Author: News Desk

After remaining out of the spotlight for a while, ex-Congress IT cell chief and former MP, Divya Spandana ‘Ramya’ has taken to Twitter to launch a scathing attack on her former colleagues. She has accused them of using media to malign her reputation. In a Tweet posted on May 12, Thursday, the Kannada actor alleged that fake news has been planted in the media after she quit the party in an attempt to destroy her credibility. She stated that she didn’t run away and regretted remaining silent all this time. “After I quit, ‘she duped the congress of 8 crores & ran away’ was…

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, took part in the Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition against Daesh, which was held here today. The meeting was co-chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad of the Kingdom of Morocco, Nasser Bourita, and the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs of the United States, Victoria Nuland, and was attended by high-level representatives from the 85 members and international partners. The Minister of Foreign Affairs delivered the speech of the Kingdom of Bahrain at the conference, in which he stressed the importance of continuing…

An international donor conference raised $6.7 billion for Syria and its neighbors on Tuesday despite what the European Union’s foreign policy chief said was “a certain fatigue” with the conflict there, now its 12th year. The pledges, which aim to help reach the United Nations target of $10.5 billion in 2022, were made at a gathering of 55 countries in Brussels. Of the total raised on Tuesday, $6.1 billion is specifically for refugees, asylum seekers and stateless people, the largest budget request since the refugee plan began in 2015. “We are not forgetting the Syrian people and the situation in…

Transportation & Telecommunications Minister and Bahrain Airport Company (BAC) Chairman Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed hosted several of Bahrain’s senior business leaders on a tour of the “Awal Private Terminal”. The minister said the building’s restoration aimed to ensure that the facility retained its cultural identity while being transformed into an advanced private aviation terminal that meets international standards and the needs of VIP travelers. The project represents a major upgrade in the level of services provided at Bahrain International Airport (BIA), helping to reinforce its position among leading international airports. Minister Kamal noted that the Awal Private Terminal’s comprehensive services…

Ukrainian forces reported battlefield gains on Wednesday in a counterattack that could signal a shift in the momentum of the war, while Kyiv shut gas flows on a route through Russian-held territory, raising the spectre of an energy crisis in Europe. Following days of advances north and east of the second largest city Kharkiv, Ukrainian forces were within just several kilometres of the Russian border on Wednesday morning, one Ukrainian military source said on condition on anonymity. Before the advance, Russian forces had been on the outskirts of Kharkiv, a city 40 km (25 miles) from the frontier. The advance…

An Interior Department investigation into the dark history of Indian boarding schools has found “marked or unmarked burial sites” at some 53 schools, Secretary Deb Haaland said on Wednesday. Haaland, the first Native American cabinet member, last year announced the investigation. A former congresswoman from New Mexico and the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary, Haaland in 2020 introduced legislation calling for a Truth and Healing Commission into conditions at former Indian boarding schools. That legislation is still pending. “The consequences of federal Indian boarding school policies … are heartbreaking and undeniable,” Haaland said in a statement.…

Russian diplomat Sergiy Andreev was feeling unwelcome on the streets of Warsaw even before protesters doused him with red liquid thrown in his face at short range this week. Soon after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Andreev, who is Moscow’s ambassador in Poland, found the embassy bank accounts had been frozen. Attempts to meet with Polish officials for any level of diplomatic discussion were impossible, he said. His regular barber refused to cut his hair. Insurance companies denied coverage for embassy cars, Andreev said. “We are practically isolated,” he told Reuters, before the paint incident on Monday, which…

Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc said on Wednesday it has withdrawn a request for policy guidance from its Oversight Board related to content moderation of posts related to Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine. “This decision was not made lightly — the PAO (policy advisory opinion) was withdrawn due to ongoing safety and security concerns,” the company said in a blogpost. In March, Reuters reported the social media platform would allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine invasion. “While the Board understands these concerns, we believe the request…

Manama: KKC Industries WLL (iCOOL), a Chinese manufacturer of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) products has launched a US$10.7 million manufacturing facility in Bahrain. Through its operations in Bahrain, iCOOL will produce and export air conditioning insulation pipes to the Middle East, US, and European markets, utilising Bahrain’s strategic location and duty free trade through its FTAs with 22 countries around the world, including the first ever US FTA with a GCC member. As an HVAC manufacturer, iCOOL serves customers from 130 countries with an annual revenue of US $420 million. Approximately 80% of the machinery used by iCOOL is…

Britain’s heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles and Prince William took centre stage amid the pomp and pageantry of the opening of parliament on Tuesday, replacing the 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth who missed the grand set-piece event with health issues. With the queen forced to withdraw for the first time in almost 60 years, Charles stepped in to read out the government’s legislative agenda at the Palace of Westminster, the first time he has taken on such a major constitutional duty. The queen, the world’s oldest and longest-reigning monarch, has been absent from nearly all high-profile public events in recent months. She was forced…