Three more bidders are interested in taking a stake in German sports carmaker Porsche, rivalling investment plans by Qatar, German magazine Focus reported yesterday.

Qatar’s largest investment bank denied yesterday that it had bought two Polish shipyards, explaining that it was acting as an adviser to a potential buyer in a deal that has still not been completed.

A secure integrated e-government network for Qatar is in the works, and officials from the Ministry of Interior (MoI) and the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQatar) and media personalities in the country discussed it in detail in a forum yesterday at the Millennium Hotel.

The second phase of registration for the housing and commercial units in Barwa Village under construction in Wakra will begin today.

Salam Stores, the luxury retail chain with stores across Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, is having a huge seasonal promotion at its Salam Plaza and The Mall outlets.

A South African businessman accused of orchestrating a 15bn rand ($1.93bn) fraud has admitted to forging documents to deceive Qatar’s Barwa Real Estate, a source close to the matter said yesterday.

The National Human Rights Committee has laid emphasis on employers and sponsors strictly adhering to Law No.14/2004, which regulates the working hours of labourers during peak summer.

Bank lending in Qatar fell by QR15.5bn during the first quarter of this year, a seven percent decline from the end of December 2008.

The unique Sidra tree-themed Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) is slated to come up according to schedule with groundwork for the second stage of construction starting and the QNCC team hiring executives for the operations of the meeting hub.

The joint search team struggling to retrieve bodies from Tuesday’s ship tragedy, is planning to tow the sunken ship to shallow waters. The services of two tugs have been sought to make their job easier, sources said.