Qatar Airways has introduced a new onboard yoga guide and tips for a relaxed and rejuvenated flight.

NEW YORK: The New York Times yesterday named Qatar as the Cultural Destination of the Year while describing Doha as a new arts capital in the Middle East. The report said that ever since Dubai reinvented itself as the region’s Las Vegas — with its juggernaut of skyscrapers, snow domes and underwater hotels — its wealthy gulf neighbours have been jockeying for the title of cultural capital.

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani ruled out the closure of an Israeli trade office in Doha over the Gaza conflict, saying such a move needed joint Arab backing.

Qatar is targeting a 400 percent rise in hotel capacity by 2012 with the addition of a whopping $17bn in investment over the next five years, according to the Qatar Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (QTEA).

Qatar Airways confirmed yesterday it was in talks with Boeing over compensation for delayed delivery of 787 Dreamliner aircraft but said it had no trouble financing the planes. “We have absolutely no financing problems,” a source in the airline told The Peninsula yesterday.

Prices of essentials, mainly food items of daily use, remain high in the country much to the discomfort of the common man despite the fact that local inflationary pressure is easing due to the global recession.

MESAIEED recorded the lowest temperature for more than a year of 2.5 degree C on December 19, 2008, according to a report of the department of meteorology, of the Civil Aviation Authority of Qatar.

A MEETING was held between Qatar Aluminium (Qatalum) and the Police and Traffic Department of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) to explore the co-operation and interfaces of both organisations.

EUROPE had missed a rare chance to start a dialogue with Hamas as an Islamic political party following its victory in the Palestinian elections in January 2006, a former member of the Israeli parliament has said.