Ninth century settlements found in Qatar

August 15th, 2009 Qatar acquire 17% Porsche stakeDOHA, Qatar — Qatar Holding has announced it will acquire a 17 percent stake in Volkswagen AG, which is merging with Porsche, in a deal that will exceed $10 billion. This comes after the Porsche and Piech families said it will sell a 10 percent stake of their shares to the Gulf company.

August 14th, 2009 SOFIA - A team of archaeologists has discovered over 7,500 fragments of frescos during excavations in the church of the monastery complex in the Karaach Tepe area near the town of Varna in north-western Bulgaria. According to a report in Balkan Travellers, in addition to the fresco fragments, the archaeologists discovered parts of saints' clothes and letters with their names, national media reported today.

August 1st, 2009 ANKARA - A team of archaeologists has discovered a castle and an ancient city thought to be almost 1,400 years old in southern Osmaniye province in Turkey. According to a report in Today's Zaman, excavations in the area, carried out by teams from Kocaeli University's archaeology department with the permission of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, first revealed the ruins in 2006.

July 29th, 2009 DOHA - Recent excavations conducted in Qatar has resulted in a substantial number of new sites being discovered and significantly more archaeological research in the region, which may revamp the whole history of the nation written so far. According to a report in The Peninsula On-line, there has been a notable increase in the amount of archaeological field work being conducted in Qatar covering the ancient to the Islamic periods.

July 27th, 2009 LONDON - Archaeologists have uncovered remarkable evidence that stone age man lived in the centre of Birmingham, UK, more than 10,000 years ago. According to a report in Birmingham Post, the settlers used basic flint knives to hunt and cut meat and used fire to clear areas of woodland for grazing and growing food.

July 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Archaeologists have found a stone inscription at Periyanayaki Amman temple in Palani, Tamil Nadu, dating back to 17th century that mentions a solar eclipse that took place at that time. Periyanayaki Amman temple is one of the important satellite shrines of Arul­mighu Dhandayuthapani Swamy temple in Palani.

July 7th, 2009 TOKYO - Shards of an Islamic ceramic vase have been excavated at the former site of Heijokyo palace, in Japan, dating back to the 8th century, making it the oldest uncovered in Japan. According to a report in the Asahi Shimbun, the 19 pieces of what is believed to be a vase more than 50 centimeters tall date back to the late eighth century, about 100 years earlier than Islamic ceramics found in Fukuoka Prefecture.

July 1st, 2009 DOHA - About sixteen Indians were feared to be among 30 dead in a tragic incident in which as a vessel, 'Damas Victory', hired by a Qatar based oil-firm capsized off the coast of Qatar on Wednesday. The incident took place about two nautical miles off Doha at around 6.30 am local time on Tuesday, the vessel had 35 people including 19 Indians on board.

June 27th, 2009 KUALA LUMPUR - A Malaysian man is appealing to his former girlfriend to stop circulating his nude pictures and to destroy them. Ng Lum Heng, 44, has sought the help of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) Public Services and Complaints Department after the woman e-mailed his nude pictures to his wife, friends and colleagues.

June 24th, 2009 SYDNEY - A team of international scientists has suggested that over-development of water infrastructure and extreme climate fluctuations were responsible for the collapse of the ancient Cambodian city of Angkor. According to a report in The Australian, the team comprised of Sydney University archeologist Roland Fletcher and his GAP (Greater Angkor Project) co-director, Sydney University paleo-climatologist Dan Penny, and paleoclimatologist Brendan Buckley of New York's Columbia University.

June 5th, 2009 LONDON - A 16th century gold crucifix that was found in North Nottinghamshire (Notts), UK, along with a silver whistle dating back to the same period, have been declared treasure. According to a report in the Evening Post, the crucifix was found in the Tuxford area on August 21 with the use of a metal detector.

May 9th, 2009 Americans Padgett, Felix cruise to wins in QatarDOHA, Qatar — Travis Padgett and Allyson Felix of the United States won the men's 100 meters and women's 400 at the Qatar Super Grand Prix on Friday. Padgett equaled the year's best time of 10 seconds, pushing Jamaica's Michael Frater to second in 10.15 and Britain's Marlon Devonish to third.

January 23rd, 2009 DOHA - A solid back nine with three birdies saw India's top golfer Jeev Milkha Singh finish the third round in two-under 70 to move up to tied 31st with one more round to go in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters golf tournament here Saturday. Meanwhile, Jyoti Randhawa shot an even par 72 to drop from 25th to 36th.

January 21st, 2009 DOHA - India's top golfer Jeev Milkha Singh made a sedate start at the Qatar Masters with a two-under 70 in the opening round here Thursday. Jeev, who moved up two places last week to a career-high No.

January 15th, 2009 KUWAIT CITY/DOHA - The head of militant Palestinian organisation Hamas' political bureau in Damascus, Khaled Meshaal, has said that the group will not accept any preconditions to a ceasefire by Israel in the Gaza Strip. Meshaal was speaking Friday before a meeting of Arab leaders in Qatar, adding that the Palestinian movement in Gaza 'had not suffered a defeat', and that they would therefore not accept any preconditions of the opponent.