News

Noted Islamic scholar, Dr Yusuf Al Qaradawi (pictured), has welcomed US President Barrack Obama’s address to the Arab and Islamic world and said it reflected a blissful departure from the aggressive tone and tenor his predecessor, George W Bush, used while talking of Muslims.

GCC countries are taking a closer look at the possibility of having a common mechanism in place whereby food items imported into the region are tested and cleared for safety.

Fishing boats from neighbouring countries like Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia crossing into Qatar’s territorial waters is a frequent phenomenon, it is learnt.

The number of mobile users in the region is growing with Qatar expecting to exceed more than three million in the coming months, says a leading marketing company here.

A criminal court here is hearing a case involving four Asians accused of smuggling drugs into the country using a fishing boat. The consignment, according to the prosecution, consisted of 192 kg of hashish and opium, and was stored in sacks in the boat.

Qatar will strike a deal with Porsche by mid-June that will help the German sports car maker to pay down its ¤9bn ($12.8bn) debt pile, German weekly Focus reported. Porsche’s Chief Executive Wendelin Wiedeking has already travelled to Qatar several times and has worked out two possible options for an agreement with the country, the magazine said in an article to be published tomorrow, without citing sources.

The government has begun announcing projects like road and building works as part of infrastructure development in the country, but construction industry sources complain that work on these ventures has to wait to pick up pace due to the shortened summer timings for site workers being enforced from June 15.

Summer working hours for construction sites and open spaces will be enforced from June 15, but the Ministry of Labor has said employers should follow daily weather reports until then and if the mercury soars, work must stop.

The duo allegedly involved in the tragic road accident which claimed the life of the Business and Trade Minister Sheikh Fahd bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani on the Doha-Al Wakra Road recently, can face a three-year jail term or a maximum fine of QR10,000 or both according to the law, Al Sharq Arabic daily reported yesterday. The young men have already been charge-sheeted and referred to the court. Nine charges have been slapped on them. These include reckless driving and manslaughter, racing,

Qatar could be the second country in the Arabian Gulf after Bahrain to move towards scrapping the sponsorship system, its prime minister has said.