The cyber world has been abuzz for the past few days with social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter posting up-to-the-minute news about relief and rescue operations in Metro Manila due to the massive flooding caused by Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana).

Qtel was named as the winner of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) award at the CEO Middle East Awards 2009, at a ceremony held in Dubai.

A giant rail network linking the six-nation GCC states is slated to start operations in 2017 at a $25bn cost, an official said yesterday. The KUNA news agency quoted GCC Assistant Secretary General Mohammed Obaid Al Mazroui as saying preliminary studies of the project, expected to cover some 2,000 km, have been completed and approved by GCC leaders. He said the GCC secretariat, in cooperation with Gulf and international consultants, is now preparing detailed execution studies of the project. “If

Qatar Airways has secured two financing deals worth a total of $700m for the purchase of four new Boeing 777 aircraft due for delivery over the next few months. A $350m finance lease deal to purchase two new Boeing 777 aircraft — both a 777-300ER and a 777-200LR version – followed an agreement with five leading international banks. One Boeing 777-300 Extended Range aircraft is scheduled for delivery this month and one 777-200 Long Range version is due to be delivered in November 2009. Following

Diyafa ’09 ‘will highlight’ tourism sector opportunities

The water supply in most of the Arab countries is in “continuous decline” and the region is “heading towards a severe water scarcity within a decade and half,” an expert taking part in a seminar in Doha yesterday said.

The ‘Schools without Accidents’ campaign launched yesterday for the second year running by the Traffic Department is aimed at cutting the number of road accidents in Qatar by half, a top official has said. The campaign aims at raising awareness about road safety among students.

Although the Doha Municipality has recently instructed that staff in barber shops and beauty centres must wear face masks and gloves during their duty hours as a precautionary measure against the H1N1 flu, it seems that many of them are oblivious of the decision.

Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF) organisers have officially announced the programme of films to be screened at the inaugural festival next month. Mira Nair’s biopic Amelia starring Hilary Swank and Richard Gere, will be the movie to be shown on opening night.

Qatar, with its Increasing economic power, could play a bigger role in getting the Arab world to “signal” measured steps with Israel over the Palestinian issue, according to a top political analyst.