UAE official says Qatar giving up World Cup may end 'crisis'

A top Emirati security official has said the only way for "Qatar's crisis" to end is if Doha gave up hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup, his comments coming amid the ongoing diplomatic dispute between the energy-rich nation and four Arab countries.

Dubai security Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan, known for being outspoken on Twitter, later wrote Monday his "personal analysis" of what he described as the financial pressure Doha faces in hosting the games had been misunderstood.

FILE- In this May 14, 2010 file photo, a Qatari woman walks in front of the city skyline in Doha, Qatar. The U.S. military says it has halted some military exercises with Gulf countries over the ongoing diplomatic dispute targeting Qatar. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)

But his remarks came as lobbying firms backed by the four nations opposing Qatar in the diplomatic dispute increasingly target the upcoming soccer competition in their criticism.

The tournament has not come up in the demands previously made by the boycotting countries, though losing the World Cup would represent a bitter defeat for the tiny peninsular nation that's pushed itself onto the world stage with its bid and its Al-Jazeera satellite news network.

Qatari officials did not respond to requests for comment on Monday. However, the 2022 tournament's head in Qatar told The Associated Press on Friday the boycott poses "no risk" to the competition being held.

Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates all cut diplomatic ties and began a boycott of Qatar on June 5 , in part over allegations that Doha supports extremists and has overly warm ties to Iran.

Qatar has long denied funding extremists and restored full diplomatic ties to Iran amid the dispute. Doha shares a massive offshore natural gas field with Iran that makes its citizens incredibly wealthy.

On Sunday night, Khalfan targeted the FIFA tournament in his tweets.

"If the World Cup leaves Qatar, Qatar's crisis will be over ... because the crisis is created to get away from it," he wrote.

He added: "The cost is bigger than what the Hamadein have planned," likely referring to Qatar's former ruling emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and former Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani. Some believe both still wield influence within Qatar's current government now ruled by the former emir's son, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Khalfan, who previously has written controversy-catching tweets about Israel and U.S. President Donald Trump, also wrote that Qatar "is no longer our concern," suggesting media in the boycotting countries dial back their coverage of the dispute.

By Monday night, Khalfan returned to Twitter to write that his tweets were his "personal analysis."

"I said Qatar is faking a crisis and claims it's besieged so it could get away from the burdens of building expensive sports facilities for the World Cup," he tweeted.

"That's why Qatar isn't ready and can't host the next World Cup," he added.

As the crisis has dragged on despite mediation by Kuwait, the United States and European nations, Qatar's opponents have begun targeting its hosting of the FIFA cup. They've pointed to allegations of corruption surrounding Qatar's winning bid, as well as the conditions that laborers working in Qatar face in building infrastructure for the games.

While FIFA ethics investigators found that the Qataris used a full range of lavishly funded state and sports agencies to win the 2010 vote to host the tournament, authorities concluded there was no "evidence of any improper activity by the bid team."

When Qatar's sole land border with Saudi Arabia was closed and sea traffic cut off by the boycott, World Cup organizers were forced to instigate a "Plan B," including bringing in supplies from Turkey.

Asked about Khalfan's comments, FIFA said Monday: "We do not comment on speculation."

Hassan al-Thawadi, Qatar World Cup supreme committee secretary-general, told the AP on Friday that the project remained on time despite that.

"We are aiming to make sure that this World Cup leaves a legacy for the people of the Middle East (and) is an opportunity to transform our region towards a sustainable and stable future," he said.

NEW YORK (AP) — Min Jin Lee's first novel since her million-selling “Pachinko” is a long book that grew out of a basic question: What do Koreans care most about?

“We’re obsessed with education, and it became my obsession over why Koreans care so much,” says Lee, whose “American Hagwon,” scheduled for Sept. 29, will likely be one of the year's most anticipated books. Hagwons are for-profit tutoring centers — sometimes likened to “cram schools” — where Koreans of all ages receive instruction for everything from English to guitar to cooking. Any language school or organization that gives private lesson music classes” can be considered a Hagwon, Lee says.

The author, 57, calls herself an “accidental historian,” a novelist who uses broad narratives to unearth the past, make sense of the present and explore race, gender and class among other issues. “American Hagwon” is the third of a planned quartet about Korea and the Korean diaspora that began with “Free Food for Millionaires” in 2007 and continued a decade later with “Pachinko,” a National Book Award finalist that was adapted by Apple TV+ into a series and has been translated into dozens of languages.

In 2024, The New York Times ranked “Pachinko” at No. 15 among the best novels of the 21st century.

Cardinal, a Hachette Book Group imprint, is calling her new release a deep look into “what happens when the rules shift, the world order becomes suddenly unrecognizable and benchmarks of success are no longer a guarantee.” In “American Hagwon,” Lee sets her story everywhere from Korea to Australia to Southern California as she tracks the journey of a middle-class Korean family upended by the Asian financial crisis and hoping to regain its bearings.

“Almost 10 years after Pachinko, Min Jin Lee continues to give shape to history’s seismic shifts in her fiction, refracting generational change through indelible, masterfully etched characters you can’t help rooting for,” Cardinal Publisher and Senior Vice President Reagan Arthur said in a statement.

A native of Seoul whose family emigrated to New York City when she was 7, Lee attended the elite Bronx High School of Science, studied history at Yale University and law at Georgetown University. She knows well the importance of preparation, and laughs as she remembers that her father has nicknamed her “the turtle,” because she is slow — but “very steady.” Her books take a long time, in part, because she puts so much work into them. Her stories are based not just on research and reflection, but on extended travel and interviews.

“I want to hold up a mirror to society, and, as the kids say, do a ’vibe check,” she says.

FILE - Min Jin Lee attends the GQ Global Creativity Awards in New York on April 6, 2023. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)