Habib Toumi

Qatar’s villa rents are likely to plummet further as businesses other than beauty parlours, nurseries and health clinics currently operating from villas in residential areas have been asked by the government to move to commercial premises starting November.

Numerous villas currently being used as offices are expected to be vacant as a result, and come on the rental market for residential use, thus adding to already abundant supplies, Qatari daily The Peninsula reported.

Real estate experts say they expect the villa rental market will receive a further jolt by the end of this year and a serious spillover impact might also be felt by apartment rents. continue reading…

Al Mannai United, a Qatar based group, has inked an agreement with the Fiza Social Welfare Organization of Pakistan for the co-operation of 10,000 houses for homeless middle-class people in Pakistan.

Ahmad Abdullah Isa Al Mannai, Chairman of Al Mannai United, said after the signing ceremony that he would give a subsidy of $5,000 on each house built by Fiza Social Welfare Organization. The project would be named Al Mannai Housing Projects Pakistan, Qatari daily The Peninsula reported. continue reading…

Iran’s new ambassador to Iraq is an important figure in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and resents the Kurdish inclination towards separatism.

Hassan Danaifar, born in Baghdad in 1962, was deported with his family by Saddam Hussain during the Iraq-Iran war (1980-88) because of his Iranian origins and initially joined the Badr militia, Kuwaiti daily Al Watan reported on Friday, quoting Iraqi media.

He has served as deputy commander of the naval forces of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). continue reading…

Kuwait’s Union of Consumer Cooperative Societies has pledged to work on decreasing the prices of around 400 food and non-food commodities by up to 55 percent, in attempt to ease financial pressure on consumers during the holy month of Ramadan.

“The union is keen on providing the best available goods at the most suitable prices during the holy month of Ramadan to decrease the financial burden on citizens and residents,” Hussain Al Duehis, the union president, told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA). “Such efforts by the union will not be confined to Ramadan and will be constant and regular.”
Al Duheis said that the union had already lowered prices of around 100 commodities by between 5.5 and 26 per cent.

Ramadan, Muslims’ holiest month, is expected to start on August 11, depending n the sighting of the crescent. Muslims use a lunar calendar to determine religious events. continue reading…

A Bahraini lawmaker in the outgoing parliament has urged the powerful business community chamber to come forth and declare fully its support of candidates for the legislative elections.

“Bahrain Chamber for Commerce and Industry (BCCI) needs to clarify its support to candidates so that there would be no abuses,” Jassem Husain said. “There are several candidates who have been claiming that they had special rapports with the business community and that they were backed by the chamber, so there is a need to put an end to this confusion,” he said.

Jassem, a business analyst and professor who represented Al Wefaq, the largest parliamentary bloc, in the 2006-2010 parliament, said that he welcomed the presence of more economists in the lower chamber to help boost economy-related issues.

“Unfortunately, I do not expect more economists to be voted in,” he said. “Al Wefaq will nevertheless focus a lot of its efforts and work on economic issues.”

The BCCI has repeatedly said that it would support candidates who would uphold the business community interests and explain its views during debates at the lower chamber of the bicameral parliament. continue reading…

A Qatari ban on two international shampoo variants has not been lifted as the local authorities are discussing the issue with a delegation from the manufacturing company.

Qatari media reported that a high-level delegation from Procter & Gamble Arabian Peninsula (P&G) on Thursday failed to convince Qatari officials that P&G’s banned shampoo brands met the quality standards set by the country.

Unnamed sources told The Peninsula that data provided by Qatari officials related to the results of tests on the banned products that found that they contained “very, very marginal” levels of 1,4-dioxane, a chemical that can cause cancer, beyond the permissible limits. continue reading…

An analysis paper on the role of pipelines in energising peace and cooperation instead of sparking competition and tension in the region will be soon released by a research centre in Qatar.

The paper “Energizing Peace: The Role of Pipelines in Regional Cooperation”, by the Brookings Doha Center discusses competition over natural resources, such as gas and oil, and details how it can quickly turn into conflict as competing factions – be they individuals, ethnic groups, or governments – vie for control.

While there has been much scholarship of how oil and gas have created tensions among regional actors, very little attention has been paid to the propensity for oil and gas as a means of conflict prevention between rival neighbouring states, a Brookings Doha Center press note said.

“In this new analysis paper, Brookings Doha Center Visiting Fellow Saleem H Ali presents research findings on existing pipeline systems in the Middle East and North Africa in order to glean lessons for South Asian pipeline proposals”, the press note said, quoted by Qatari daily The Peninsula. continue reading…

Kuwait’s education ministry has published the names of 62 Arab colleges and universities where Kuwaiti nationals could have their higher studies.

Only degrees and diplomas from the endorsed private and public universities would be recognized by the ministry in a move that seeks to bring under control the ruckus that has rocked the local scene amid charges that some graduates “purchased” the certificates that gave them jobs and employment promotions.

The list includes only two universities from Bahrain, the state-run University of Bahrain, and the Arabian Gulf University, but none of the 18 private colleges and universities that were for years favoured by Kuwaiti nationals. continue reading…

Eman, the 15-year-old Kuwaiti girl who absconded from a house in Florida where her family was vacationing, has been found safe and unharmed.

Dean Sparks, Lincoln County Deputy Sheriff, said that Eman who was vacationing with her family in Kissimmee, Florida, was found living with an American family in McCook, a small city in Southwest Nebraska with a population of approximately 8,000. continue reading…

Al Asala, Bahrain’s second largest parliamentary bloc, has defended its decision to support independent elections candidates as part of its strategy to “serve the nation.”

The society, the flagship of Salafism in Bahrain, has a major alliance with the Islamic Menbar, the third largest parliamentary bloc in the outgoing lower chamber, to work together and avoid competition by fielding candidates in separate constituencies and by supporting each other other’s nominees.

However, the Islamic Menbar with seven representatives in the 40-seat lower chamber wants the two societies to focus on their partnership and not engage in supporting independent candidates or nominees from other political formations vying for a foothold in parliament.

But, Al Asala, with eight lawmakers, far behind Al Wefaq which had 17 MPs in the 2006-20210 parliament, is keen on reinforcing its position by supporting independent candidates who would, if elected, reinforce its stances in the lower chamber or even join its ranks. A similar scenario occurred in 2006 when independent MPs said that they would be under Al Asala umbrella. continue reading…