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A Doha Criminal Court has sentenced an Asian expatriate man to one year suspended jail sentence for stealing building materials from a warehouse in the Doha Industrial Area. Local Arabic daily Arrayah has reported that the defendant, a Nepali national, used to work as a security guard at the company from where he stole the building materials. "Taken away from the...

The State of Qatar has condemned the shooting attack in Istanbul, Turkey, leaving scores of people killed or injured. In a statement on Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed the State of Qatar's firm position rejecting violence and terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. The Ministry stressed the need to strengthening coordination among world countries, and to unite the international...

By Irfan Bukhari / The Peninsula The year 2016 saw major milestones for Qatar, under the leadership of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in all areas ranging from domestic policies, development projects to international diplomacy. The year witnessed implementation of fundamental reforms in the country's labour and residency laws, benefiting both the expatriate workers and the employers. Qatar...

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Saturday said that it will introduce a facility for exchange of old specified bank notes for Indian residents and NRIs, who were abroad from November 9 to December 30. According to a RBI notification, Indian residents, who were abroad during November 9 to December 30, 2016 can avail the new facility up to...

MUSCAT: As of January 1, non-Omanis will no longer be issued new visas for employment as carpenters, metallurgists, blacksmithsor in brick-kiln jobs, according to the Ministry of Manpower. In November 2016, the ministry extended its three-year-old decision to not issue visas for workers in several professions in the private sector by another six months. Prominent among the categories included visas...

An expat has been sentenced to a 1-yr suspended jail term by a Doha Criminal Court. The expat was found guilty of stealing building materials from a warehouse located in the Doha Industrial Area. According to a report published in the local Arabic daily Arrayah the defendant, who is a Nepali citizen, used to be a guard at the company...

If users want to continue using the messaging app, they will need to upgrade their phones. Expected changes coming to WhatsApp, which has more than one billion users, will not be compatible with older devices. By June 30 2017, the seven-year-old app will no longer work on BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10, Nokia S40, Nokia Symbian S60, Android 2.1 and Android...

Many major milestones were achieved by Qatar in 2016 under the able and wise leadership of the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Progress was made in all fields be it domestic policies, infrastructural development or foreign policy. Many fundamental reforms were implemented in the country during the last year in labour law and residency laws, which...

A Muslim taxi driver was attacked by a couple on the first day of the New Year in UK’s Derby area. According to the Daily Mail, the unfortunate taxi driver  – Shahid Iqbal – was punched and bitten by the couple after he removed them from his taxi over refusing to pay the $8.6 (7 pounds) fare. The woman retaliated by...

The number of new learners who have enrolled at the various driving schools across the country has registered a fall despite the fact that the winter months are considered a peak season for new enrolments at the driving instruction schools. The number of new enrolments has been on a downward slide since the month of November, sources say. Many schools...

Born in 1952, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani  is a member of the ruling Al Thani Qatari royal family. He was the ruling Emir of Qatar from 1995 to 2013. HH Sheikh Hamad seized power in a bloodless palace coup d’état in 1995. During his 18-year rule, Qatar’s natural gas production reached 77 million tonnes, making Qatar the richest...

Armed men attacked a prison in Bahrain on Sunday, freeing several convicts and killing a policeman, the interior ministry said. “An armed attack on the Jau reform and rehabilitation center resulted in the death of policeman Abdul Salam Saif and the escape of a number of inmates convicted of terrorist crimes,” the ministry said in a statement. Thousands of mainly Shi’ite...

A Doha Criminal Court has convicted five expatriate men for engaging in illicit drugs smuggling and sentenced their leader to death by hanging. Local Arabic daily Arrayah reported that four defendants were convicted of smuggling 120kg of hashish and opium in collusion with other unidentified Asians, who had hidden the drugs in three barrels in the Gulf waters. The first defendant, who...

Policemen stand outside al Rajhi Mosque in Riyadh March 11, 2011.REUTERS/Fahad Shadeed REUTERS/Fahad Shadeed 31 December 2016 Six people have been arrested as part of an investigation into ATM fraud, Makkah police said. Local police have dealt with several reports of bank embezzlement involving ATMs, police spokesman Col. Ati Al-Qurashi said Friday. An investigation into bank fraud found the accused persons allegedly installed...