Author: News Desk

Bahrain’s Ministry of Health reported that the Kingdom had conducted over one million COVID-19 PCR diagnostic tests. In an update on the Kingdom’s COVID-19 response, Bahrain’s Minister of Health Faeqa bint Saeed Alsaleh, confirmed the milestone figure had been reached as part of the ‘Trace, Test, Treat’ strategy that has involved proactive testing on a scale well above many other countries. The Minister highlighted this strategy has resulted in Bahrain conducting 675 tests per 1,000 people, one of the highest rates in the world. Equally, with only 4.8 % of positive cases from total tested, Bahrain is recording cases well…

The Trump administration on Wednesday suspended or terminated three bilateral agreements with Hong Kong covering extradition and tax exemptions, the latest in a series of U.S. moves in response to China’s imposition of strict national security laws over the former British territory. “The Chinese Communist Party chose to crush the freedoms and autonomy of the people of Hong Kong,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted. The State Department cited Beijing’s violation of its pledge for Hong Kong to retain broad autonomy for 50 years after its 1997 reversion to Chinese rule. President Donald Trump already had determined that Hong Kong…

Barcelona officially announced Ronald Koeman as its new coach on Wednesday, a day after club president Josep Bartomeu said the Dutchman accepted the coaching offer and only details needed to be sorted out. “Today is a day to be happy and proud,” Koeman said after being introduced by Bartomeu. “Everyone knows what Barça means to me. It’s my home.” Koeman returns to the club where he thrived as a defender under Dutch great Johan Cruyff in the early 1990s. It was Koeman’s extra-time winner in the final against Sampdoria at Wembley Stadium that gave Barcelona its first European title nearly…

Rich countries should not hoard a coronavirus vaccine and should only give pandemic-related bailouts to companies committed to protecting the environment, helping the most needy and the ‘common good’, Pope Francis said on Wednesday. “It would be sad if the rich are given priority for the COVID-19 vaccine. It would be sad if the vaccine becomes property of this or that nation, if it is not universal and for everyone,” Francis said at his weekly general audience. The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that any nation which hoards possible COVID-19 vaccines while excluding others would deepen the pandemic.…

The Bahrain education ministry is planning a qualification program for students with mild intellectual disabilities and Down syndrome who are over 15 years old that will provide them with the skills that qualify them to get suitable jobs in the labor market. Education Minister Majed bin Ali Al Nuaimi said that the program, to be implemented at the Bahrain Training Institute, will cover 30 students from the intermediate integration schools and will comprise two parts. The first part is the academic educational aspect that will be implemented in the students’ schools three days a week and during which their teachers…

Horse Care Affairs Authority Chairman, Shaikh Duaij bin Salman Al Khalifa, has congratulated the First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sport and President of the Bahrain Olympic Committee, HH Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, following the success of horse “Bahrain Pride”, from the KHK Racing team, in winning a 1200-metre race at UK’s Windsor Racecourse. Shaikh Duaij bin Salman said the victory proves HH Shaikh Khalid’s great support for the KHK Racing team at international events, noting that the exploit adds to the success of the “Riffaa Wonder” from the same team in clinching the…

Barcelona will choose a new coach in the coming days, and it may have a new president next year. The club is also promising “wide-ranging” and “profound” structural changes after one of its most humiliating defeats ever — the 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of the Champions League on Friday. The one big question that remains is whether it will be able to keep Lionel Messi. The team’s biggest star for more than a decade has a contract with Barcelona until 2021, but he hasn’t been hiding his dissatisfaction with the club. Messi has been more outspoken…

Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Minister, Essam Khalaf, has made a field tour to inspect the work flow at the road construction project leading to Al-Lawzi housing project located in Hamad town. Work at the project started in June 2020. The Minister was accompanied by Undersecretary for Works Affairs Ahmed Al-Khayyat, Assistant Undersecretary for Roads Huda Fakhro, Road Projects and Maintenance Director Sayyed Badr Alawi, and Roads Planning and Design Director, Eng.  Maha Khalifa Hamada. The minister announced that the road construction project leading to Al-Lawzi housing project is an important development project on the main road network, which aims…

The Indian Community Relief Fund (ICRF) has organised a farewell meeting through online google meet for Mr. P K Chowdhury, Second Secretary at the Indian Embassy, who is preparing to leave Bahrain by next week. He will be joining the External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi. ICRF team and its regional team members joined the meeting today and thanked him for his support extended to ICRF’s activities. “He has been very active in the Indian community and is easily accessible to the people who come to the embassy with grievances and very passionate about helping people,” stated ICRF. ICRF thanked…

Apple Music is launching several new radio shows hosted by A-list musical acts, including Snoop Dogg, Shania Twain and Carrie Underwood. The streaming service announced that it will debut two new radio stations Tuesday: Apple Music Hits, focused on popular songs of the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s, as well as Apple Music Country, dedicated to the country music genre. Both channels will have daily on-air hosts but will also include several shows hosted by well-known musicians. Apple Music Hits will include shows hosted by Snoop Dogg, Twain, Alanis Morissette, Backstreet Boys, Meghan Trainor, Ciara, blink-182’s Mark Hoppus and Huey Lewis.…