Gulf remains locked in Qatar feud, despite Saudi setbacks

A UN court's ruling in favour of Qatar over an airspace dispute marks another setback for Saudi-led blockading nations, but despite rising international pressure to end the three-year feud, the group appears unlikely to relent. US-led mediation efforts have come to nothing amid reported opposition from the United Arab Emirates, frustrating Washington, which has tried to unite its allies and focus on its main strategic goal -- reining in arch-foe Iran. On Tuesday, the International Court of Justice, the UN's highest judicial body, backed Qatar in a bitter row over an air blockade imposed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt at the start of a regional crisis in 2017.