TUESDAY'S decision by the United States, Britain, France and at least five other major nations to expel senior Syrian diplomats was a powerful sign of international revulsion at the massacre of more than 100 Syrians in the village of Houla...
Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al Thani with UN-Arab
League Joint Special Envoy for Syria Kofi Annan in Doha.
WASHINGTON THE United States added a scant 69,000 jobs in May and the unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent, the government said on Friday in a report spelling more trouble for President Barack Obama's reelection.
ROGER Federer survived another awkward French Open assignment on Friday to book a last 16 match-up with Belgium's David Goffin, the first lucky loser in 17 years to make a Grand Slam fourth round.
ONE man's star is another man's nobody – especially if the two men live in different countries. In her native Israel, Ayelet Zurer is a household name, winner of an Israeli Academy Award and the star of ...
DOHA THE Next Generation Kindergarten (TNG) and Primary School organised an academic exhibition on its premises on Thursday. Farzana Khanzana, wife of Pakistan's ambassador to Qatar, was invited as the chief guest along with Irum Mansoor Rizvi. Both the guests inaugurated the event by planting a Neem tree. The distinguished guests, accompanied by Principal Shagufta Bakali, toured the school and witnessed the students' academic achievements which were displayed in the classrooms. The exhibition was an opportunity for students of all classes to display and present their best pieces of work from the current academic year 2011–2012...
DOHA QATAR Petroleum participated in the 8th Middle East Refining and Petrochemicals Conference & Exhibition (Petrotech 2012), which was held at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre recently. The event was held under the patronage of Prime Minister of Bahrain Prince Khalifa bin Salman al Khalifa. It was inaugurated by Bahraini Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Abdulla al Khalifa who was accompanied by Dr Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza, minister of energy and chairman of the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) of Bahrain. Sheikh al Khalifa visited the QP stand...
DOHA HASSAD Food, Qatar's largest investor in the agriculture and livestock sectors, held a gala dinner in honour of its high performing employees recently. "By committing to the company's mission and adhering to its values, you are the very reason behind our resounding success," said Nasser al Hajri, Hassad's chairman, as he handed out certificates of appreciation. "Individually and collectively, everyone has played an important role in the company. As chairman, I owe you much gratitude," Hajri added. Hassad's mission is to own and develop an efficient, profitable, growth-oriented, and respected global agribusiness companies ...
LONDON BRITAIN has filed a lawsuit against the European Union in a last-ditch bid to thwart giving new European financial regulators the power to ban shortselling shares against London's will. It is the second time in a year that Britain's Conservative-led government has filed legal papers against the EU - an extreme measure which experts say reflects growing alarm among British lawmakers about the UK's declining say in EU matters and loss of regulatory sovereignty. Britain's finance ministry has lodged papers at the European Court of Justice seeking legal clarity about powers that will give the European Securities and Markets Authority the power to ban or restrict short-selling across the 27- member bloc, a government official said. ...
LONDON OIL'S fall below $100 a barrel is unlikely to trigger a swift supply cut from OPEC power Saudi Arabia, which is pumping at its highest rate in decades, because its budget can comfortably withstand a much lower price. Others in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, including Iran and Iraq, need a higher price than Saudi Arabia to balance budgets and they may call on Riyadh to throttle back when producers meet on June 14 to set output policy. Having campaigned aggressively to bring down oil prices that were damaging global economic growth, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al Naimi may be reluctant to turn down the taps just yet...
BERLIN/DUBLIN EU PAYMASTER Germany softened its drive for austerity across the eurozone on Friday, agreeing to allow Spain more time to cut its deficit while its battles a deepening bank crisis, capital flight and recession. Irish voters backed a European budget discipline treaty by a 60-40 percent vote in a referendum, a widely expected result that removed one political risk for the troubled currency area but left several bigger ones...
THE 2014 Brazil World Cup qualifying round resumes again and Asia's 10 final round participants have seen mixed results in the run-up to the June 3 kickoffs. For Qatar, a 2-1 loss to Albania last week and a goalless draw against Palestine will set the tone for an away fixture against Lebanon on Sunday. It will host 2002 World Cup semifinalists Korea Republic at home on June 8 as the Taeguk Warriors lost 4-1 to Euro 2012 participating and reigning World Cup champions Spain on Wednesday....
USAIN Bolt may have won in the fastest time this year and set a new meeting record at the Diamond League in Rome but he is still expecting coach Glen Mills to explain what he did wrong. While he could understandably be upset with his 10.04sec run in Ostrava last week despite winning, it seemed as if everything had clicked into place in the Eternal City. The world record holder ran 9.76sec, lowering his own season's best by six hundredths of a second and beating Tyson Gay's meet record by just 0.01sec.
CASEY Stoner may be retiring at the end of the season but the Australian's appetite to lift a third world title is if anything greater than it has ever been. Stoner goes into Sunday's latest leg of the season, the Catalunya Grand Prix, bidding to repeat his wins at the Montmelo circuit in 2007 and 2011 — coincidentally, the years he went on to be crowned motorcycling world champion. "Catalunya is one of my favourite races and it was the first major grand prix circuit I tested on," explained Stoner. "Ever since that moment I fell in love with the track, the big fast sweeping corners...
NEW York City Opera is ending its first nomadic season with a small production that is big news. Recently the company presented the first of four performances of Telemann's Orpheus at El Museo del Barrio, the Hispanic cultural centre on Fifth Avenue that has an intimate 600-seat theatre ideal for Baroque opera. This is the first New York production of the little-known Orpheus, composed in 1726, which came to attention when a manuscript was discovered in 1978. The work is no historical curiosity but a beguiling and innovative opera with an unabashedly eclectic score.
KUHTAI, Austria — I'm in the passenger seat of a classic Mini Cooper as Rauno Aaltonen, one of the original Flying Finns of 1960s rallying fame, slaloms through the Austrian Alps. Roaring up the snow-and-ice-covered Alpine hills at speeds far too fast for most mortal drivers, Aaltonen chats about life in his home country and his love of driving while repeatedly demonstrating the perfect Scandinavian flick—a quick left right or right left juke of the steering wheel to induce a sideways drift around a corner. Aaltonen's antics alone are worth the trip, but the real reason for flying to Austria is to get a sneak peek at the newest Mini...
IT seems Paris Hilton was getting her relationships in order after it emerged she had rekindled her friendship with Kim Kardashian. But reports say that the reality television star has just been dumped by her latest boyfriend, Dutch DJ Afrojack. Yet in the same breath - her representatives have denied the pair ever dated. It is believed the 24-year-old house hero decided he was too young to settle down, and wanted to be able to enjoy his globetrotting party lifestyle...
AFP BERLIN RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin warned on Friday that Syria could be on the brink of a civil war but underlined his strong opposition to military intervention to stop the bloodshed.
GREENSBORO (NORTH CAROLINA) FORMER Senator John Edwards' affair and child out of wedlock derailed a political rise that put him on the Democrats' 2004 White House ticket...
