Qatar's numbers have changed - but ours haven't. Our programmers are in the process of making a program to automatically change all numbers, but it is taking them rather longer than established. In the meantime, please double the first digit of numbers in Qatar to make a valid telephone call: for details see Qatar's Number Change.
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Leaving Qatar can be a nightmare, at least according to many employees. However, the bureaucratic confusion is caused by employers' procedures (designed to keep them from assuming employees' debts) not by the actual process of cancelling your visa - as we see in our latest article on Qatar Visitor - Leaving Qatar: Cancelling your Qatar Visa.
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The latest article is now on the site this time featuring an array of delicious Qatar Recipes!
What happens when lightning strikes the Qatar desert?
Just as rain on the sea...
Brings oysters to receive the raindrops that will grow into pearls...
So does lightning on the desert give rise to the desert delicacies known as truffles.
At least, that's what the Qatar Bedouin say.
For more information, see Fran's latest article on Desert Truffles.
Images Attribution
Pearl Image by Feminist Julie
Rain at Sea by Shellorz
Stormy Sunset by Azglenn
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Salukis: Son of the Desert, Wind Drinker, Daughter of the Tent and Desert Eye - just some of the names the Saluki has been called by its Bedouin masters. But is it being forgotten in Qatar? Yousra finds out in her latest article for QatarVisitor.com: Salukis: The forgotten dogs.
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Do you keep your alcohol receipts?
To be honest, I am the sort of person who loses receipts within several hours of receiving them.
But after picking up some booze for a party today and trying to beat a hasty retreat towards the exit, I was warned that perhaps I shouldn't.
"Please wait for your receipt, sir," said the polite lady on the desk.
"I don't need it," I said, imagining some impossible position where employees could claim back their booze against expenses.
"But what if the police stopped you, sir?"
"Well, I have my alcohol permit," I reassured her.
Not enough, apparently.
You should also have proof of purchase to show that you and you alone bought the alcohol.
The police are on the lookout for people who have bought their alcohol illegally - meaning you need proof of purchase, even if you have a permit.
So keep those alcohol receipts!
See Alcohol in Qatar for more information about alcohol rules and regulations in Qatar.
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Whilst researching an article for QatarVisitor.com in Spain John finds outrageous lies in an attempt by Spanish Catholics to defend their destruction of an Islamic mosque famed for its beauty and to cast doubts on the tolerance and achievements of a great era in Islamic history.
When you visit the Grand Mosque in Córdoba, you are presented with a leaflet, ostensibly a tourist guide. However, on reading it, I found it was a blatant piece of propaganda for the Catholic Church's vandalism carried out on the Mosque.
Now, I would not wish to visit the sins of the father on the son, but there is no trace of repentance for the destruction of the work of art that the Mosque undoubtedly was.
Questionable "facts"
One statement that really annoyed me was:
"It is a historical fact that the basilica of San Vicente was expropriated and destroyed in order to build what would later be the Mosque, a reality that questions the theme of tolerance that was supposedly cultivated in the Córdoba of the moment."
Now, according to my research, the Muslims and Christians shared the original building for around fifty years and then the Muslims bought the Christian's half from them in order to build the Mosque. That seems reasonably tolerant to me.
Comparative tolerance
If we are talking about tolerance, lets consider a few more facts. It is well known from historical documents that the Muslims encouraged other races and religions to join in the great cultural movement that was afoot in Córdoba during its Islamic heyday and Christian and Jewish scholars in the University there produced important works.
On the other hand, following the reconquista, "Los Reyes Católicos" expelled all Muslims and Jews who would not convert, conveniently allowing them to top up their treasury with any unsold property left behind.
They also restored the Inquisition, which was responsible for around 12,000 deaths of innocent people, who were tortured until they "confessed" and then burnt alive at the stake. Such tolerance! This time the Catholic Church got its hands on the property of the deceased, allowing it to increase its already considerable wealth and its priests to live in luxury while the peasants starved.
Another Kingly Cock-up!
Apart from the idiot King Carlos III, who gave permission for the destruction of the Mosque without having seen it and then too late realising his error (not mentioned in the Catholic leaflet - how strange), the religiously fanatical Ferdinand (who was from a Jewish background - you know what they say about converts being the worst) and Isabel (the Catholic Monarchs) gave huge tracts of land to their supporters of nobility and left the peasants with insufficient to scratch a living and thus caused a problem in Andalucía which lasted until recent times.
Many of these land owners were absentee landlords and the once fertile, food producing land was left to be grazed by sheep and Spain had to import grain as a result.
The controversy continues.
In April 2010, six Muslims entered the Mosque and started to pray. This horrifying act was quickly jumped on by the security guards and four of the Muslims left quietly. The other two refused, the police were called and they were arrested.
One of the diocesan priests wrote a newspaper article to defend the action. The message was quite clear, this is a Catholic Cathedral, we won't allow people of other faiths to pray here. Tolerance?
As one newspaper cartoon put it, "You can't pray here, this is a church".
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Branson rode into Doha on a jetski yesterday, shooting out a plume of red and white smoke (from the jet-ski, not Branson!), heralding yet another British company's move into the country.
In what must be a bit of a blow for Vodafone, Virgin Mobile has brokered an exclusive deal with Qtel to offer its prepaid mobile phone service.
In some ways, Virgin seems like more of a match for Vodafone in Qatar. I have visited Vodafone's offices, and they are light, colourful and very modern, whereas one imagines Qtel to be a bit of a dinosaur.
But Virgin was the modern challenger to Vodafone in the UK, and in Qatar Vodafone have spurred on Qtel to be far sharper than they used to be, at least in regards to marketing.
Vodafone will certainly need their wits about them now. In the UK Virgin Mobile entered a crowded market and managed to shake it up simply by offering a simple and easy to understand pricing model when every other competitor was using incredibly complicated ones.
An essential element of the company - which is the fastest growing in Virgin group - is the brand, one which is already established here with Virgin Megastore in Villagio.
Virgin is also in Qatar with its cord-blood bank, as Shabina Khatri investigated last year in Qatar's Futuristic Cord Blood Bank.
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www.scootersdirectuk.com - exporting scooters and mobility equipment to the Middle East
