The U.S. government is to hold direct talks with the Taliban in the next week. The peace negotiations are set to be held at the Taliban's political office in Qatar.

Doha - Al Jazeera reports that the Afghan Taliban are set to open a political office in Qatar a Gulf state. The office will be in Doha and will aim at facilitating peace talks to end the civil strife in Afghanistan.

Kathmandu - A Saudi Arabian woman, Raha Muharrak, 25, was among 64 people who reached the summit of Mount Everest Saturday, having climbed from Nepal's side of the mountain. Muharraq is the first woman from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to reach the summit.

Damascus - Throughout the two year civil war that has raged unabated in Syria, the Obama administration has tried very hard to portray the Free Syrian Army as a revolutionary force of freedom and democracy. However, the actual truth is much more frightening.

New York - Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, whose private investment group owns Manchester City in England's Premier League, is now in the final negotiations to own a franchise of Major League Soccer in Queens, New York.

Baghdad - Iraq's government has ordered the licenses of 10 television channels be suspended because of a rise in sectarian violence. Al-Jazeera TV and Sharqiya are among the channels ordered to be shut down for the time being.

International trade unions have called on the FIFA international soccer body to prevent Qatar from hosting the 2022 due to that country's corruption, scandals and ill-treatment of migrant workers.

Qatar is being accused of slave labor. "To build infrastructure, more workers are likely to die than the 736 players who will participate in the World Cup," said Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation.

The small Arab gulf sheikdom of Qatar has discovered even more natural gas reserves in an offshore gas field to its north.

Hamburg - The German news magazine Der Spiegel says the US is secretly training Syrian rebels in Jordan. This represents a shift in US policy. The US as recently as last week said that it was strictly providing humanitarian and medical aid to Syria's opposition.

Paris - Former England star David Beckham finally made a return to European football this afternoon when it was confirmed that 37 year old Beckham had signed for French Ligue 1 side Paris Saint Germain.

Doha - Greek Prime Minister Anthonis Samaras can claim victory from his investment seeking trip to Doha, as Qatar has announced it will invest up to €1 billion in Greece.

New York - Hours after Al Jazeera finalized a deal to acquire Current TV, Time-Warner Cable pulled the plug on the progressive channel.

After surviving the ongoing civil war in Syria, refugees living in camps at the Syrian-Turkish border are bracing themselves for a killer winter.

Doha - In this amazing video, South Africa's "Bladerunner", Oscar Pistorius took on a new challenge on Wednesday, and it was the horse that came away with a long face.

Rafah - Khaled Mashaal left the West Bank as a child, the leader of Hamas is now exiled in Qatar. While visiting the Gaza Strip, Mashaal kissed the ground, cried, and asked Allah for martyrdom.

Doha - A new report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), says that an area of Arctic sea ice larger that the area of the US melted this year. According to the UN weather agency, the effects of global climate change are playing "before our eyes."

Doha - Janet Jackson has reportedly converted to Islam in order to tie-the-knot with billionaire Qatari fiancé Wissam al-Mana, in a $20 million wedding extravaganza in Doha.

The World Health Organization is prepared to tackle a new challenge thrown up after a new virus related to the deadly SARS had infected a 49-year-old Qatari from a recent trip to Saudi Arabia where another man with an almost identical virus had died.

A SARS-like illness that appears to have started in the Middle East appears to have spread to Denmark. Five patients have been admitted to hospital.