The World School Debating Championships 2010 (WSDC) was opened in an elaborate ceremony last night, where 57 teams from around the world were given a taste of Qatari culture before the ‘battle of the minds’ begins today.

Doha: After two forgettable days, defending champion Tom Boonen is back in the reckoning at the Tour of Qatar, known to be his forte. The Belgian ace showed, he still has the legs to outsprint the world’s best by winning the 136.5km third stage between Dukhan and Mesaieed in a crash marred race yesterday.

Commercialbank shareholders have approved a resolution to issue Qatar Holding, a QIA subsidiary, 10,310,265 additional new ordinary shares at a subscription price of QR78.30 each.

HE Ahmad al-Nasr, undersecretary at the Ministry of Social Affairs, inaugurated the project ‘women empowerment in the remote areas of Qatar’, an initiative to enhance women’s capabilities and help them participate in political and economic spheres of the society.

Qtel Group has concluded a major framework agreement (FA) with Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) to support its long-term development strategy across international markets.

The SustainableQatar group’s monthly meeting discussed, on Monday, how sustainability is a good business, as eco-friendly buildings can reduce the cost and increase revenues.

Doha: A meeting was held by the Qatar Bird Club on Monday evening at the Friends of the Environment Center (FEC) when Dr. Marco Lambertini, Director and Chief Executive of BirdLife International (BI), gave a presentation entitled ‘The Effect of Climate Change on Birds’.