Author: News Desk

Minister of Labour and Social Development, Jameel bin Mohammed Ali Humaidan explained that the government has continued its commitment to keeping Bahrain’s communities safe and supporting local businesses during these unprecedented times by paying 50% of the salaries of insured Bahrainis in the most adversely affected enterprises in the private sector for a period of three months, starting from July 2020, from the Unemployment Insurance Fund. The Government’s decision follows the Cabinet’s approval to pay 50% of the salaries of insured Bahraini employees working in the private sector for a period of three months, starting July 2020, after setting the requirements…

China’s banks should brace for a big jump in bad loans due to coronavirus-induced economic pain, the financial regulator said on Saturday, noting the deterioration of asset quality at some small and mid-sized financial institutions was accelerating. China’s Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said in a statement that profit growth would slow sharply at some banks while others could see profits decline. If banks were to make the minimum amount of provisions for their non-performing loans, which some have yet to do, profits for the sector would fall by more than 350 billion yuan ($50 billion), the statement said. Data…

Emirates airline has cut a tenth of its workforce during the novel coronavirus pandemic in layoffs that could rise to 15 percent, or 9,000 jobs, its president said, according to a report on Saturday. The Middle East’s largest carrier, which operates a fleet of 270 wide-bodied aircraft, halted operations in late March as part of global shutdowns to stem the spread of the virus. It resumed two weeks later on a limited network and plans to fly to 58 cities by mid-August, down from about 157 before the crisis. However, its president Tim Clark has said previously that it could…

Jack Charlton, a World Cup winner with England and a former Republic of Ireland manager, has died aged 85. Charlton, the elder brother of Bobby, played 35 times for England as a central defender, including all six matches at the 1966 World Cup. He spent his whole playing career at Leeds United, with whom he won several major honours, including the First Division title in 1969, the FA Cup in 1972 and two Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. After retiring as a player Charlton became a successful manager. He started with Middlesbrough, leading them to promotion to the top division as champions…

Kuwait has reported 478 new coronavirus cases, of which 310 are citizens, taking the total confirmed cases in the country to 54,058, according to the Ministry of Health. 3 patients died of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths to 386. Kuwait has the world’s 33rd highest number of coronavirus infections just over UAE. Meanwhile, 747 new recoveries have been reported in the country, raising the total recoveries to 43,961. Kuwait has done 2,495 NP swab tests in the past 24 hours, as the country ramps up its efforts to test more people and detect cases…

Oman has registered four deaths and 1,083 new cases of coronavirus, of which the majority of the cases are from citizens by 786 and the rest 297 from foreigners, taking the total cases to 54,697. The death toll reached 248 after reporting the new deaths. ♦ Oman to launch nationwide COVID-19 survey from July 12 Meanwhile, 1,030 new recoveries were announced, bringing the total to 35,255. 3,833 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours, across the sultanate. So far 235,044 COVID-19 tests have been conducted. Oman had decided to toughen penalties against COVID-19 violators. This may include publishing the names and…

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates called for COVID-19 drugs and an eventual vaccine to be made available to countries and people that need them most, not to the “highest bidder,” saying relying on market forces would prolong the deadly pandemic. “If we just let drugs and vaccines go to the highest bidder, instead of to the people and the places where they are most needed, we’ll have a longer, more unjust, deadlier pandemic,” Gates, a founder of Microsoft, said in a video released on Saturday during a virtual COVID-19 conference organized by the International AIDS Society. “We need leaders to make…

Epic Games, the creator of the popular video game “Fortnite”, said on Thursday it had received a $250 million investment from Japan’s Sony Corp for a minority stake in the company. Last month, Bloomberg reported that Epic was close to raising a $750 million round of funding, from investors including T. Rowe Price Group Inc and Baillie Gifford, at a valuation of about $17 billion. Epic, which also developed the game engine “Unreal”, in 2018 received $1.25 billion in funding from investors, including KKR & Co Inc. Sony is all set to launch its next-generation console PlayStation 5 later this year,…

Seoul City Mayor Park Won-soon was found dead on Friday, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, after his daughter reported him missing a day earlier. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency found his body at Mt Bugak in northern Seoul, near where his phone signal was last detected during a late night search, Yonhap said. No cause of death has yet been released. It has emerged that a female employee had filed a sexual harassment claim against Mr Park in the hours before he went missing, but there has been no confirmation that this was a factor. He did not show…

Bahrain has announced the death of an 80-year-old male citizen from coronavirus. The death toll have soared to 102. It’s the fourth death from COVID-19 reported today. The MOH expressed its condolences to the family of the deceased. ♦ What are the side effects of post COVID-19?, explains Dr. Jameela Al Salman ♦ Over 1,800 active coronavirus cases are asymptomatic ♦ BDF Hospital continues to take all precautionary measures The total cases have driven to 30,931 of which 26,073 have recovered, which means that over 84 percent of the confirmed cases have recovered from the virus. Currently, there are 4,756 active cases. Also, there are 85…