Qatar asks to hold talks with Saudi-led bloc over alleged “human rights violations”: Qatar has asked the four countries that make up the boycott bloc to hold talks over what it says are “human rights violations committed in the framework of the Gulf crisis,” Bloomberg said, citing a Qatar News Agency report. It was not immediately clear what these violations are, but the country said that the diplomatic and economic embargo initiated by Egypt, Saudi, Bahrain, and the UAE just over a year ago has impacted “a large number of individuals and families.” The four countries had severed ties with Qatar last year, accusing the statelet of funding terrorism.

Qatar’s request prompted head of US Central Command Joseph Votel to call on Gulf countries to “put differences aside and unite against Iranian efforts to destabilise the region,” according to The National.