TWHEN the Obama White
House set out to make the
liberal dream of universal
health coverage a reality, it
faced two obvious political
obstacles. The first was the power of
the interlocking interest groups -
insurance companies ...
THE big bad event of last
week was, of course, the
Supreme Court hearing on
health reform. In the course
of that hearing it became
clear that several of the justices,
and possibly a majority, are political
creatures pure and
THE Emir His Highness
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al
Thani and Her Highness
Sheikha Moza, accompanied
by a one hundred plus delegation
comprising key cabinet
ministers, heads of public
and private sector organisations
will visit India...
QATAR First Investment Bank (QFIB) is likely to be listed on Qatar Exchange (QE) by the end of this year. The bank would also re-adjust its authorised capital from $1 billion (QR3.65 billion) to $550 million (QR2 billion).
DEFENDING champion Al Gharafa had to stretch itself full in its come-from-behind 69-60 victory against Al Ahli Club during the group league of the Emir Cup Basketball Championship on Tuesday. At its home court, Gharafa followed the rival for most...
IT was a night for married couples at the Academy of Country Music Awards as husband and wife Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert won several honours and a couple of country music fans married during the show...
QATAR Airways is this week reaffirming its commitment to seeking out talented nationals for the organisation by taking part in the annual Qatar Career Fair. The airline is working to attract more locals, including Qatari students in line with Qatar National Vision 2030. The carrier has numerous vacancies available across the company. Qatar Airways, a Pearl sponsor, has a stand in Hall 6 at the new Qatar.
THREE Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ) students, sponsored by Qatar Shell, travelled to the to the US to present at American Chemical Society´s 2012 National Spring Meeting in San Diego, cutting-edge research on synthetic jet fuels recently. The research project, supported by Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) and Qatar National Research Fund´s (QNRF) Undergraduate Research Experience Programme (UREP), aims to design new generations.
PAUL Tagliabue, Chairman of Georgetown University´s Board of Directors and longtime commissioner of the NFL, visited the Georgetown University´s School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Q) recently. He spoke to students and discussed the achievements and future of Georgetown´s university programmes in the Gulf region. Talking about the strategic location of Georgetown ...
SINGAPORE state investor Temasek Holdings and private equity firm RRJ Capital bought nearly half of the shares in the $1.34 billion offering by PetroChina Co´s unit Kunlun Energy Co Ltd, two sources with direct knowledge of the deal said on Tuesday. Temasek and RRJ, founded by Malaysia-born dealmaker Richard Ong, snapped up $600 million worth of shares in the deal, said the sources, who...
GREECE´S top refiner Hellenic Petroleum has suspended purchases of Iranian crude in April as approaching sanctions on Tehran have made banking payments virtually impossible, a senior source at the firm said. Greece´s financial difficulties have made Athens reluctant to reduce its purchases of Iranian crude, which is cheap, ahead of a EU-wide embargo that is due to come into force on July 1. But the source at the refiner, who asked not to be named because of ...
SPAIN´S debt levels will jump to their highest since at least 1990 this year as the economy sinks into recession and borrowing costs rise. The rising debt levels add to a gloomy outlook for the Spanish economy, which is suffering as the government cuts spending in an effort to improve its finances and meet a strict European Union deficit goal next year. Spain´s debt-to-gross domestic product ratio...
SIX Qatari riders will participate in the Global Champions Tour that enters its seventh year commencing in Doha this week and the high status competition is once again attracting the best riders and horses in the world, said GCT officials at a press conference organised by the Qatar Equestrian Federation on Tuesday. GCT offers the biggest prize money in the sport of show jumping and all-important ranking points, which is accumulated throughout the 2012 ...
THE floodlit Losail International Circuit is all set to ´switch on´ the 2012 MotoGP World Championship on Thursday. All riders across the three classes – Premier class, Moto2 and Moto3 – are having butterflies in their bellies ahead of the first free practice under the bright lights. While Moto2 has the same capacity, more engine displacements in the MotoGP and Moto3, which replaced the 125cc class this year, are likely to produce a roaring start to the new season. As has...
SIR ALEX Ferguson hailed keeper David De Gea after Manchester United went five points clear of title rivals Manchester City at the top of the Premier League. Late goals by Antonio Valencia, a sublime finish from an acute angle, and substitute Ashley Young earned Ferguson´s side a 2-0 win at Blackburn on Monday. It was a seventh straight top-flight win which leaves them clear favourites to clinch a fifth ...
WHEN the boy band One Direction this week became the first British group to top the Billboard 200 chart with its debut album – a feat not even the Beatles or Coldplay could pull off – many music fans caught onto a trend that tech-savvy teenage girls have known about for months: Boy bands are hot again. Not only did One Direction sell 176,000 copies of its album, Up All Night, in its first week of release, but the group – whose members ages range from 17 ...
AS Hollywood directors increasingly make their films in 3-D, the biggest financial winner is turning out to be one of their own: director James Cameron. Cameron has emerged as one of Hollywood´s hottest entrepreneurs by cashing in on the 3-D technology he created for Avatar, which ranks as the highestgrossing film with a worldwide box office take of $2.8 billion. Cameron also directed the second-highest grossing film of all time, the nautical disaster.
ACTRESS Kareena Kapoor, who recently unveiled her grandfather Raj Kapoor´s specially designed brass statue, said he was biased towards her elder sister Karisma Kapoor. "My grandfather Raj Kapoor was biased towards Karisma because both of them had blue eyes. I have green eyes like that of my father," Kareena told reporters. "During summer seasons he would give two mangoes to ...
COMMERCIAL Bank of Qatar has
launched a $500 million five-year
bond after receiving strong
demand, a banker aware of the
transaction said on Tuesday. The
bond spread of 235 basis points
over mid swaps is tighter than the
THE banking industry in Qatar
experienced a 21 percent increase
in profits in 2011, exceeding levels
reached since 2005, according
to a new study by the Boston
Consulting Group. Bank revenues
also saw an impressive growth of
22 percent in 2011. The Qatari
banking sector’s operating expenses
rose 21 percent.