The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced that Qatar has received approval to have its internet domains written in Arabic, one of the first countries in the world to receive approval to use non-Latin language scripts in domain names.

The Supreme Council of Health (SCH) and Dettol-Reckitt Benckiser have launched the “Clean Student” hygiene campaign for schoolchildren in Qatar.

The Gulf Heart Association (GHA), headquartered in Doha, will hold its eight annual cardiovascular conference from April 8, at the Doha Sheraton.

Qatar Airways yesterday announced that it will begin daily flights to Brazil and Argentina from June 24 this year. This marks the airline’s first online operations to South America.

The largest integrated maritime defence gathering of the Middle East — the second Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (DIMDEX 2010) — began here yesterday, with military delegations from 48 countries attending.

In one of the largest show of naval prowess in Qatar, 13 warships from nine navies are currently moored at the Doha Commercial Port for the second edition of the Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (DIMDEX 2010) currently underway.

The Human Rights Department at the Ministry of Interior organised last week a lecture on women’s rights in Islam in the context of the UN International Peace and Arab Day for Human Rights.

A survey of income distribution trends among families in the country shows that poor expatriate families have become poorer over the past 25 years while their rich counterparts have become richer.

Dr Tariq Ramadan, a well known West-based Muslim scholar and intellectual, has advised Muslims in the West to get out of their “victim mentality” and engage positively with the societies they live in.

A stepped up drive by authorities against software piracy has resulted in a crackdown on a store in Qatar selling fake copies of Microsoft software, Microsoft Gulf announced yesterday.