Author: News Desk

U.S. intelligence has concluded that the Russian military offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants in Afghanistan to kill American troops and other coalition forces, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing officials briefed on the matter. A Russian military intelligence unit linked to assassination attempts in Europe had offered rewards for successful attacks last year, according to the newspaper. It said Islamist militants, or armed criminal elements closely associated with them, are believed to have collected some bounty money. “This primitive informational dump clearly demonstrates low intellectual abilities of the propagandists at the American intelligence service,” Russia’s foreign ministry said…

Spain is to uphold a ban on cruise liners from docking at its ports to stop the spread of COVID-19, according to a ministerial order published on Saturday. Cruise liners carrying thousands of passengers regularly stop off at ports in the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Barcelona and Malaga, but were prohibited when Spain went into lockdown on March 14. With their crowds of often elderly passengers, cruise ships have been especially vulnerable to outbreaks of the virus and have been barred from disembarking in several countries. Spain’s ban on the vessels will continue until the coronavirus epidemic is brought…

Abu Dhabi Sports Council announced the resumption of individual indoor sporting activities across Abu Dhabi, including gyms, which are now able to operate 24/7, provided gym-goers, trainers and technical staff adhere to the prescribed guidelines and precautionary measures. Indoor sporting activities may now resume at facilities including men’s fitness centres, women’s fitness centres, gyms, body building centres, billiards and snooker centres, yoga centres and bowling centres. Key guidelines for facilities include ensuring that soaps, hand sanitisers and gel for hand washing are provided throughout the sports facility. Showers, saunas, changing rooms and prayer rooms are not to be used. A room…

German Chancellor Angela Merkel cautioned Saturday that the coronavirus pandemic is far from over, as regional outbreaks gave rise to fears of a second wave. Merkel said in her weekly video podcast that getting Europe’s economy back on track is her primary goal as Germany takes over the rotating European Union presidency next week, but stressed that everyone shared a “joint responsibility” in following social distancing, mask and hygiene rules as lockdown rules are relaxed. ♦ Germany outbreak sparks fresh local lockdown ♦ German minister stresses coronavirus risk despite low infection numbers German authorities renewed a lockdown in a western region of…

Saudi Arabia has reported 3,927 new cases and 37 deaths from coronavirus, taking the total cases to 178,504. The death toll raised to 1,511 after reporting the new deaths. Meanwhile, 1,657 patients fully recovered from the virus, bringing the total recoveries to 122,128. In line with recent trends, the majority of the new cases were in Al Hofuf (535), followed by Makkah (408) and Dammam (399). https://twitter.com/media_ksa/status/1276855769519063041?s=20

Bahrain has announced two deaths from coronavirus, a male citizen aged 66 and a female citizen aged 80. So far the total has reached up to 78. It’s the fifth death recorded today. The MOH expressed its condolences to the family of the deceased. The total cases have driven to 24,805 of which 19,137 have recovered, which means that over 76 percent of the confirmed cases have recovered from the virus. Currently, there are 5,590 active cases. Also, there are 94 COVID-19 cases receiving treatment, of which 43 are in a critical condition. So far the country has conducted 521,101 tests, as…

Kuwait has reported 688 new coronavirus cases, of which 444 are citizens, taking the total confirmed cases in the country to 44,391, according to the Ministry of Health. 3 patients died of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths to 344. 617 new recoveries have been reported in the country, raising the total recoveries to 34,586. Kuwait has done 3,240 NP swab tests in the past 24 hours, as the country ramps up its efforts to test more people and detect cases early, according to the health ministry. So far, the country has conducted…

India reported over 17,000 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours, pushing the country’s total above 500,000, federal health ministry data showed on Saturday, with infections surging in major cities including the capital New Delhi. India has the world’s fourth-biggest outbreak of the virus that causes COVID-19, below only the United States, Brazil and Russia in confirmed infections, according to a Reuters tally. Infections are expected to continue rising steadily in India. Experts advising the federal government say the authorities should now prioritise reducing mortality over containing the spread of the virus. “Our focus should be on preventing deaths…

Oman has registered 6 deaths and 919 new cases of coronavirus, most of the new cases are from citizens by 517 and the rest 402 from foreigners, taking the total cases to 36,953. The death toll reached 159 after reporting the new deaths. Meanwhile, 881 new recoveries were announced, bringing the total to 20,363. 2,508 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours, across the sultanate. https://twitter.com/OmaniMOH/status/1276803056831623168?s=20

Bahrain has announced three deaths from coronavirus, two male citizens aged 49 and 65 and one male expatriate aged 44. So far the total has reached up to 76. The MOH expressed its condolences to the family of the deceased. The total cases have driven to 24,805 of which 19,137 have recovered, which means that over 76 percent of the confirmed cases have recovered from the virus. Currently, there are 5,592 active cases. Also, there are 94 COVID-19 cases receiving treatment, of which 45 are in a critical condition. So far the country has conducted 521,101 tests, as per the government statics.