Gulf

The TV star is passionate about helping young men to get support in their roles as new dads, after losing his own father at a young age

As a father of six kids aged between two and 17, Joe Swash knows a thing or two about parenting. But the TV star says that when he first became a dad, aged 25, he felt “vulnerable, under-prepared” and ignored by society.

And he fears that things might have got even worse since then, which inspired him to make a film to highlight the desperate situation that many young fathers trying to raise their children find themselves in.

Joe, 43, lost his own father when he was just 11 and had no role model to guide him through while he was raising baby Harry, now 17, with his former partner Emma Sophocleous.

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“From what I’ve found, there’s not a lot of support out there for young dads, and if there is some, it’s very, very difficult to find,” says Joe, who now has a large blended family with his wife Stacey Solomon.

“I’ve got six kids that I look after. Being a dad is a really big part of my life. And I remember being so vulnerable, so under-prepared for my first child, not really knowing anything, not really having anywhere to go for some help. My dad wasn’t around. There were no charities geared towards young dads.When I’d go to,a child parent club, it was always going to the mother-child club. I never felt really included.”

Joe’s relationship with Emma broke down just a few months after Harry’s birth and Joe wonders whether the large number of single parent families in the UK could be partly down to the lack of support for young fathers.

“I feel like it’s an area that’s been overlooked,” he explains. “There are lots of absent dads out there and I just want to know whether all of them are absent because they want to be or because there wasn’t enough support for them. If that’s the case then I want to shine a light on that and let people know that there’s got to be something done to make the situation better.”

In his new documentary, Joe meets several young men who are learning on the job and trying to be good dads to their kids. He believes that having positive male role models is not only beneficial for the children – it’s a massive help for men too. Without his own dad to learn from, Joe admits he found the transition into fatherhood really difficult. “I do think it sort of really shaped who I am as a person. You know, not having a dad. I didn’t really know there’d be any issues with it until I’ve got older. I struggle with my identity,” he admits. “What sort of man am I? Am

I expected to be an alpha male? There’s lots of things I struggle with because I never had my dad there.”

One young man in the film is Wyatt, who is currently living separately from his partner and their child because of their circumstances, but is determined to make it work out. Joe says: “I always get this feeling, you now, we should be celebrating people like Wyatt and his partner, because not only are they young but they’re doing a fantastic job and we should be celebrating these positive role models.

“I can definitely feel Wyatt’s pain, you know, because all he wants to do is be with his partner and his child, be a family.”

Looking at the young men who features in the one-off show, he recognises himself in all of them. “I can see a lot of the vulnerabilities in the young men that we met in this documentary because I felt that way,” Joe says. “It’s a real big gulf in your life when you haven’t got a dad or a positive male role model. I remember being young and just craving someone to sort of put their arm around me and look after me, but I never had one.”

Without these types of influences, Joe is concerned that there are plenty of young men who will make the wrong choices or take the wrong path. “That’s the danger,” he reasons. “They’ll fall into places with people that are not positive because they crave just someone looking out for them.”

He’d like teen dads, or those their twenties, to have somewhere to turn for help and advice. “It would help if there was more set up for young dads where they could be around other young dads and they can start the conversation,” he says. “When you first get a baby in your hands, it’s so delicate. You’re so scared of it. The thought of changing a nappy is quite daunting. You know, if you’re not taught it and no one’s showed you it, how are you going to learn it? So I just feel like there’s got to be more places out there for dads wanting to be dads.”

And he points out that the biggest killer of young men is suicide. “We suffer in silence, we don’t open up or talk about our problems. But you put us in a room of other people that are going through the same sort of things, you don’t feel the pressure, you feel open, you want to express yourself. If we can get young dads in the room together, they would know that they’re not the only ones that are feeling these things, that are going through these emotions.

“I got to travel the length and breadth of the country meeting these young dads, listening to their stories, and the whole way along I just kept thinking to myself, ‘we’ve just got to get them talking, you know, open the conversation otherwise everyone’s just suffering in silence.”

Viewers who watch Joe’s film, Forgotten Young Dads, will see that while the group all have their individual struggles, they’re also pretty resilient. After meeting them, Joe feels both inspired and hopeful for the future. “From the time that I spent with them, I think that all of those kids are going to have great dads,” he smiles. “They were all completely hands-on. They’ve done everything from change nappies, feed them and put them to bed. And I just think that is the modern-day alpha male.”

Joe wants young men to realise that being a man isn’t about boozing and bust-ups – it’s about raising your family and getting properly involved in the next generation. “Anyone can go down to the pub and have a fight, or watch the football at the weekend. But not every man can change a nappy, get up in the middle of the night and do all the things that a real dad should do. I was very proud of them.”

– Joe Swash: Forgotten Young Dads, 8pm, Monday 20 October BBC3, Tuesday 21 October BBC1, and iPlayer

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Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has said that there must be a “collective response” to Israel’s attack on the Qatari capital Doha, as Arab leaders rushed to the tiny Gulf nation to express solidarity.

“There is a response that will happen from the region. This response is currently under consultation and discussion with other partners in the region,” he told US media outlet CNN on Wednesday, adding that “the entire Gulf region is at risk”.

“We are hoping for something meaningful that deters Israel from continuing this bullying,” Sheikh Mohammed added, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of leading the region into “chaos”.

“We understand some sort of regional meeting will be held here in Qatar. We know that the countries have pulled together their own legal team. They are looking at all legal avenues to have Netanyahu tried for breaking international law,” Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford said.

“So yeah, the pressure is definitely mounting on Israel, not only from Qatar, but obviously on a regional and a wider international level. And that’s what I think he’s obviously trying to do in giving these very forceful statements to the US network, CNN.”

The Israeli military targeted Hamas leaders in Doha on Tuesday as they were meeting to discuss the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal put forth by US President Donald Trump. At least seven people were killed in the attack, but Hamas said its leadership survived the assassination bid. Qatar says two of its security officers were killed in the attack that has drawn global condemnation.

On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Israel’s attack in a phone call with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. “These strikes are unacceptable. I condemn them. I reaffirmed France’s commitment to the sovereignty and security of Qatar,” he posted on X.

The attack was part of a wider wave of Israeli strikes extending beyond its immediate borders, and marked the sixth country attacked in just 72 hours and the seventh since the start of this year. On Wednesday, Israel killed 35 people in an attack on Yemen.

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group said on Wednesday that Israel’s strike on Qatar is a warning to oil-rich Gulf countries that they would not be spared in the future if armed groups in the region are defeated.

“We are on the side of Qatar that was subjected to an aggression and we also stand with the Palestinian resistance,” Naim Kassem said. He added that the Israeli strike is part of its attempts to create a “Greater Israel” in large parts of the Middle East.

The “Greater Israel” concept supported by ultranationalist Israelis is understood to refer to an expansionist vision that lays claim to the occupied West Bank, Gaza, parts of Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Jordan.

Israel has been accused of committing genocide in Gaza by numerous rights groups, but that has not stopped it from its brutal campaign of bombardment. On Wednesday, Israeli attacks across Gaza killed at least 72 people, taking the total number of Palestinians killed since October 2023 to more than 64,656. Israel has intensified its assault to capture Gaza City – home to more than one million Palestinians.

Sheikh Mohammed, the Qatari prime minister, also said that the Israeli strike was aimed at undermining “any chance of peace” in Gaza.

“Everything about the meeting is very well known to the Israelis and the Americans. It’s not something that we are hiding,” he said of the presence of Hamas officials in Qatar.

“I think that what [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu did yesterday – he just killed any hope for those [Israeli] hostages,” Sheikh Mohammed said about the 20 captives believed to be still alive in Gaza.

Netanyahu appears unfazed

However, Netanyahu appears unfazed by the criticism from global leaders, including the UN secretary-general.

On Wednesday, the Israeli prime minister threatened further attacks on Qatar. “I say to Qatar and all nations who harbour terrorists, you either expel them or you bring them to justice. Because if you don’t, we will,” Netanyahu said.

Qatar has condemned Netanyahu’s “reckless” comments regarding Qatar’s hosting of the Hamas office. “Netanyahu is fully aware that the hosting of the Hamas office took place within the framework of Qatar’s mediation efforts requested by the United States and Israel,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

It also called out “the shameful attempt therein to justify the cowardly attack that targeted Qatari territory, as well as the explicit threats of future violations of state sovereignty”.

Netanyahu’s threats came despite the US President Donald Trump on Tuesday saying no further attacks would happen on Qatari soil.

The attack on Tuesday was the first such attack by Israel on Qatar, which has been a key mediator in ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas and hosts the region’s largest United States military base, Al Udeid airbase, which hosts US troops.

The Qatari prime minister, who is also the foreign minister of the Gulf nation, has dubbed Israel’s targeting of Hamas leaders in Doha on Tuesday “state terrorism”.

“I have no words to express how enraged we are from such an action … we are betrayed,” he said in the interview with the cable network.

Netanyahu “needs to be brought to justice. He’s the one who’s wanted at the International Criminal Court. He broke every international law,” Sheikh Mohammed said, referring to the arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister for war crimes.

Arab states express solidarity with Qatar

Meanwhile, Gulf leaders have visited Doha to rally around Qatar, with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan calling the Israeli action “criminal” and a threat to regional stability.

In a meeting on Wednesday with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha, Sheikh Al Nahyan reaffirmed his country’s “resolute solidarity with Qatar and its steadfast support for all measures taken to safeguard its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the safety of its people”, according to the UAE state media outlet WAM.

“He [Sheikh Al Nahyan] stressed that the criminal attack constituted a violation of Qatar’s sovereignty and of all international laws and norms, warning that such actions threaten the region’s security, stability, and prospects for peace,” WAM added.

The crown princes of Kuwait and Jordan also travelled to Doha on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, will arrive in Doha on Thursday.

“We will stand with the State of Qatar in all measures it takes, without limits, and we will harness all our capabilities for that,” Prince Mohammed said in an address to the Shura Council on Wednesday.

“We reject and condemn the attacks of the Israeli occupation in the region, the latest of which was the brutal aggression against the State of Qatar,” the crown prince added.

“This requires Arab, Islamic, and international action to confront this aggression and to take international measures to stop the occupation authority and deter it from its criminal practices aimed at destabilising the region’s security and stability.”

In a brief interview with reporters on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said he was “not thrilled” about Israel’s strike.

“This was a decision made by [Israeli] Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Still, it remains unclear whether the Trump administration had been caught off guard, whether the US had indicated even tacit approval for such a strike, or if the attack could represent a rupture in Washington’s “ironclad” support for Israel.

Independent Middle East Analyst Adam Shapiro said if the US was not made aware of the attack, it was not “something new”.

“I think this is just simply the way Israel continually acts as the tail wagging the US dog, doing what it wishes, when it wishes, and getting what it wants, according to a double standard,” he told Al Jazeera.

WASHINGTON — President Clinton on Tuesday rejected demands by veterans for an outside agency to take over the Defense Department’s investigation of Persian Gulf War illnesses, instead extending the life of a presidential advisory panel so it can keep watch over the Pentagon’s efforts.

Clinton also endorsed a proposal by Veterans Affairs Secretary Jesse Brown to allow Gulf War veterans more than two years to document their ailments and still qualify for access to VA disability benefits. Some veterans of the war have said that their symptoms did not show up until too late.

The compromise gestures came after the presidential advisory commission, which is made up of a dozen physicians and scientists, issued a report concluding that nerve gas exposure during the 1991 war was unlikely to have caused any of the ailments suffered by veterans.

Although the panel criticized the Pentagon for failing to take the issue seriously until recently, the report said that the Defense Department and the VA have provided good medical care to the veterans and now appear to be investigating the problem in earnest.

Neither the panel’s findings nor Clinton’s decision to ask the group to exercise “oversight” of the Pentagon’s efforts was a surprise. The committee, which studied the issue for 19 months, had signaled its conclusions in a draft report two months ago.

Clinton promised a veterans group Tuesday that, despite some shaky starts, “we will not stop until we have done all we can to care for our Gulf War veterans, to find out why they are sick and to help to make them healthy” again. “We are on the right track,” he asserted.

Nevertheless, Persian Gulf veterans’ organizations were critical of the report, dismissing it as incomplete and calling for another independent study of the issue, possibly by a special prosecutor equipped with subpoena powers.

“We are very disappointed,” said Chris Kornkven, spokesman for the National Gulf War Resource Center, a coalition of 24 veterans groups. He said that the panel had “done a great disservice to . . . veterans of the Gulf War . . . who claim they are sick.”

Separately, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) disclosed the results of a survey of about 2,000 Persian Gulf veterans in Iowa suggesting that they were as much as three times more likely to suffer one or more symptoms than service members who were not in the 1991 war.

However, outside analysts said that the study, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was based on a telephone survey of veterans, without any opportunity for medical officials to confirm their illnesses.

The survey is to be included in a series of studies made public today by the Journal of the American Medical Assn. Officials said that the others, based on a mail survey of 240 naval reservists, would seek to link Gulf War illness to organophosphates exposure.

The advisory committee report did little to resolve the mystery surrounding Gulf War illness. In all, 60,000 of the 697,000 U.S. troops who served in the Gulf War have complained of symptoms ranging from chronic fatigue to muscle aches and memory loss.

The panel’s findings were in line with those of four previous studies of the Gulf War illnesses, by the Pentagon, the veterans’ department, the CDC and the prestigious U.S. Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences.

As has been the case in the other studies, Tuesday’s report concluded that, despite all the research, there is no current evidence that would link the symptoms to the contaminants encountered by soldiers during the U.S. intervention there.

It also discounted as unlikely claims by veterans who say that their ailments were caused by exposure to a variety of chemical contaminants, from oil well fires in Kuwait to pyridostigmine bromide pills, which were given to U.S. soldiers to protect them against chemical weapons.

However, the report urged the government to step up efforts to find out how many U.S. soldiers may have been exposed to nerve agents near Khamisiyah, where troops destroyed an Iraqi weapons bunker just after the war ended. The Pentagon is now investigating.

As it has throughout its 19-month investigation, the committee criticized the Pentagon’s initial handling of the Gulf War issue–particularly its refusal to investigate fully reports that U.S. troops may have been exposed to nerve agents at Khamisiyah.

The 174-page report said that the panel had found “substantial evidence” of low-level exposure to chemical warfare agents at several sites in Iraq and Kuwait and said that the Pentagon’s efforts to explain them so far had been “superficial” and “unlikely to provide credible answers.”

Nevertheless, Joyce C. Lashof, chairwoman of the panel, said that she had found “no evidence of a cover-up,” as many Gulf War veterans have alleged.

The Adam Marine 12 was being transported to a new location when it capsized, leaving 22 injured.

An oil-drilling barge has sunk in the Gulf of Suez, killing at least four crew members and leaving four others unaccounted for.

The Egyptian government said on Wednesday that 22 people were injured when the Adam Marine 12 sank the previous night in the Gebel el-Zeit area in the Gulf of Suez.

The barge was being towed to a new location when it capsized, Egyptian media reported.

Four of the injured people were airlifted to hospital, with 18 others transported by ambulance, Egypt’s Ministry of Health said on social media.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources posted pictures of Minister Karim Badawi visiting survivors in El Gouna hospital in Hurghada on Wednesday, accompanied by Labour Minister Mohammed Jibran and Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafi.

Hanafi said ships from the Egyptian navy joined the search-and-rescue efforts for the missing crewmen.

Gebel el-Zeit is a major Egyptian oil production site about 300km (186 miles) south of the Suez Canal.

During Trump’s tour of Gulf states in May, the US president was eager to talk about the deals he’d made and the investments he’d secured, but do the numbers add up and how many of the agreements touted were actually a result of his visit?

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed to “chart a unified and collective path towards a peaceful, prosperous, and just future”, following their meeting in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

In a world roiled by United States President Donald Trump’s threats of crippling tariffs and rising economic uncertainties, alternative centres of global power were on full display, with the GCC and China attending the ASEAN summit for the group’s inaugural trilateral meeting on Tuesday.

In their joint statement released on Wednesday, the GCC – comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – China, and ASEAN members Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar said they were committed to enhancing economic cooperation.

Chief among that cooperation will be the promotion of free trade, the signatories said, adding they looked “forward to the early completion of the GCC-China Free Trade Agreement negotiations” and the upgrading of the ASEAN-China free trade area.

“We reaffirm our collective resolve to work hand in hand to unleash the full potential of our partnership, and ensure that our cooperation translates into tangible benefits for our peoples and societies,” they said.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim – whose country is currently chair of ASEAN and hosted the summits – told a news conference that the US remains an important market while also noting that ASEAN, the GCC, and China collectively represent a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $24.87 trillion with a total population of about 2.15 billion.

“This collective scale offers vast opportunities to synergise our markets, deepen innovation, and promote cross-regional investment,” Anwar said.

The prime minister went on to dismiss suggestions that the ASEAN bloc of nations was leaning excessively towards China, stressing that the regional grouping remained committed to maintaining balanced engagement with all major powers, including the US.

James Chin, professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania in Australia, told Al Jazeera that the tripartite meeting was particularly important for China, which is being “given a platform where the US is not around”.

ASEAN and the GCC “already view China as a global power”, Chin said.

‘The Gulf is very rich, ASEAN is a tiger, China…’

China’s Premier Li Qiang, who attended the summit, said Beijing was ready to work with the GCC and ASEAN “on the basis of mutual respect and equality”.

China will work with “ASEAN and the GCC to strengthen the alignment of development strategies, increase macro policy coordination, and deepen collaboration on industrial specialisation,” he said.

Former Malaysian ambassador to the US Mohamed Nazri bin Abdul Aziz said China was “quickly filling up the vacuum” in global leadership felt in many countries in the aftermath of Trump’s tariff threats.

The economic future looks bright, Nazri said, for ASEAN, China and the Gulf countries, where economies are experiencing high growth rates while the US and European Union face stagnation.

“The Gulf is very rich, ASEAN is a tiger, China… I cannot even imagine where the future lies,” Nazri said.

Jaideep Singh, an analyst with the Institute of Strategic & International Studies in Malaysia, said ASEAN’s trade with GCC countries has been experiencing rapid growth.

Total trade between ASEAN and the Gulf countries stood at some $63bn as of 2024, making GCC the fifth-largest external trading partner of the regional bloc, while Malaysia’s trade with the GCC grew by 60 percent from 2019 to 2024.

In terms of foreign direct investment, FDI from GCC countries in ASEAN totalled some $5bn as of 2023, of which $1.5bn went to Malaysia alone, Singh said.

However, the US, China, Singapore and the EU still make up the lion’s share of FDI in Malaysian manufacturing and services.

US still ASEAN’s biggest export market

Even as China’s trade with ASEAN grows, economist say, the US still remains a huge market for regional countries.

In early 2024, the US took over China as ASEAN’s largest export market, with 15 percent of the bloc’s exports destined for its markets, up nearly 4 percent since 2018, said Carmelo Ferlito, CEO of the Center for Market Education (CME), a think tank based in Malaysia and Indonesia.

“The US is also the largest source of cumulative foreign direct investment in ASEAN, with total stock reaching nearly $480bn in 2023 – almost double the combined US investments in China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan,” Ferlito said.

Israel’s war on Gaza was also highlighted at the ASEAN-GCC-China meeting on Tuesday.

Delegates condemned attacks against civilians and called for a durable ceasefire and unhindered delivery of fuel, food, essential services, and medicine throughout the Palestinian territory.

Supporting a two-state solution to the conflict, the joint communique also called for the release of captives and arbitrarily-detained people, and an end to the “illegal presence of the State of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory as soon as possible”.

The civil war in Myanmar was also a focus of the talks among ASEAN members at their summit on Tuesday, who called for an extension and expansion of a ceasefire among the warring sides, which was declared following the earthquake that struck the country in March. The ceasefire is due to run out by the end of May. However, human rights groups have documented repeated air attacks by the military regime on the country’s civilian population despite the purported temporary cessation of fighting.

Zachary Abuza, professor of Southeast Asia politics and security issues at the Washington-based National War College, said that while Prime Minister Anwar may be “more proactive” – in his role as ASEAN chair – in wanting to resolve the conflict, Myanmar’s military rulers were “not a good faith actor” in peace talks.

“The military has absolutely no interest in anything resembling a power-sharing agreement,” he said.

Southeast Asian leaders are set to hold their first ever summit with China and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), as they seek to insulate their trade-dependent economies from the effect of steep tariffs from the United States.

The meeting, in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, is taking place on Tuesday, on the second day of the annual summit of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

It follows separate talks between leaders of the ASEAN and the GCC, which comprises of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, opening the ASEAN-GCC summit, said stronger ties between the two blocs would be key to enhancing interregional collaboration, building resilience and securing sustainable prosperity.

“I believe the ASEAN-GCC partnership has never been more important than it is today, as we navigate an increasingly complex global landscape marked by economic uncertainty and geopolitical challenges,” Anwar said.

Malaysia is the current chair of ASEAN, which also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

In written remarks before the meetings, Anwar said “a transition in the geopolitical order is underway” and that “the global trading system is under further strain, with the recent imposition of US unilateral tariffs.”

With protectionism surging, the world is also bearing witness to “multilateralism breaking apart at the seams”, he added.

China calls for stronger ties

China’s Premier Li Qiang, who arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, will join ASEAN and the GCC in their first such meeting on Tuesday. He met with Anwar on Monday and called for expanded trade and investment ties between Beijing, ASEAN and the GCC.

“At a time when unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise and world economic growth is sluggish,” Li said, China, ASEAN and GCC countries “should strengthen coordination and cooperation and jointly uphold open regionalism and true multilateralism”.

China is willing to work with Malaysia to “promote closer economic cooperation among the three parties” and respond to global challenges, Li told Anwar.

ASEAN has maintained a policy of neutrality, engaging both Beijing and Washington, but US President Donald Trump’s threats of sweeping tariffs came as a blow.

Six of the bloc’s members were among the worst hit, with tariffs between 32 percent and 49 percent.

Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs in April for most of the world, and this month struck a similar deal with key rival China, easing trade war tensions.

Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from Kuala Lumpur, said ASEAN members are “very much looking at building ties with other parts of the world, in particular China, but also the Middle East” to strengthen their economic resilience.

“A measure of the importance that the GCC is also placing on this meeting is the delegation that has been sent here and the seniority of its members,” he added. “The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, is here, and we have crown princes from Kuwait and also Bahrain. We also have a deputy prime minister from Oman.”

Anwar said Monday he had also written to Trump to request an ASEAN-US summit this year, showing “we observe seriously the spirit of centrality.” However, his Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said Washington had not yet responded.

‘Timely, calculated’

ASEAN has traditionally served as “a middleman of sorts” between developed economies like the US and China, said Chong Ja Ian from the National University of Singapore (NUS).

“Given the uncertainty and unpredictability associated with economic relations with the United States, ASEAN member states are looking to diversify,” he told the AFP news agency.

“Facilitating exchanges between the Gulf and People’s Republic of China is one aspect of this diversification.”

Malaysia, which opened the bloc’s 46th summit on Monday, is the main force behind the initiative, he said.

China, which has suffered the brunt of Trump’s tariffs, is also looking to shore up its other markets.

Premier Li’s participation is “both timely and calculated”, Khoo Ying Hooi from the University of Malaya told AFP.

“China sees an opportunity here to reinforce its image as a reliable economic partner, especially in the face of Western decoupling efforts.”

Beijing and Washington engaged in an escalating flurry of tit-for-tat levies until a meeting in Switzerland saw an agreement to slash them for 90 days.

Chinese goods still face higher tariffs than most, though.

United States President Donald Trump has signed several economic deals on his visit to the Gulf region.

One of the biggest deals was signed in Qatar, where Boeing secured its largest-ever order of wide-body jets from Qatar Airways.

Doha also promised to invest more than $10bn in the Al Udeid Air Base, one of the US’s biggest military facilities in the world.

Trump says he’s forging a future with the Middle East defined by commerce, not chaos. But could that mean regional stability and security are now taking a back seat?

And how likely is it that the US president would throw US weight behind ending the devastating war in Gaza?

Presenter: Dareen Abughaida

Guests:

Faisal al-Mudahka – Editor-in-chief, Gulf Times

Andreas Krieg – Senior lecturer, King’s College London’s School of Security Studies

Paul Musgrave – Associate professor of government, Georgetown University in Qatar

US president claims he has sealed deals worth $10 trillion during visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE.

President Donald Trump has hailed deepening ties between the United States and the United Arab Emirates and said that the latter will invest $1.4 trillion in the former’s artificial intelligence sector over the next decade.

“I have absolutely no doubt that the relationship will only get bigger and better,” Trump said on Thursday at a meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on the final leg of his three-country tour of the Gulf region that saw him strike a series of lucrative tech, business and military deals that he said amounted to $10 trillion.

Sheikh Mohammed said the UAE remained “committed to working with the United States to advance peace and stability in our region and globally”.

The deal with UAE is expected to enable the Gulf country to build data centres vital to developing artificial intelligence models. The countries did not say which AI chips could be included in UAE data centres. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had earlier been seen in conversation with Sheikh Mohamed and Trump.

The AI agreement “includes the UAE committing to invest in, build, or finance U.S. data centres that are at least as large and as powerful as those in the UAE,” the White House said.

Reporting from Doha in Qatar, Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra said such a deal had been “a national security concern” for Washington in the past. “But then they decided to change their mind under Trump, particularly when the UAE said that it was willing to invest $1.4 trillion,” he said.

Ahelbarra said the deal was a “significant step” for the UAE, positioning it as “the most important player in artificial intelligence, followed by Saudi Arabia”.

Before his departure for the UAE, Trump said in a speech to US troops at the Al Udeid Air Base southwest of Doha in Qatar that defence purchases signed by Qatar on Wednesday were worth $42bn.

Other agreements signed during Trump’s four-day swing through the Gulf include a deal for Qatar Airways to purchase up to 210 Boeing widebody jets, and a commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest $600bn in the US and to buy $142bn worth of US arms.

The tour also brought a flurry of diplomacy, with Trump saying in Qatar on Thursday that the US was getting close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran. On Tuesday, he said the US would remove longstanding sanctions on Syria.

Trump said he would probably return to Washington on Friday, although he said it was “almost destination unknown because they’ll be getting calls ‘Could you be here? Could you be there?’”

Trump had previously hinted that he could stop in Istanbul for talks on the Russia-Ukraine war.

Gaza is starving. As Palestinians mark 77 years since the Nakba, families are still under bombardment, cut off from aid and struggling to survive. With US President Donald Trump touring the Gulf, what will it take to bring relief to Palestinians?

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Boeing has secured a historic deal with Qatar Airways, as part of US President Donald Trump’s regional trade drive. Shares in the largest US aerospace manufacturer rose 2% to a 52-week high on Wednesday following the announcement.

During Trump’s visit to Qatar, the White House revealed that the US president had reached agreements totalling $243.5 billion (€209 bn) with the Gulf state. “The landmark deals celebrated today will drive innovation and prosperity for generations, bolster American manufacturing and technological leadership, and put America on the path to a new Golden Age,” stated the White House.

The deals include a $96bn (€85.8 bn) Boeing aircraft order from Qatar Airways, a record order for the US’s largest exporter.

Following a $600bn (€535bn) investment plan made with Saudi Arabia earlier this week, the US-Qatar agreements further strengthen Washington’s ties with the wealthy Gulf nations. President Trump is set to visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE) later today, with speculation that further Boeing deals may be signed with Emirates, Qatar Airways’ larger regional competitor.

Largest ever Boeing order

Boeing announced that Qatar Airways would purchase 130 787 Dreamliners and 30 777X aircraft, calling the order “a record as the largest widebody order for Boeing, the largest order for 787 Dreamliners, and Qatar Airways’ largest-ever order.” The company claims the deal will support nearly 400,000 jobs in the US. President Trump attended the signing ceremony.

“After two consecutive years of record-breaking commercial performance, and with this historic Boeing aircraft order, we’re not simply chasing scale — we’re building strength that will allow us to continue delivering unmatched products and customer experiences,” said Qatar Airways CEO Engr. Badr Mohammed Al-Meer.

“We thank our Boeing partners for answering the call and look forward to a future of continued smart growth together. Our team is excited to build 787s and 777s for Qatar Airways into the next decade, as they connect more people and businesses around the world with unmatched efficiency and comfort.”

The deal is a major win for Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, who accompanied Trump on the Middle East trip. On Tuesday, Boeing also secured a $4.8bn (€4.3 bn) agreement for 737-8 MAX jets with AviLease, a Saudi Arabia-based aircraft lessor.

Boeing’s 737 MAX passenger airliner had been grounded between 2019 and 2020, and again in 2024, due to ongoing safety and production concerns. The company has remained unprofitable since 2018, with its shares falling to a multi-year low in early April following Trump’s announcement of reciprocal tariffs.

Trump’s efforts to reduce reliance on China’s businesses

China halted orders from Boeing in late April in response to Trump’s tariffs. During an interview with CNBC last month, Ortberg indicated that aircraft initially built for Chinese buyers may be redirected to other customers later this year.

On Tuesday, Trump also finalised an $80bn (€71 bn) artificial intelligence investment plan with Saudi Arabia, which helped fuel rallies in Nvidia and other major tech stocks. Previously, US semiconductor shares had come under pressure amid the escalating US-China trade tensions.

The Trump administration rescinded the AI diffusion rule introduced by former President Joe Biden, which would have taken effect today. However, the Department of Justice said it would rewrite the export curbs on AI chip exports to China. On Wednesday, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced a 90-day suspension on export restrictions targeting 28 US companies, including rare earths and other critical materials, as part of a bilateral agreement reached after trade talks over the weekend.

President Donald Trump’s embrace of Syria’s new leadership, driven by Saudi lobbying, marks a major realignment in regional power dynamics. Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra was in Riyadh, reporting on this historic shift in Middle East geopolitics.

BEIRUT, Lebanon, May 13 (UPI) — The oil-rich Gulf countries, once Lebanon’s main supporters, now are making a cautious comeback after years of disengagement. This shift comes as Hezbollah has been significantly weakened, Iran’s regional influence has declined and a new Lebanese leadership has emerged, promising long-overdue reforms.

Lebanon has long depended on the financial support and investments of Gulf countries, particularly during times of economic hardship and political instability.

For decades, Gulf states — especially Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait — provided crucial aid and direct investments that helped Lebanon reconstruct after the 1975-90 civil war and the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war, sustain its economy and support its banking sector.

However, in recent years, Hezbollah’s dominance, Iran’s expanding influence, and the Lebanese government’s failure to implement reforms prompted Gulf countries to withdraw their support.

The suspension of political and financial backing exacerbated Lebanon’s severe economic crisis, which began in 2019. Strained diplomatic ties further discouraged private investors, and tourism suffered a major blow.

The country was left increasingly isolated at a time when it most needed external assistance.

Change begins

That began to change last September, when Hezbollah suffered significant setbacks during a destructive war with Israel that broke out in support of Gaza in October 2023, and Iran started to lose its “Axis of Resistance.”

With Hezbollah’s influence substantially reduced, a breakthrough in Lebanon’s political deadlock followed. Former army commander Joseph Aoun was elected president and a new government was swiftly formed under Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, a respected jurist.

Aoun and Salam have pledged to disarm all militias, reassert the state’s monopoly on arms and implement long-requested reforms — signals that the Gulf states welcome.

UAE’s decision last week to lift the travel ban and allow its citizens to visit Lebanon was a sign of warming relations and renewed willingness to engage.

On Monday, Kuwait announced that it will facilitate the return of its citizens to Lebanon, although they kept on visiting the country discretely during the past years. Saudi Arabia, which has snubbed Lebanon, may follow suit soon.

Qataris had no issue, as they did not join the Gulf countries in isolating Lebanon in 2021 and have kept on coming, according to an official Lebanese source.

The move to alleviate Gulf travel restrictions came after successive visits by President Aoun to urge Saudi, UAE and Kuwait leaders to help revive tourism in his country for such a move would generate immediate revenues.

A new reality

Aoun was keen to demonstrate that “there is a new reality” in Lebanon, and that there was “no need any more to continue isolating Lebanon and keeping the travel bans,” according to the official source.

The source said the security situation has improved a lot, despite Israel continuing airstrikes on alleged Hezbollah targets mainly in southern Lebanon beyond the Feb. 18 cease-fire deadline.

“These attacks do not threaten the whole country as was the case during the war,” he told UPI.

Lebanon has been experiencing a significant decline in tourist numbers, which dropped to 1.13 million people in December 2024 from 2.1 million in 2018 to due to political instability, security tensions, the ongoing economic crisis and the recent Israel-Hezbollah war.

Tourism revenues, which have been estimated at $5 billion annually in recent years, peaked at $8.6 billion in 2019.

To the Gulf countries, security was the main concern.

At Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport, strict security measures are now in place. New security chiefs have been appointed, advanced tools — including AI-powered systems — have been introduced, several airport staff linked to Hezbollah have been removed and smuggling attempts tied to the group, including a recent effort to move 22 kilograms of gold, have been foiled.

Restoring the image

The road leading to the airport has received a makeover. Hezbollah flags, banners and images of its leaders and Iranian figures were removed as part of a broader campaign targeting all political groups and aimed at restoring the capital’s image and promoting tourism.

Now, large posters welcoming visitors with messages of a “New Era” for Lebanon line the route from the airport.

Even though such steps — unthinkable just months ago — were significant, Saudi Arabia chose to assess the new security measures independently.

“We want things to be back to normal. We are waiting for the Saudis, who want to evaluate the security and political situation before taking a decision,” the official source said.

A Saudi delegation is expected to visit Beirut soon, potentially paving the way for the return of Saudi tourists to Lebanon before the Muslim Al Adha Eid in early June.

The source, however, discounted that the return of the Gulf tourists also was linked to disarming Hezbollah, saying that “the issue of Hezbollah weapons is moving slowly.”

According to Mohanad Hage Ali, an analyst and fellow at the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Center, if the Gulf countries’ re-engagement is “truly linked” to disarming Hezbollah, “it might be a long wait.”

Hage Ali told UPI that the increase in Gulf travel will positively impact Lebanon’s tourism this summer. However, any financial support or investments from the oil-rich countries would require Lebanon to implement necessary reforms, which “are currently stuck in [the Lebanese] parliament, awaiting U.S. pressure.”

Reform is slow

He added that “the reform process is slow and depends on international pressure,” expressing hope that reform laws would pass before summer and allowing for some support, particularly in the energy sector.

That’s why attracting back Arab, especially Gulf, tourists and “gaining their trust again,” became Lebanon’s “high priority,” according to Tourism Minister Laura El-Khazen Lahoud.

“We are working to address all the issues. … We are doing everything we can to ensure that the reforms are adopted,” Lahoud told UPI. “We want to put Lebanon back on track … to make sure that it regains the place it deserves on the international touristic map, but things don’t happen overnight.”

She expressed hope that Saudi Arabia will be encouraged and that other countries will lift their ban one after the other.

“Unfortunately, they have forgotten how beautiful Lebanon is with its rich history, diverse culture and fascinating nature,” she added.