Author: News Desk

The total tons of cargo handled in Saudi ports, supervised by the General Authority for Ports (MAWANI), during the first half of 2020 amounted to 149 million tons, while the total number of exported and imported containers reached 3.4 million coming on board 5,959 ships. According to the statistical index issued by MAWANI, Saudi Arabia’s ports achieved an increase in transshipment, a total of 1.1 million containers, marking an increase of 4.23%, compared to the same period of the previous year. Saudi Arabia’s ports also achieved a 17% increase in total foodstuffs, a total of 14 million tons. This growth…

More than 100,000 cases of COVID-19 are being reported daily in the Americas, half of them in the United States, and there are worrisome spikes in countries that had outbreaks controlled, such as Argentina and Colombia, World Health Organization regional director Carissa Etienne said on Tuesday. “Our region remains under COVID’s grip,” Etienne said in a virtual briefing from Washington with other Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) directors. The United States has reported around 5 million cases and Brazil, with the second worst outbreak in the world, has recorded more than 100,000 deaths. She said there was an increase in…

Bahrain has signed an international solidarity statement to recover the damaged cultural heritage in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Bahrain, an icon of cultural diversity and richness, was represented by both the Arab Regional Center for World Heritage and the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA). The Kingdom was among 27 public, private and international institutions concerned with the preservation and protection of heritage that supported the statement. Text of the statement of solidarity with Lebanon: “We wish to express our solidarity with the Lebanese people for the tragedy that has struck the city of Beirut. We are saddened by…

His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has instructed the Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry to coordinate with the Labour and Social Development Ministry and other competent authorities- each in their capacity, to develop a mechanism to rectify the situation of workers’ accommodation and address the spread of illegal housing in residential neighbourhoods and nearby farms as soon as possible. The Works Ministry was requested to submit a comprehensive report to the Cabinet, including necessarily the revision of the current procedures and legislation regulating the process regarding licensing of labour housing units, periodic control,…

Protest groups in Belarus are trying to use limited access to the Telegram messaging service to coordinate anti-government action, but say an internet shutdown they blame on the authorities has been effective in slowing them down. Mobile phone internet has been offline since protesters clashed with police on Sunday, accusing President Alexander Lukashenko of rigging a landslide re-election win. One person died in a second night of protests on Monday. Limited Wi-Fi internet access is only sporadically available after users install a separate programme, while many social media websites are blocked. Lukashenko has denied the authorities are trying to shut…

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor and auto supplier Aptiv have named their self-driving joint venture Motional, the companies said Tuesday. Formed a year ago, the $4-billion venture is developing a fully automated system that it hopes to begin selling in 2022 to robotaxi companies and fleet operators, Chief Executive Karl Iagnemma said in an interview. “In a post-COVID world, driverless technology is more relevant and important than ever,” he said. “More Americans are interested in ride hailing now than before the pandemic.” Boston-based Motional, which expects to have more than 1,000 employees by year-end, has locations in Pittsburgh, Las Vegas,…

President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia had become the first country in the world to grant regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing, a move hailed by Moscow as evidence of its scientific prowess. The vaccine still has to complete final trials, raising concerns among some experts at the speed of its approval, but the Russian business conglomerate Sistema has said it expects to put it into mass production by the end of the year. Russian health workers treating COVID-19 patients will be offered the chance of volunteering to be vaccinated…

India’s ability to rein in a surging coronavirus outbreak hinges on its 10 most populous states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday, urging regional leaders to ramp up testing and contact tracing. India has more than 2.2 million confirmed coronavirus infections, the third highest tally after the United States and Brazil. “If we can defeat corona in these 10 states, the country will win,” Modi said in a video conference with state chief ministers. The 10 states accounted for 80 percent of its 639,929 active cases and 82 percent of its 45,257 deaths, Modi said. ♦ Former Indian President Pranab…

The Royal Humanitarian Foundation (RHF) is stepping efforts to support the people of Lebanon, in coordination with the Ministries of Health and Foreign Affairs. His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa had assigned the foundation, led by  HM the King’s Representative for Humanitarian Work and Youth Affairs His Highness Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, to dispatch urgent humanitarian relief aid to the people of Lebanon in the aftermath of the massive blast which rocked the capital Beirut. In a statement today, RHF Secretary General Dr. Mustafa Al-Sayyed said that Bahrain’s Charge d’ Affaires to Syria Ali Al-Mahmoud had met Lebanese…

The Public Security Deputy Chief has asserted that the National Medical Taskforce to Combat Coronavirus is the only authority mandated to issue instructions related to precautionary measures against the pandemic. “This approach to regulate activities and events has been adopted since the pandemic broke out in order to ensure the safety of all people”, he said, commending citizens’ awareness and their commitment.