you operate out of qatar, you are completely funded by the qatar government.there is no comparison between some of your present enemies such as saudi arabia, egypt and the government of qatar. i would put to use a precise opposite. look at the most recent reports from amnesty international and human rights watch. they said qatar is no more a democracy than the other gulf countries. the amnesty international report said qatar authorities continue to unduly restrict the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly. when it comes to the media, in december 2016, an independent news service in doha was blocked from all of its internet service providers. you try and justify that to me, and tell me that qatar is fundamentally different from the other occupants of your region. i am not telling you that qatar is a democratic country yet. i think there have been a lot of good developments in qatar. in so many respects. we believe it is coming, the full democracy. there are now study is going on in order to allow the journalists in qatar deunionise, the same

qatar is besieged...to be a bit careful with all this talk, because the potential of instability, it is absolutely huge. there is no guarantee whatsoever, and this is perhaps what the saudis have to think about, that the population of qatar is going to support a prince that is a stooge of the saudis. it is likely that actually the actual population will support the current emir. but the other aspect of all of this is what are the original implications of this instability. we have on one hand, qatar being supported by turkey, iran, there is a strengthening of the relationship with iran. and israel is on the side more or less of the saudis, but there were previous relationships with qatar, so it is hugely complicated the potential for instability. the short—term effect has been to drive qatar closer into the arms of iran, restoring full diplomatic relations just this week. i wonder, had president trump's visit to saudi arabia not given such explicit encouragement to this action, whether we might not... i be

arises around qatar qatar is directly i mean. to be a supporter of. a group. the fueling terrorism and this crisis is not between qatar and start with the third and fourth major countries in the east including egypt which is center of gravity of the award in that he ok kill i mean how carrying divine how real is it in how is it being used as a political tool i mean if you look at syria for example a secular society. certainly ruled by iron hand but they did did not have that kind of sectarian divide and now it is important to them i mean it seems to me that washington is picked to sunni's israel is overjoyed because it wants to see the sunni and shia fight and it gives them a breathing room and actually to expand i'm thinking of golan heights it seems to me it's a political tool the sectarianism it is it it isn't innate in the populations of the country because we always began with these are royal families these are dictatorships and then there are people here not necessarily states go ahead joe that's a good question first i agree with sam about iran not bein

it is not only qatar.ousef: let's cross to the other side of the story in terms of the earnings season and what we are seeing across the gcc. you alluded to that just now. it is all companies reported. we can take stock. it wasn't a great quarter by any means. the right column is the earnings growth. no growth across all sectors for this list of companies. i find this particularly fascinating, you highlight the fact that there are some key lessons to be drawn this order -- this quarter. when you look at countries like union properties, like markup coming up with re-evaluations in terms of some of those assets, what is the key warning signal with the impact on an economy not going as fast as it used to? guest: the idea is that we see a , and the light is only being shed on income statements. the bottom line in general. little attention is being given to the cashless statements. sheets had intangible assets. gains haveuations you have flexibility in terms of accounting standards. the market was slowing down.

qatar is besieged...t careful with all this talk, because the potential of instability, it is absolutely huge. there is no guarantee whatsoever, at least perhaps what the saudis have to dig about, that the population of qatar is going to support it brings that is going to support it brings that isa is going to support it brings that is a stooge of the saudis. it is likely that actually the actual population will support the current in the year. on the other aspect of all of this is the original implications... of this instability. we have on one hand qatar being supported by turkey, iran, there is a strengthening of the relationship with iran. and israel is on the side more or less of the saudis, but there were previous relationships with qatar, so it is cutely contradicted the potential for instability. be sure effect has driven qatar closer into the arms of restoring diplomatic relations... i wonder, had presidentjohn's diplomatic relations... i wonder, had president john's visit to saudi arabia not giv

is a small desk for qatar for the past -- this is qatar for the past 20 years.lashy asset buying. some of that has states in global companies. again, seen as a statement to build qatar's soft power. sometimes it backfired. in this deal we saw the potential of it when lolita -- in spain said this violates financial fair play. this will make the transfer market, which are already high, even more crazy. it has not always been working well for them. tracy: one assumes if it does go through, it means that those rules don't have much teeth at all. asset buyingatar's abroad, do those always pay off? how do we judge the success of those purchases if we are talking about soft power and reputation? reporter: treated not disclose any of its returns -- they did not disclose any of its returns. we saw a year or so ago when glencore shares started plummeting, people were pointing the finger at investment. then it were, so it is very difficult to put a number on it. obviously if we are the q ia now, people are wondering, if qatar needs the money and if q ia's assets are tied u

qatar shows the weight.. ♪ ♪ yousef: welcome back to the "best of bloomberg markets: middle east." the brazilian soccer star's transfer is a milestone for the french club. it is also seen as a political statement by its wealthy owner, qatar, the latest in a series of headline grabbing deals by qatar since june, when a saudi led alliance cut ties with the nation in a diplomatic dispute. we get more on the story. reporter: seem as, in need to show everyone that life is normal despite the blockade and saudi boycott, they meet that. this is the headline number. this excludes neymar's wages. some reports put the total value of the deal at $600 million. perspective, last year, manchester united had the world record, signing for a little over $100 million. that is more than double the previous deal. tracy: what do you think qatar is trying to achieve through this? reporter: you could argue that this deal was in the making before. same thing with the f-16s from the u.s. and the italian navy warships. it is being see

does not preclude qatar sovereign right to make its own decisions and they're going to. egypt's over that it's also that should not be in question can i ask you one question on that because a few years ago turkey was very infatuated with this idea of. zero problems with neighbors the turks saw themselves as very. political brokers who are. committed to no one but they're saying that national interest instrumental to all and i think it's very similar to how it to have formulated its foreign policy a few years ago for seeing its national interest but not being beholden to anyone has anything changed since then because you seem to be throwing your lot firmly with the. camp in a very divisive dispute and it's divisive from your characterization of small devices from ours that it's is a matter of protecting our national interests and the lives of our citizens and that is not an issue that should be any point to question this is if anything the issue of sovereignty in itself. egypt continues to apply its foreign policy on the basis of principles on the basis of moral principle

could it be regime change in the gulf state of qatar?y guests, henry chu, international editor of variety, writer and broadcaster isabel hilton, editor of china dialogue, portuguese writer eunice goes, and abdel bari atwan, an authority on arab affairs. a warm work you all. british laws made by britishjudges, one of the themes that many in the league campaign campaign upon. but something it appears easy to free ourselves from the european court of justice. after the summer break, they will be a series of papers to absorb from the british team, including immigration, the irish border and that court. have the europeans been impressed 7 border and that court. have the europeans been impressed? they have been optimistic about the sudden outbreak of realism from the british government. the on other hand these petition papers were very strange. these were edition papers without decisions, they were just scenarios. the british government has no position. but there were some signs of realism in that the british government is ready to continue to

obvious explicit anomie why is it different with qatar why did those differences have to be brought out into the open rather than being resolved quietly diplomatic. behind closed doors well this has been outstanding for maybe two decades now and i think that the real good security that has been generated the degree of direct impact the loss of life in the region a. direct threat to the stability of the country whether individually or collectively the general out of national security as water into the more direct and more impactful managed to deal with this issue this issues cannot be disassociated from the harboring of terrorism the. providing resources to terrorist organizations and this is a phenomena that has impacted a lot of countries among them russia. if we are serious we must. difficult questions how are these terrorists operating who are they receiving their funds how are they receiving the weaponry how are they sustaining activities of this heinous nature such as to be perpetrated in barcelona in finland and in other western european russia in egypt and elsewhere you mentioned

the uss remains a of qatar's independence. important to qatar's independence.to avoid irritating americans. >> is it more about signaling something to saudi arabia? >> certainly. they want to say look, we will not just comply with your demands. we have an independent foreign policy, we will pursue our own interest. iran is an important neighbor for us. there and economic asset. they've always been pragmatic about retaining good ties with iran while bouncing that relationship with other relationships. >> iran can be a potential supplier for them -- the previously said they were importing from saudi's. these to maintain ties and iran -- and supplies. >> certainly in light of the new economic and trading there, turkey, iran, pakistan. everyone who will replace those supplies are coming in from other places that they will look at. they will be sure to keep those relationship -- relations in a certain framework, focused on some type of larger view alignment. i want to ask you about another thing of qatari news coming out last week. that's the talk of this shake, who

in some respects it's a more defined and more ambitious power than qatar so even if qatari yields your demands do you think turkey will be ok with that i think these are two separate issues and they shouldn't be confused. is another country it is a part of the g.c.c. it is a part of the arab league and this share of the global community right there are so c. asians that i think. the demonstration of. more relevant. threat of the police or more centralized two countries existence its regional association and its. does not preclude cathars sovereign right to make its own decisions and they're going to. egypt's over it's also the should not be in question can i ask you one question on that because a few years ago turkey was very infatuated with this idea of. zero problems with neighbors the turks saw themselves as very. political brokers who are. committed to no one but they're saying that national interest instrumental to all and i think it's very similar to how it to have formulated its foreign policy a few years ago pursuing its national interest but not being beholden to anyone has an

tracy: let's switch over to qatar.s been two months since we seem -- we have seen the embargo get off the ground. walk us through your thinking. jean-paul: i have a contrarian take for the long-term. for the short term, i thought qatar would be relatively isolated from what is going on because of the structure of its economy, but that does not mean i'm you. it will be impacted by what is going on. we don't have a lot of data on the qatari economy in terms of monthly data availability. you look at things like the value of cleared checks. those collapsed in june. you'll get monetary data, that is not been great. q2 results were not showing signs of strength. their economy in 2017 will probably post zero or even negative growth. the long-term is what i think we should be concerned about. the reason i am more optimistic on the long-term is because the crisis creates a sense of urgency for reform. we've seen reform in terms of allowing foreigners to have residency, we have seen tourism these a liberalization. the most impor

everything and qatar is becoming more expensive. the shipments the world cup, that is adding extra cost and time. ,s they run through the reserve the currency reserves, they're worried about that depletion taking hold and becoming more of a problem further in the year. really, it is mostly about ensuring they have access to funding from outside while the government continues to hold on to its cash. tracy: let's talk about the current liquidity situation. you can see behind us, i put up a chart of the qatari central bank three-month rate, the interbank lending rate for qatar at the moment. since june, it has searched, but it came back a little bit. what are you hearing in terms of? the overall funding picture -- in terms of the overall funding picture? qatar's banking pre-much going to asia, mostly. they're looking at how they can raise the funding. loans private placement, come anyway they can get funding from outside the region. gulf.er, they lost the most of the region was a big funding source and suddenly they cannot go to saudi

the financial stability of qatar is a given in the long—term.e very, very minimal. what about foreign deposit, though? they have fallen sharply, in fact, the most in almost two years. that must have an impact on your business. yes. there isa drain impact on your business. yes. there is a drain on deposits. there are knee—jerk reactions. this is unheard of. it has destabilised things in terms of those deposits. that is locally. look at the demographics. and also, the outflow is $6 billion which is insignificant compared to the net assets qatar has got. yes, it is drained, but it is not significant. $6 billion is outflow. they have to mobilise short—term liquidity. that is precisely what happened. japan's agriculture industry is facing an acute shortage. the number of farmers has fallen 20% in the last decade. the country is having to rely heavily on imports of food. that is why governments in japan are imports of food. that is why governments injapan are trying to encourage start—ups. i met a 28—year—old entrepreneur who has taken a huge pay cut

tracy: what you think qatar is trying to achieve?ue the deal has been making before. the same deal with the f-16s from the u.s. and the italian navy warships, but it is being say, like is we proceeding normally despite the boycott. it has not stopped any of their international business in qatar. it is seen as a political statement. much-needed publicity. that is how it is interpreted. we spoke to a few people in the sports business industry and they said there is no way this figure makes sense from it bernanke -- from a financial perspective. anything thatnd has been done before. simon i like the wake cooper over at the financial times put it. he said it was like a rich it is auying a call so, signaling effect, about soft power. alaa: exactly, this is been a hallmark of qatar for the past 20 years. it is a small country with immense wealth. it has zero networks to boost its influence. it has been supporting political theps in the region, to dismay of saudi arabia and uae, because the groups are not in the same camp with them. it has

when he did mention this isn't the first time this week and the foreign ministers of qatar and saudi arabia exchanged blows over the two holiest cities in islam mecca and medina. the kingdom of saudi arabia considers any requests to internationalize the holy sites as an act of aggression and a declaration of war against the kingdom and the kingdom reserves the right to respond to any policy working in this regards but in this. business but in a cult there never politicized the issue. it was saudi arabia trying to politicize the hard pilgrimage a mythical crisis there's been no suggestion by any kathuria official about internationalizing the issue looks like another fake coming from the saudis but see what really happened the saudi arabia put in place certain travel conditions for qatari citizens making rather uncomfortable to visit the sacred sites in response qatar took its complaints to the un and all this bickering and fighting started the way back in may when a controversial article was published on a news agency website which led to a very negative reaction by the saudis and the

the gulf news hints that the transfer could be more about politics and the 2022 qatar world cup.n business news, the dowjones soars past 22,000 for the first time. the coverage in the times highlights that shares in apple also hit a record high yesterday, defying wall street expectations on its quarterly results. dominating front pages in the uk, a hats off to prince philip. the duke retires after 65 years of service and more than 22,000 official engagements. the daily telegraph writes "prince philip is deserving of the nation's gratitude." and, it would've been a flight from hell, but a courageous ukranian pilot gets the front of the straits times. he's been awarded a medal of courage after safely landing a plane despite a smashed windscreen and low visibility following a freak storm in turkey last week. so let's begin. with us is henry bonsu, a broadcaster and international conference host. good to see you. good morning to you both. let's start with the gene breakthrough. this is quite remarkable. it is remarkable. in a new cycle, we hear about medical interventions that will c

qatar never politicized the issue. it was saudi arabia. trying to politicize the pilgrimage a mythical crisis there's been no suggestion by any cattery official about internationalizing the issue looks like another fake coming from the saudis but see what really happened the saudi arabia put in place certain travel conditions for qatari citizens making rather uncomfortable to visit the sacred sites in response qatar took its complaints to the un and all this bickering and fighting started way back in may when a controversial article was published on a news agency website which led to a very negative reaction by the saudis and they are our allies but you are you to mention or you probably guessed it yes as it was also a planted fake article and qatari officials seem to have identified the possible perpetrator. it's our authorities there already identified the initiators leaders and executed of this computer it's not like all the evidence we have available points to the u a e this is irrefutable evidence we did not expect this needless to sa

it's good for qatar, because they are making a statement and people will start talking about qatar andtalking about qatar and dump macro in a sort of positive manner and the focus is on them. —— in a sort of positive manner and the focus is on them. -- qatar and psg. they are getting an astronomical amount of money for a player, as many would see it. no other team is capable of doing this, not even big teams in the uk can spend over £400 million on a player. everyone will ask some of the questions about financialfair ask some of the questions about financial fair play. but qatar are involved with psg. they have been involved with psg. they have been involved in barcelona, say they will make this work. football agent sky andrew talking before the deal was finalised. kieran maguire explaining the case paris saint germain may put forward psg top justify spending so much money have deals with commercial companies for neymar. and also funding his contract. look at him at the product “ asa contract. look at him at the product —— as a product, neymar has 170 million followers on instagram, tw

this isn't really a good and for qatar's relationships with the gulf.in terms of the impact we are seeing, what kind of disruption are we now experiencing in qatar? what is it like? what kind of trade disruption are we seeing? let me just say, there is a reason article 21 doesn't tend to get cited often and that is because of a fear of tit-for-tat retaliation. you cite trade measures, eyesight security interest and similar measures, that is not an issue for qatar and the reason it doesn't apply to this particular situation is because qatar imports so many of its goods, including the vast majority of its food supply. we have seen qatar very much struggling in the face of this, even though it has brought in some additional goods from its allies iran and turkey, it has also rerouted shipments. nonetheless, you have seen on the ground impact. going up, that could feed into inflation and the rest of the economy. numbers we saw last week show that imports to qatar fortune actually dropped by a pretty compared to the same month in 2016. we're certainly seeing

qatar said investing in the us carrier no longer meets its objectives.it was first disclosed. strong earnings from corporate america, including apple's latest results, since the blue—chip index and the dow to a new all—time high. it climbed past 22,000 mark, marking its sixth straight record close. earlier, i asked sarah hussein how long the rally could last. that is the big question. there are lots of worries about whether or not the market is becoming too hot, and if we are due for some sort of correction. most people believe there is going to be some sort of correction but of course you can never really tell when this might happen. lots of people are also wondering how much of this is being attributed to president trump and some of the policies that he has put through. from wall street's respective, they have really shrugged off the fact that, you know, president trump has not been able to achieve a lot of the legislative goals he wanted to. for example, reforming the tax code or getting through a big infrastructure spending bill. wall street has larg

and watch out for industries qatar as well, that will be a key one, one of the largest companies in qatar will be interesting to see what comes out with that. that's only have for this edition. >> "daybreak europe" is next along with other headlines and a breakdown of the market. this is bloomberg. ♪ >> the great unwind. said president bullard and kashkari say they are ready to shrink the balance sheets, playing down the risk of market disruption. mind the gap. china's trade surplus widens for the fifth month of july as the president trump continues his tough talks on commerce. consumers debt. south africa lawmakers hold a secret no-confidence vote on the president. the model, those price securities in kenya as pulling is underway. polling is underway. ♪

simone del rosario reports on the deepening rift between qatar and its middle east neighbors qatar's move to restore full diplomatic relations with iran breaks number one on the list of demands made by other arab nations two months ago back in june saudi arabia egypt bahrain and united arab emirates caught ties with qatar claiming it was funding extremists and criticizing its close relationship with iran later that month the boycotting countries issued a list of thirteen demands and gave could target ten days to meet it that deadline has long passed and now could tar is showing defiance in going against out first demand to scale down diplomatic ties with iran in restoring diplomatic relations and sending back an ambassador qataris signaling a shift in allegiance back in two thousand and sixteen could tar had pulled its ambassador from tehran after attacks on two saudi diplomatic posts there a sign of solidarity with the kingdom could tar did not bring up the boycott when it announced strengthening ties with iran but the stalemate between it and other gulf states is now in its third m

it is positive for qatar because they are making a statement and people will stop talking about qatarit's good for barcelona because they will receive what most people consider an astronomical amount, for player. no other team is capable of doing this. not even the big uk teams can spend that amount on a player. everyone will ask about financial fair play but what it is is that qatar are involved with psg. they have been involved with psg. they have been involved with psg. they have been involved with barcelona so they are going to make this work. ok. kieran, financialfair going to make this work. ok. kieran, financial fair play rules by uefa, i think, correct me on this, i think they are essentially mean that a tea m they are essentially mean that a team does not spend more than it ta kes team does not spend more than it takes in in revenue budget carfound that it can have an extra 30 or a0 million euros on top of that. we're talking about a deal that could end up talking about a deal that could end up costing psg £a00 million. how does that deal with financial fair play. liverpool f

>>> we have breaking news on qatar and american airlines.>> qatar airways has decided to abandon the plan to buy up a 10% stake in american airlines it was just five weeks ago at tend of june that the ceo told d doug parker, the ceo of american airlines, he wanted to buy 10% of american. and immediately you heard from american and from doug parker who said, we don't like this idea, we don't like this plan. and initially they said that they were going to fight any efforts by qatar to buy more than 4.75% of american shares. and since then, they have also canceled the co-chair agreement with qatar they have been very vocal in their opposition to the persian gulf carriers. well, after all of that, qatar is now saying this potential investment no longer meets its needs or what it's seeking in the united states. so again, qatar airways abandoning the plan to buy up to 10% of american airlines guys, back to you. >> all right, phil, putting a coda on that story thank you vfr muery much >>> amazon is holding several job fairs across the country we ar

and you say there is evidence that qatar for exa m ples there is evidence that qatar for examples has seen any evidence to back up i haven't seen any evidence to back up yourclaims. i haven't seen any evidence to back up your claims. where is the evidence? there were some shipments of weapons that had been sent by qatar in tripoli, in misrata, we know that. what that what i know and what i have seen as cast—iron evidence is shipments of arms that have come to you from egypt, from the uae. you seem to be focused on the uae. you seem to be focused on the qatari connection in the west when in fact there is quite clear egyptian, uae, saudi connection in the east, which are violations of the east, which are violations of the weapons embargo and they have been coming to you. i am not privy to those details. you are the so—called foreign minister. to those details. you are the so—called foreign ministerlj to those details. you are the so-called foreign minister. i am not involved with military affairs. i cannot co—operate what you have said. i know that there is a great deal of support that

, the accusation is that qatar is not just buying qatar, the accusation is that qatar is notjust buyingitical power with that purchase. neymar, when asked about the money, said it was not about the money but about the new challenge, and for the fans it is all about the football. one person i spoke to coming in here said, every footballer has their price, so long as he wins. thank you. our main story this lunchtime... political pressure mounts on donald trump asa political pressure mounts on donald trump as a grand jury is called to look into claims that russia interfered in the election that brought him to power. coming up, we will be live at old trafford for the first day of the fourth test between england and south africa. coming up in sport, neymar has arrived in paris ahead of becoming the most expensive player in the history of football. he signed a five—year deal with paris st germain. the deadline for submissions on what the grenfell tower fire inquiry should cover will expire later today. hundreds of suggestions have been received, with the total expected to be around 300 by the

the three, along with egypt, accused qatar of supporting terrorism. global news 24 hours a day, powered by 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries around the world. this is bloomberg. ofid: some lines here out hsbc. the buyback will be carried out, held a long way credit suisse. they are pointing credit suisse for the buyback, which starts today, august 1. that's the story on hsbc. let's go over to china and shanghai. the trading picks up litter today and ministers are there meeting under the shadow of rising spats and tension between the group's asian members. tom mackenzie is in shanghai for us. what's the mood like as these ministers meet? i will put that question to our next guest, the minister of trade from south africa, robert davies. david in the studio is asking what the mood is like at the summit. what are you hoping to gain from the next few days of talks here in china? quite a lot ofen interaction with our officials in the context of international and trade issues, whether they have been developing the areas of cooperation

in other news, qatar has filed a formal complaint with the world trade organisation against the economicghbouring arab states. qatar's minister of economy and commerce said the trade boycott, led by saudi arabia, was a clear violation of international trade law. a split in the bitcoin community is set to create a new incompatible version of the crypto—currency today. a group of insiders is unhappy with existing plans to speed up transaction times. they plan to offer existing investors a matching amount of a new virtual asset, called bitcoin cash, which could put pressure on the value of original bitcoins. that's quickly look at the markets. we talked about oil. we are waiting for the bp results. 0ilers in focus because the price keeps going up and up. you can see brent crude about $52 a barrel. nymex is about $50 a barrel for the first time since may. 0il stocks are doing well, energy doing well, and earnings coming through stronger than expected for many companies listed around the world. that is boosting general competence. i will see you soon. patients with pancreatic cancer are being

next saudi arabia's research chilling warning in its bit of feud with qatar with the t.v. news animation showing an aircraft being blown out of the sky it's meant to explain to viewers the worst case scenario if qatar violates riyadh's strict sanctions that were imposed in june. a country can send fighter jets to force the plane down and then charge her with anything and from posing a threat to national security or putting civilian lives in danger what's more international law even allows a plane to be shot down if it's violating airspace classifying it as an enemy target especially in a military areas where there are new air defense restrictions. so he arabia the united arab emirates egypt and bahrain cut diplomatic ties with qatar after accusing it of backing extremist groups as part of the riyadh imposed blockade air land and sea links were severed with saudi arabia also should list a tough demands to clued into regional expelling turkish troops stationed in scaling back ties with iran and closing khatami from the news outlets like al-jazeera middle east analysts we spo

psg is owned by qatar.eing objected to a blockade by four other arab countries, it will not be cowed or diminished in its international dealings. will not be cowed or diminished in its international dealingslj will not be cowed or diminished in its international dealings. i think what we are seeing is qatar saying, we wa nt what we are seeing is qatar saying, we want to be considered a serious power in the business of football. we can bring lots of commercial endorsements to the game, we can have a much bigger influence on a global scale, and there's no finer example of doing that than signing one of the world's best. back on the streets of paris, there's a sense of disbelief this deal appears to be finally happening. so, too, about the pricetag. i like paris and he can make good things in this team. he's too expensive. but it's neymar. the stage is set. paris st germain will likely name neymar as their leading light within the next 48 hours. this is the most political and financial transfers but ultimately

qatar called it an illegal siege. it looks like investors are illegal siege.nvestors a re not illegal siege. it looks like investors are not sharing the $12 billion deal in tv deals. they were hoping a merger would build up viewership figures. hoping a merger would build up viewershipfigures. shares hoping a merger would build up viewership figures. shares for discovery fell 8%. the $900 million sale of india's deal to flipcart was heralded as one of the most exciting e—commerce deals. but they pulled the plug, saying they will pursue an independent path. what is next for the struggling firmhave more. independent path. what is next for the struggling firmhave morem independent path. what is next for the struggling firmhave more. it was supposed to be an incredible deal. but instead of two arrivals coming together to create a mega firm, talks collapsed during the final stages of a talk between flipcart and snapdeal. when the talks began, there were constant issues between softbank and minority shareholders. the founders of the company were not keen on selling t

i would not show them a qatar. -- a guitar. it is a graphical representation. jon: i am great in the key of c. guitar has a transposable -- but a p&l is relative to the sharps and flatss. best thing i can do is use a digital pn oh and play it in a different key. so i grew up very quickly going, boom.oes boom, it is a calculator. i knew early enough what that was. charlie: self learned? john: for the most part, sitting at a p&l -- sitting at a piano and working it out. my teacher stopped teaching me how to play music. of book do 15 minutes stuff. you would bring him a song and ok, i got it. there is a curriculum gathered very quickly on this blues thing. my parents at one point said, i think they were on to it. they said, play this. they put the book in front of me. charlie: where did you think you were going? ray vaughan, eric clapton, that was my calling. when i was 13 years old i went, got it. i remember the first night i had a guitar. when parents ask i say, give them a qatar for two months -- guitar for two months to do their own thing with it and then give

qatar and the quartet have had nces, which led to action against qatar. we are concerned about this dispute and we think that it is destabilizing to the gulf and undermines the gulf call operative council, an important organization to maintain -- the gulf cooperative counsel, an important organization to maintain stability in the region. we will continue those efforts and i have maintained telephone contact with all the parties on an almost every other day acis and talking about the current situation. we know that there is a great deal of reconciliation that has to occur. at this point, parties are not speaking to one another will stop my goal is to have them talking to one another and sitting down at a table to begin a discussion dialogue. the important part of the trip was to sign a memorandum of understanding between the united states and qatar to identify known or suspected terrorists and we are and lamenting that agreement and qatar is meeting those agreements. -- and implementing that agreements. i am going to be dispatching the assistant secretary

when it comes to the qatar , they said we are not going to escalate significantly more.ek they added nine individual organizations to the list that they want qatar to prosecute. interestingly though, when we spoke to analyst a couple weeks ago, they said we don't see any additional economic sanctions that does not involve self harm on both sides. if you are saudi arabia and the uae and go to international that really hurts your standing and ultimately the uae denied intending to do that. see scope for significant escalation that doesn't involve self harm. yousef: up next on "best of bloomberg markets: middle east," it has been a disappointing earnings season so far in the middle east. we get some investment advice. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ yousef: welcome back to "best of bloomberg markets: middle east." second gore earnings released by gulf companies this week, while howd, have given a view of economies are coping with low oil prices. we got more perspective on this story with the head of microstrategy. guest: i think what we are going through is a phase of adjustments. i

up, qatar restores double medic relations with iran.ing to mend ties with iran -- with tehran? this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ tracy: gulf tensions took another dramatic turn this week after qatar announced full domestic relations with iran. the new gulf crisis has seen saudi demand qatar and all ties with iran and relations between iran and saudi arabia may also hran saiding after te the two were exchanging a -- were discussing an exchange of diplomats that could come in september. we spoke to the of monte vestment fun -- the oman investment fund. guest: we are closing that cycle. changed theing government and sometimes hopes of a better politics and economic in the region. it is essentially over. in that season, many of the countries in the region, and certainly the main regional powers, have tried to take advantage of the situation, supporting various groups that we are fighting for power. now situation is stabilizing. so this detente between saudi arabia and iran comes as a result of the closing of this season. we are going to see a more pea