(The most watched TV Channel in the Arab world is being targeted by the Anti-Qatar Block)

The thirteen demands placed by the Saudi coalition to Qatar via Kuwait, included the closure of Al Jazeera and publications and websites "directly or indirectly supported by Qatar". Saudi Arabia and its partners demanded that Qatar must shut down the Doha-based al Jazeera channel and the London-based The New Arab Satellite TV Channel "Alaraby Television Network" which broadcast from London.

According to recent media reports; Press freedom and human rights advocates, journalists and social media users have condemned the outrageous demand by the anti-Qatar alliance to shut Al Jazeera network and other media outlets in Qatar and in London.

Even the UN High Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein has called the demand by a Saudi-led bloc to close Al Jazeera an "unacceptable attack on the right to freedom of expression and opinion".

Afghan News Roundup compiled by Elayne Jude for Great North News Service : Very old ladies, very old street maps, dogs of the fallen, art expo in Doha

In this edition : Taliban office in Qatar, Nip/Tuck by Najibullah, , Afghan Carpets nominated for an award in Germany, Out of the caves : A thousand year old Jewish treasure leaves Afghanistan, Investment up, SMEs down, Red carpet for Buzkashi boys in Hollywood. Compiled by Elayne Jude for Great North News Services

By Anthony Etchells, UKDF Research Associate

 The future is challenging. The Arab Spring has shaken the region, and the UK will have to review and possibly reset its relationships with certain states after new governments have taken power and established ones have made various concessions. Iran seems as determined as ever to realise its nuclear ambitions. Syria's Bashar al-Assad is accused of widespread human rights violations against his citizens, but has shown no willingness to step down; international partners have so far achieved little but rhetoric; al-Assad agreed to a Kofi Annan's peace plan, but it remains to be seen whether he will stick to his word. British troops are still in Afghanistan, with the government aiming to withdraw all combat troops by 2015 to leave behind a strong and stable country. The final US combat troops quit Iraq in December 2012, and since then the country has shown signs of returning to the bombings and sectarianism that marked its darkest days after the 2003 invasion.