Qatari stocks surged yesterday with analysts attributing the sudden jump to Barack Obama's win in the US presidential election. Stock markets worldwide reacted mostly positively to the outcome of the US presidential poll and Doha was no exception, financial analyst, Dr Nasser Al Shafi said.

Emperor Akihito of Japan presented the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Industry H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah the Order of the Rising Sun at the Imperial palace in Tokyo yesterday.

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso received here yesterday HE Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Industry, currently visiting Japan.

HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani yesterday sponsored the opening of the 37th ordinary session of the Advisory Council at its premises.

DURING his visit to Qatar, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown expressed his support for a British Council-Supreme Education Council (SEC) partnership aimed at improving the quality of teaching and learning of mathematics and science in Qatari schools.

The Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani yesterday said Qatar would be less affected by the global financial crisis than other developing nations because there was no shortage of liquidity.

The Ritz-Carlton company plans to develop 10 more hotels in the Middle East in the next three years. Vivienne Gan, Ritz-Carlton company's regional director for public relations in Dubai, said the success of their five hotels in the Middle East, two of which are in Doha, has encouraged their company to build 10 more in the region.

An official Qatari trade delegation is visiting the US for the four-day Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week Show (AAIW) taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada, from today.