live: Hamas claims agreement to release 10 hostages amid ceasefire talks
July 10, 2025, 06:31:24 (IST) Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Qatari-owned PSG's club world cup victory highlights sports' role in West Asia geopolitics The victory of Qatari-owned football club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) over Real Madrid in the FIFA Club World Cup semi-final is being framed as a major success for Qatar's soft power strategy, as per a report in Al Jazeera. The 4-0 win, which sends PSG to the final against Chelsea, is seen as bolstering Qatar's international image and influence, similar to its past hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. This development occurs within the context of a wider regional rivalry, where West Asian states like Saudi Arabia and the UAE also use high-profile sports investments to compete for geopolitical standing. The success of PSG, which is owned by Qatar Sports Investments, also brings renewed attention to the debate around 'sportswashing,' where sporting achievements are used to improve a nation's reputation amid scrutiny over human rights issues.
The Hill
09-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
America's Air Force base in Qatar is a liability: Shut it down
Iran's missile attack against the Al Udeid U.S. Air Force base in Qatar reveals an inconvenient fact: The U.S. base there is a military liability. Worse, it is also a political liability, granting Qatar, with its anti-American agenda, too much leverage over U.S. policy. It is time for U.S. forces to move on. Al Udeid was the U.S. military's crown jewel in the Middle East for two decades. Qatar built the base, the largest in the Middle East utilized by the U.S., at a cost of more than $8 billion. Al Udeid serves as the primary logistics hub and epicenter of U.S. air operations throughout the Middle East. During his recent visit, Trump called the base 'incredible' and Qatar 'a great place to have it, right in the middle of the Middle East.' 'Obviously, it's a very important location,' he said. But it is actually in the wrong location. As Iran demonstrated, Al Udeid lies within easy range of its many drones and missiles. That not only makes it extraordinarily vulnerable but also effectively useless in any conflict with Tehran. As our colleague, former Commander of U.S. Central Command Gen. Frank McKenzie, detailed in a report for our organization, the base 'will be rendered unusable by sustained Iranian attack.' Indeed, ahead of last month's U.S. strikes on Iran, most U.S. warplanes stationed at Al Udeid left the base not to participate in that strike (which did not include a single plane flown from Al Udeid) but to keep them safe from Iranian attack. Concern about Al Udeid's vulnerability to Iran has also led the U.S. military to duplicate many of its command functions — such as Combined Air Operations Center — at other bases. But while it is a military liability for the U.S., it is valuable to Qatar as an effective means for convincing American policymakers to ignore its mischief. For two decades, Qatar has been perhaps the second greatest state sponsor of terrorism, behind only Iran. Qatari-owned Al Jazeera has been the premier outlet for radical Islamist ideologues — a font of anti-American, anti-Israeli and antisemitic propaganda. Doha has been a haven for, and funder of, Hamas and other Muslim Brotherhood terrorist affiliates, Al-Nusra Front, the Taliban and al Qaeda, including Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, who helped plan the 9/11 attacks. Nor did Hamas's barbaric Oct. 7 invasion of Israel cause Qatar to reconsider its support. The Qatari Foreign Ministry immediately blamed Israel, the victim, without condemning Hamas. Eulogizing Yahya Sinwar, the architect of that horrendous attack, the Qatari emir's mother posted, 'He will live on and they [Israelis] will be gone.' Qatar has gone to great lengths to whitewash its image, starting with building and maintaining Al Udeid. The perceived importance of this one base contributed to former President Joe Biden naming Qatar a major non-NATO ally in 2022 and extending the U.S. lease for another 10 years in 2024. During Trump's May visit, Qatar announced up to $38 billion in potential additional investments in Al Udeid. But Qatar's influence campaign does not end there. It has shrewdly mediated with bad actors such as Hamas for the U.S., but it is unclear whose interest it has served. Also, it has used its great wealth to influence U.S. policy and education, such as by giving Trump a luxury jet for use as Air Force One, signing of an agreement for $1.2 trillion in 'economic exchange' and spending over the past two decades billions on lobbying, public relations, investments and donations to U.S. think tanks and universities. Enough is enough. In one fell move, the U.S. can further bolster its position against Tehran, protect its forces in the region and wean itself off Qatar's pernicious influence: departing Al Udeid. Operationally, this would not be as big a lift as it might seem. U.S. planes have already left the base; there is no reason for them to return. Crucially, the U.S. has better options in the region. Israel has greater distance from Iran and proven air and missile defense capabilities. With Israel's transfer to U.S. Central Command in 2021, as our organization recommended, U.S. forces could operate region-wide from bases in Israel and be much safer from Iranian projectiles. Western Saudi Arabia provides another option for bases farther away from the Iranian threat, which would still keep Iran's nuclear facilities within range of U.S. aircraft. Al Udeid is a base that is useless for operation against our main regional adversary, no longer performs a unique function, yet is an easy target for attack. Just because Qatar wants to give us a base does not mean we have to use it. Michael Makovsky, a former Pentagon official, is president and CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America. Blaise Misztal is its vice president for policy.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Dubai Sets RWA Milestone With First Approval of Tokenized Money Market Fund
The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) granted regulatory approval to QCD Money Market Fund (QCDT), making it the first tokenized money-market fund with an official set-up in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), according to Qatar National Bank (QNB), while DMZ Finance, the companies behind the fund. The fund's investment strategy and asset origination is led by Qatar National Bank while DMZ Finance provides the technology underpinning its digital architecture, the companies said in a statement shared with CoinDesk. The regulatory approval serves as evidence of Dubai and the Middle East's growing role as a hub for compliant digital asset finance, particularly in the tokenization market. According to a joint report by Ripple and BCG, the global market for tokenized RWAs is projected to surge to $18.9 trillion by 2033, with jurisdictions like Dubai and Doha emerging as early leaders of this transformation. "As the Middle East rapidly emerges as a global hub for financial innovation, the successful deployment of QCDT further consolidates QNB's leadership in the regional financial ecosystem and reflects our long-term vision to shape the next generation of financial infrastructure," Silas Lee, CEO of QNB Singapore, said in the statement. The fund, launched to bring traditional assets, such as U.S. Treasuries, on-chain, aims to serve a broad spectrum of institutional applications, including bank-eligible collateral, stablecoin backing, exchange reserves and Web3 payment infrastructure. With its regulatory compliance, yield stability and on-chain transparency, the backers say they expect it to catalyze adoption across both financial and crypto-native institutions. 'Tokenization of real-world assets is no longer experimental — it is foundational," said Nathan Ma, co-founder and chairman of DMZ Finance. "Our goal at DMZ is to provide the connective tissue between traditional markets and the digital asset ecosystem, particularly in regions ready for innovation.' DMZ Finance is a real-world asset tokenization and stablecoin infrastructure platform. It is among the first cohort of companies admitted to the Qatar Financial Center (QFC's) Digital Lab. DMZ has established a strategic partnership with Qatar National Bank, the largest bank in the Middle East and Africa to jointly advance the integration of asset tokenization into the regional financial system. The QNB Group was established in 1964 as Qatar's first Qatari-owned commercial bank, with 50% ownership held by the Qatar Investment Authority. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
New York Post
01-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Why Trump's ‘Mamdani the Commie' tag will stick — despite the media's cover operation
Zohran Mamdani wants to have his cake — freshly baked at his local government-run grocery store — and eat it, too. The 33-year-old son of a Columbia professor and an acclaimed filmmaker has made the transition from unknown state assemblyman to New York City mayoral frontrunner by riding a wave of enthusiasm for his unapologetic, far-left agenda. But now that he has to close the deal in a general election, he's desperately trying to soften his stances. Advertisement After Mamdani's triumph last week, President Donald Trump marveled 'It's finally happened, the Democrats have crossed the line' — then deemed the political wunderkind a '100% Communist Lunatic.' Mamdani objected to the label during a Sunday morning interview with NBC's Kristen Welker, to whom he insisted he is merely 'fighting' for 'working people.' 'When we talk about my politics, I call myself a democrat socialist,' he added. Advertisement And as a matter of course, the pseudoscientific professional fact-checking industry erected to assist the Democratic Party swung into motion to back him up. 'Accusing Democrats of being communists or communist sympathizers is a frequent misleading attack line by some Republicans. It is a red scare tactic that has existed in US politics for decades,' asserted PolitiFact under the headline 'Zohran Mamdani is favored to win NYC mayoral primary. Claims he's a communist are False.' Rolling Stone slobbered over Mamdani's interview with Welker, lauding him for having confronted 'Trump's misinformation.' Al-Jazeera, the Qatari-owned propaganda factory with a strong interest in Mamdani's success given his virulently anti-Israel views, reprinted PolitiFact's thinly veiled contribution to his campaign. Advertisement Unfortunately for Mamdani and his media allies, there aren't enough semantic tricks in existence to make up for his own damning words. PolitiFact insists that 'Mamdani's platform is not akin to communism, a system of government which calls for government takeover of private property and control of industry.' But in 2020, Mamdani rebuked the Democratic Party for stating that 'the Biden-Harris administration is committed to rebuilding an economy that welcomes everyone as full participants.' He pushed back in response: 'If we want everyone to be full participants in the economy, we need worker ownership of the means of production.' Advertisement In a 2021 address to the Young Democratic Socialists of America that he doubtless now wishes he could erase, Mamdani took off the mask completely — and identified his ''end goal' as 'seizing the means of production.' In other words, he hopes to see the tools and resources used to produce goods and services in America forcibly reallocated to the working class. Just like the Bolsheviks did back in 1917, or the Cubans in 1959. Are we to be impressed that he's not openly calling for the mass murder sanctioned by Lenin or Castro? Is that the supposed distinction between communism and Mamdani's brand of 'democratic socialism'? Keep up with today's most important news Stay up on the very latest with Evening Update. Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters Then again, Mamdani doesn't appear to recognize that distinction when he's not trying to dodge the political traps he's set for himself. After all, he celebrated the anniversary of the Russian Revolution — which gave way to the establishment of the Soviet Union — with approving tweets in both 2023 and 2024. Advertisement And in 2020, he previewed his own mayoral run by posting that the Big Apple needed a mayor like 21-year-old Arya Rajendran, a member of the Communist Party of India, adding a link to a hammer-and-sickle-bearing party account that dubbed her 'comrade.' As if that wasn't enough to make 'Mamdani the Commie' stick, consider: According to Marxist theory, socialism is just a stepping stone on the way to communism. 'Communist society passes through two phases of development: the lower phase known as socialism, and the higher phase known as communism,' explains an archived textbook from the Soviet Union's Academy of Sciences. 'Socialism and communism are two stages of maturity of the new communist form of society.' Advertisement So Mamdani's touting of socialism — even in its supposedly kinder, gentler, democratic form — isn't some kind of rebuttal to the communist charge. It's an admission to it. Democrats in politics and the press know that should he prevail in November, Mamdani will almost automatically become a power player as their party's freshest new face. Advertisement The ascendant, energetic, historically illiterate Democratic base is fully on board with those city-owned grocery stores, still more price controls on rent, free transit and childcare, and a minimum wage of $30 an hour. But the general electorate recognizes Mamdani's agenda as a Great Leap Backward into an amoral, statist society. Mamdani and his Pravda-esque friends in the Fourth Estate want to make that leap while denying ever having left their feet. Isaac Schorr is a staff writer at Mediaite.
