Author: News Desk

Iraqi paramedic Sarmad Ibrahim cut his teeth treating fellow Shi’ite Muslim militiamen in the war against Islamic State. Now, he buries COVID-19 victims – an exhausting task where he must also get to grips with both Muslim and Christian burial rites. “So far, we’re coping,” Ibrahim said as fellow volunteers from the Imam Ali Combat Brigade prepared to handle a coffin just sent from Baghdad. “But if we start receiving more bodies we might not be able to bury according to religious rules.” He and the other team members work at a new cemetery in the southern Shi’ite holy city…

Emirates’ outgoing President Tim Clark on Monday said it could take the state carrier up to four years to resume flying to its entire network that has been decimated by the coronavirus pandemic. The Dubai-based airline, which flew to 157 destinations in 83 countries before the pandemic, grounded passenger flights in March and has since operated few, limited services. “I think probably by the year 2022/23, 2023/24 we will see things coming back to some degree of normality and Emirates will be operating its network as it was and hopefully as successfully as it was,” Clark said in a webcast…

The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic may be waning. For vaccine developers, that could be a problem. Scientists in Europe and the United States say the relative success of draconian lockdown and social distancing policies in some areas and countries means virus transmission rates may be at such low levels that there is not enough disease circulating to truly test potential vaccines, according to Reuters. They may need to look further afield, to pandemic hotspots in Africa and Latin America, to get convincing results. “Ironically, if we’re really successful using public health measures to stamp out the hot spots…

A group of six athletes based in Abu Dhabi smashed the Guinness World Records (GWR) title for the most chest to ground burpees in 24 hours. While the minimum required was 6,000, the team managed to double that with 12,502 burpees in the same allocated time. The team consisted of Eva Clarke, a serial Guinness World Records record-breaker, super-fit trainer and mom of three; Ivan Camponogara, a researcher in human movement science; Daniel Gill, Assistant Director of Wellness at a UAE-based university; Tereza Petrovicova, a student and fitness lover; Brandon Chin Loy, a Computer Engineering senior; and Anna Erdi, a…

A 103-year-old Massachusetts woman who recovered from COVID-19 celebrated with a favorite drink — a cold beer, her family told to CNN. When Jennie Stejna tested positive for coronavirus in late April, her family began preparing for the worst, granddaughter Shelley Gunn said. At one point, her family was told that Stejna had stopped eating and drinking and might not make it through the night. They called her for one last goodbye, Gunn said. When Gunn’s husband, a Navy retiree, asked Stejna if she was ready to pass away, she responded “Hell yeah,” according to the family. “She’s always been…

George Floyd’s murder over racism by a Minneapolis police officer named Kellie Chauvin has set off several protests across the globe both on streets and on social media. #BLM or Black Lives Matter is being widely used to showcase racism. Now, Twitter itself showcased support to the incident by changing display picture from their logo which is a blue bird to a black coloured bird and also changing their bio to #BlackLivesMatter  Earlier, Twitter had showcased their support to the incident by sharing a picture that read #BlackLivesMatter. The caption read, “Racism does not adhere to social distancing. Amid the already growing fear and uncertainty around…

Bahrain MOH has reported that the last 4 deaths recorded in the past 24 hours were due to the delay in reporting immediately after showing the symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19), which led to the deterioration of their health condition. The health ministry confirmed that the immediate reporting after showing the symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) can help in the early detection of the virus, the speed of isolation and early treatment and recovery if tests positive, in addition to the possibility of reducing the numbers of contacts. The ministry urged everyone to call 444 immediately after feeling any symptoms of the virus such as difficulty in breathing,…

Renault has no plans to close its Maubeuge plant in northern France, Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard said on Sunday, two days after the carmaker announced 15,000 job cuts globally as part of a major restructuring. The recovery plan, which would eliminate 4,600 jobs in France, aims to consolidate the Maubeuge site’s vehicle production with that of the nearby Douai plant. “I have no intention of closing the Maubeuge factory,” Senard said on LCI television on Sunday after thousands of employees and family members demonstrated outside the plant the previous day, Reuters reported. Under the proposals unveiled on Friday, parts reconditioning center…

People performed Fajr (Dawn) prayer today in more than 90,000 mosques in various regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, after lifting the suspension of prayers in all mosques. The Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance has completed cleaning, and sterilising mosques in all the Kingdom’s regions, in line with the leadership’s efforts in caring for mosques and preparing them in an organised and healthy way to prevent the spread of any infection, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. The precautionary measures and instructions circulated by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance included social distancing of two…

Saudi Arabia has reported 1,877 new coronavirus infections during the past 24 hours, raising the total to 85,261, according to the health ministry. Meanwhile, 23 more people succumbed to the deadly virus taking the total number of COVID-19 related fatalities in the Kingdom to 503. Ministry also reported 3,559 recoveries, higher than yesterday’s 1,870 recoveries, taking the overall number of recovered cases to 62,442. https://twitter.com/saudiatv/status/1267069291746201602?s=20 Saudi currently has the highest number of cases in the region, however, it is also by far the largest country in the GCC, both in terms of population and area. Also Read: Saudi Arabia: Domestic flights…