The Doha securities Market (DSM) yesterday announced a new-look DSM 20 Index with effect from January 1 next year. Four companies which make up the benchmark Index have been shunted out and four others will now take their place.

Hundreds of people are expected to participate in the Think Pink Qatar's (TPQ) breast cancer walk today at the Corniche. TPQ, a non-profit organisation that aims to fight breast cancer, under the umbrella of Qatar National Cancer Society (QNCS), will hold Qatar's first organized breast cancer walk today sponsored by www.iloveqatar.net

Al Jazeera English, which lost quite a few hands due to the alleged bullying culture that was prevailing there, now finds itself trying to find space for those who want to come back.

Doha Port has registered a steady increase in the number of incoming traffic during the first half of this year. The port witnessed a 50 percent increase in the visits of livestock ships and 28 percent increase in containers compared to the corresponding period in 2007.

American think-tank Brookings will exert pressure on the policy advisers of the next US president to push forward "The Doha Compact", a Brookings project on US relations with the Islamic World.

Emirates yesterday announced a revision in First, Business and Economy Class fares for tickets issued in Qatar, ranging from reductions of 20 to 40 percent.

A high-level team from Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa), headed by Vice Chairperson Issa Shaheen Al Ghanim, discussed potential cooperation between Russia and Qatar during a discussion with Russian Federal Agency for Nuclear Energy (Rosatom) held recently in Russia.

The biggest challenge facing society is controlling the deluge of satellite television channels broadcasting content that is either smut or interactive commercial programmes that encourage text message responses via cellphones, a top official said yesterday.

Qatar's oil and non-oil GDP growth will fall from the estimated 14 percent this year to 12.4 percent in 2009 while consumer price inflation will dip from the projected 15 percent this year to 13 percent next year, according to an International Monetary Fund report (IMF) on the world's economic outlook.

The number of foreign workers in Qatar has dramatically increased over the last few years to reach 89 percent of the total workforce, according to experts.