On 4th February, a Partnership Agreement was signed by Doha Bank and Unesco at Unesco Headquarters at West Bay, which was attended by R Seetharaman, Doha Bank Group CEO; Dr Hamed Al Hammami, Unesco Representative in the Arab States of the Gulf and Yemen, Director of Unesco Doha; Dr Benno Boer, Unesco's Ecological Science Advisor in the Arab Region; Mark Sutcliffe, Unesco's Project Assistant - Natural Sciences, Saleh Souror, Secretary General of the National Commission, Doha Bank Management, other guest and dignitaries.

Doha, Nov 14 : England manager Fabio Capello has blocked plans for a lavish party before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, saying he doesn’t believe there is anything to celebrate.

The proposed idea of organizing a gala bash ahead of the flight to South Africa next June was instantly rejected by Capello as something that could not be part of the pre-World Cup agenda for his squad, The Mirror reports.

Doha, Qatar - Heartbroken Russian Dinara Safina may miss the start of 2010 in Australia due to the back problem which forced her from the Sony Ericsson Championships this week.

The player who lost the year-end number one ranking to Serena Williams after being forced to withdraw a few minutes into her opening group match, said doctors have told her to rest for up to a month.

That kind of scheduling could surely derail any preparation for the Australian Open starting in mid-January.

Doha, Qatar  - Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will again start their tennis seasons with New Year's appearances at the Capitala World Championship before heading to Australia to prepare for the Grand Slam.

Officials at the December 31-January 2 event announced Monday that they have secured the top two in the world for a three-day, six-player tournament won last year by Scot Andy Murray over Nadal.

Istanbul - Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani met with Turkey's President Abdullah Gul in Istanbul on Tuesday to discuss greater cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector including the building of a possible pipeline.

At a joint press conference, Sheikh al-Thani said the Gul and he had agreed on the creation of a working group for the purpose of working out possible cooperation in the energy sector.

Doha (Qatar), July 29 : Recent excavations conducted in Qatar has resulted in a substantial number of new sites being discovered and significantly more archaeological research in the region, which may revamp the whole history of the nation written so far.

According to a report in The Peninsula On-line, there has been a notable increase in the amount of archaeological field work being conducted in Qatar covering the ancient to the Islamic periods.

The research is bringing important new information to light.

Better Homes (BH) has decided to introduce a new office in Qatar by fourth quarter this fiscal.

Functioning under the Mohammed Hamid Al Mana Group of Companies, Better Homes Qatar portfolio will start with the management of the Al Azizya Complex, a retail mall that entails a 90 villa compound, 50 apartments and 37 retail shops; additional ongoing projects including The Pearl, Lusail, and a range of apartments and offices.

Qatar Telecommunications Company (Qtel) has announced that it is introducing syndication of its $1.5 billion (Dh5.5bn) loan in order to enhance the facility amount. The sources said that in March this fiscal, Qtel had inked the forward start pact on a revolving credit facility maturing in November, extending the credit by two years.

Under a forward start pact lenders typically agree to extend existing loans at final maturity in return for a hefty increase in pricing on the existing credit.

Qatar Airways has announced that it has inked a firm contract for 24 Airbus A320 Family aircraft.

The sources said that the pact entails the firming up of a contract for four A321 aircraft.

At present, Qatar Airways operates 19 A320 Family aircraft, the Middle East's largest fleet. The new aircraft configured with a two-class cabin will be deployed to increase and expand services on regional, Eastern European and south west Asia services.

Doha - NYSE Euronext, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, signed on Friday its agreement with Qatar to acquire 20 per cent of the newly created Qatar Exchange for 200 million dollars.

The agreement will provide NYSE Euronext with an important presence in the Middle East, according to a statement released by both partners.

According to confirmed sources, German sports car maker Porsche SE held exclusive talks with Qatar Investment Authority, the investment arm of the government, has expressed interest in purchasing as much as 25% stake in Porsche, a move that would help the German automobile company to reimburse its current debt.

Albrecht Bamler, a spokesman for Stuttgart, Germany-based Porsche, informed that the negotiations with the Persian Gulf state were taking place in a "good atmosphere." Porsche's debt is believed to be around $12.5 billion after it used its stock options to buy Volkswagen last year.

Nicosia, June 1 : Qatar `s Dohaland firm has announced plans to develop and regenerate a 35 hectare site located in inner Doha. The project will be executed in five stages at a total cost of 5.5 billion dollars and is to be completed in
2016.

Aramex has announced that it has clinched an agreement with Vodafone Qatar.

The sources said that the arrangement has been signed with the aim to provide network logistics, retail distribution, logistics management, various express and freight shipping.

As per the agreement terms, the company will also offer inventory management, provision of warehouse space for storage of handsets, SIM cards and marketing material.

The delegates at a gas conference in Abu Dhabi were recently informed by the CEO of Qatargas that the company was in a good position to become the world's largest exporter of natural gas.

Faisal Al Suwaidi, who confirmed that he was unfazed by the current supply glut, while addressing the delegates at the Gastech 2009 conference, also presented a bullish speech. Mr. Suwaidi highlighted Qatar's huge investment in building a multi-billion dollar infrastructure in order to support the export of its huge reserves of natural gas.

Doha: ­ Doha Taxi drivers know when someone asks to be dropped at the City Centre mall in the Qatari capital, they've got some serious money to spend.

It happens all the time. With a population of just 1.5 million, as well as massive gas and oil reserves, Qatar has the highest GDP per person in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The City Centre mall is one of several in the Qatari capital where those with cash in hand can go to find glittering things that would not be out of place on the Paris Champs Elysees.

Qatar Airways has announced that the company envisages to pump $1billion on infrastructure expansion at Doha International Airport in order to cope with rising passenger traffic and fleet size until the new airport opens in fiscal 2012.

The plan entails increasing the seating capacity of the airline's Premium Terminal to 570, in addition to enhancing the number of shower rooms, buffet and dining areas and an almost doubled duty free space.

Barwa Real Estate, the second-major property developer in Qatar, has declared its first three month period profit.

The company stated in a communiqué that it has clocked a sharp dip of 42% in its profit during the period under review.

Company’s net income declined to 193.9 million riyals ($53m), or 0.75 riyal a share, from 332.8 million riyals, 1.57 riyals.

The company did not reveal any explanation for the downward trend in profit in the year-earlier period.

(via TopNews Arab Emirates. Contributed by Faarooq Mehmood)

International Bank of Qatar has officially rolled out its first Al Yusr Islamic banking branch in Doha.

This newly launched branch of Al-Yusr Islamic banking, will entice its clientele by offering full range of Shariah compliant services and products, consumer and personal finance solutions such as Murabaha and Tawarroq, in addition to corporate banking financing based on Istisna’a, ljara and Murabaha.

Doha - Arab and Latin American leaders gathered in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday to boost economic ties, but it was Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, long the darling of the Arab world for his defiance of the United States and his stances during Israel's wars in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, who grabbed the headlines.

Doha - Egyptian Minister of State for Legal Affairs Mufid Shehab, representing his country at an Arab League summit in Qatar in lieu of President Hosny Mubarak, on Monday called on Arab media to "abide by the truth."

"Egypt can let go of any minor disputes," Shehab said. "But that does not give others the right to engage in underhanded attacks."