Qatar called yesterday on the international community to work closely together in light of the challenges that face sustainable development worldwide.
The challenges are wide-ranging from environmental threats to terrorist attacks and high unemployment and poverty levels, requiring further co-operation to resolve all these problems.
This came during a speech given by Second Secretary at the permanent mission of Qatar at UN Geneva Noor al-Sada at a session held with an independent expert on human rights. The session is part of the 32nd session of the Human Rights Council.
Al-Sada said that those challenges usually exceed the capabilities of a single nation, and as a result require the entire international community working together. Al-Sada highlighted that the foreign policy of the State of Qatar focuses on activating partnerships with other countries in order to achieve sustainable development.

Emir receives  message from Ingushetia leader
HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has received a written message from President of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, pertaining to bilateral relations.  The message was received by HE the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani during a meeting in Doha yesterday with the representative of the President of Ingushetia, Ahmet Palankoev.

Ambassador of Mali presents credentials
HE the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani has received the credentials of Shaykh Ahmad Tijani Diakite as ambassador of Mali to Qatar.
The Foreign Minister wished the new ambassador success in his mission and the bilateral relations further progress and prosperity. A number of Foreign Ministry officials attended the credentials presentation.

One-year suspended sentence
A Doha Criminal Court has sentenced a Sudanese man to one-year suspended sentence for counterfeiting a secondary school certificate for himself.
Local Arabic daily Arrayah reported yesterday that the defendant used to work as a labourer and wanted to get a driving license. So he requested his relatives back home to send him such a certificate to enable him to change his job title and obtain a driving licence.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Qatar where the certificate was submitted for attestation found the document forged. The document was seized and the defendant was referred to the court.

MEC encourages ‘loyalty cards’
The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) has launched a new initiative to encourage the sector of reward and loyalty cards, as part of its efforts for the benefit of both retailers and consumers.
The MEC has called on both customers and retailers to benefit from such cards to establish and enhance more trust and confidence between the retailer and the consumer.
Besides, many studies indicate that 87% of consumers in the Middle East prefer shopping at the outlets that use such cards and 75% of them prefer the outlets that give gifts as part of the reward and loyalty programme.