WHILE I was living in Washington on a research fellowship last year, Pakistanis often urged me to use the opportunity to promote Pakistan's "positive aspects" to Americans.
DOHA RECOGNISED for her commitment and efforts in driving community and volunteer work across Qatar, Her Highness Sheikha al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani won this year's Social Development ...
PARIS LIONEL Messi became only the second man to win three consecutive Ballon d'Or awards on Monday and the question now begging to be asked is: could he become the greatest player of...
REUTERS THE Palm Springs International Film Festival's (PSIFF) Awards Gala, which took place on Saturday night at the Palm Springs Convention Centre in the desert town 100 miles east of Los Angeles...
DOHA Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand began a two-day visit of Qatar on Sunday with a tour of Education City at Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF). The welcoming delegation was led by Haya bint Khalifa al Nassr, director of communications at QF. The Thai princess saw a presentation outlining the vision and mission of QF, before viewing a 3D scale model of the Qatar Foundation site, including future construction projects...
DOHA HAMAD Medical Corporation (HMC) has taken a step forward in its initiative to digitise the entire public health system of Qatar, including all HMC hospitals and primary health care centres (PHCs) by signing an agreement with Cerner. Under the agreement, Cerner will deliver health IT solutions and third party suppliers that will improve the HMC Hospital Information Management system. This will be Cerner's first project in the region to digitise an entire country's public health system on a single computing platform. Using the Cerner Millennium architecture, a unified health IT computing platform, the new system will enable Qatari health professionals to elevate safety, quality and efficiency...
DOHA THE Deputy Emir and Heir Apparent His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani met foreign delegates at his Emiri Diwan office on Monday. HH the Deputy Emir and Heir Apparent met House Majority Leader in the US Congress and Republican Eric Cantor, chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Ileana Ros- Lehtinen and a number of other US Congress members on the occasion of their current visit to Qatar. Talks during the meeting dealt with ties of cooperation between the two countries and means of enhancing and promoting them....
OSLO NORWEGIAN oil firm Statoil has made a second big oil discovery in the Barents Sea in less than a year and predicted more to come in the region, accelerating the global scramble to find and produce Arctic energy reserves. The find was the latest in a series for Norway, the world's eighth-largest oil exporter, and may prompt intensified exploration in the Russian half of the Barents and elsewhere above the Arctic Circle, analysts said. Statoil said the new oil find, Havis, could hold 200 to 300 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent...
BERLIN THE German and French leaders met on Monday to discuss how to boost growth in eurozone states struggling to tackle the sovereign debt crisis and rising unemployment, and to finalise a deal on closer budgetary ties within the currency union. They may also broach a financial transaction levy, the "Tobin tax", being promoted by France but resisted by Britain unless adopted on a global scale, which could split the European Union at a summit at the end of the month. Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Nicolas Sarkozy, aiming to align the two powerhouse partners that have driven European integration...
WASHINGTON US AUTHORITIES are moving toward taking legal action against Wegelin & Co, which could lead to an indictment of one of Switzerland's last pure private banks, on charges that it enabled wealthy Americans to evade taxes, according to two persons with knowledge of the case. Negotiations in the case have reached a critical stage, with an indictment possible though the bank is seeking a deferred prosecution agreement, which would be less damaging...
SYDNEY US OPEN champion Sam Stosur lost to Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the Sydney International on Monday in another setback in her preparation for next week's Australian Open. Schiavone beat Stosur in the 2010 French Open final and had little trouble disposing of the local favourite again. No. 6-ranked Stosur won only one match in Brisbane last week and will be short of match sharpness in Melbourne, where she will chase back-to-back Grand Slam titles following her win over Serena Williams in the U.S. Open final in September. Schiavone will next play Brisbane International finalist Daniela Hantuchova, who beat another Italian...
MADRID BARCELONAsuffered a major setback to their hopes of retaining their La Liga title when they were held to a 1-1 draw by city rivals Espanyol on Sunday, a result which left them five points behind Real Madrid. Barcelona took a 16thminute lead through a header from Cesc Fabregas — the club's 100th goal in all competitions this season — but were rocked when Alvaro Vazquez scored an 86th-minute equaliser with a low header. Gerard Pique hit the woodwork in injury-time as Barca's last chance for the three points went begging, leaving Real Madrid, who had coasted to a 5-1 win over Granada on Saturday, in control of their title destiny...
NEW DELHI IF it's a memorable farewell for Bhaichung Bhutia, for his India team mates on Tuesday is going to be a match to remember. They are all keyed up to match their skills against power-packed European giants Bayern Munich at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. None seems to be bothered about the result, let alone embarrassment of the margin. It is over 20 overs since an Indian team played against an European team, never mind a premier club side. The highflying Dutch club PSV Eidenhoven crushed India 7-0 at the same venue in January 1991. This time around the scoreline should not be all that staggering as the...
NYT SYNDICATE WITH sensual choreography and provocative outfits, Myanmar's first girl band pushes the limits of artistic acceptability in this socially conservative country. But when their parents call, asking why they are not home at 10 pm, the five band members scurry back to being deferential daughters. "We are living two different lives," said Lung Sitt Ja Moon, who is known onstage as Ah Moon. "We do what we want to do onstage, and then we go home to our parents." The band is called Me N Ma Girls. They are battling conservative parents, government censorship and boyfriends who think it is outrageous that they go onstage in such skimpy outfits...
PICTURE this: one bright wall with a mirror, or paintings or a gigantic clock. This out-of-theinterior- magazine covers' look, is done to death, so much that it doesn't even invite appreciative glances anymore. So, what do you do with that one bare wall? Here's the answer in many options. Tattoo your wall This one's quick and clean, claims Shaily Lalvani, who deals with wall stickers. You can choose from over a lakh designs in her database, or ask for a customisation too. Apart from thematic designs, there are chalk board tattoo, she says. "You can write messages on it with a chalk." Then there are the glow-in-the-dark tattoo. ...
AP THE National Society of Film Critics selected Lars von Trier's drama Melancholia as the best picture of 2011 during its annual meeting on Saturday. The society also named the movie's star, Kirsten Dunst, as 2011's best actress. The film ponders the end of the world. The group, comprised 58 prominent movie critics from around the country. They met on Saturday at Sardi's Restaurant in New York City to make its pick. Society members chose Brad Pitt as best actor for his performances in Moneyball and The Tree of Life. Albert Brooks, in Drive, and Jessica Chastain, in The Tree of Life and two other movies, received nods for supporting roles...
BEIJING CHINESE President Hu Jintao pledged “unremitting efforts” to maintain peace on the Korean peninsula during talks on Monday with his South Korean counterpart after the death of Kim Jongil.
SYDNEY AUSTRALIA said on Monday it would scale back sanctions against Myanmar in recognition of steps taken by the formerly isolated military regime towards democracy and greater regional engagement...
