Author: News Desk

Germany will deliver seven self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine, on top of five such artillery systems the Dutch government already pledged, German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Friday. Germany reversed its long-held policy of not sending heavy weapons to war zones last week following pressure at home and abroad for it to help Ukraine fend off Russian attacks. The heavy weapons will come out of the Bundeswehr inventories and be delivered as soon as they emerge from maintenance over the next weeks, Lambrecht and her chief of defence, general Eberhard Zorn, told reporters in the Slovak town of Sliac. The…

The Russian rouble hit a more than two-year high against the euro before easing on Friday and hovered near 67 versus the dollar, supported by capital controls and weak forex demand, as the spectre of more sanctions against Moscow hung over markets. The European Union’s executive on Wednesday proposed the toughest package of sanctions yet against Russia for its actions in Ukraine, but several countries’ worries about the impact of cutting off Russian oil imports stood in the way of agreement. By 1027 GMT, the rouble had lost 0.8% to trade at 70.73 versus the euro , earlier clipping 69.1250,…

Russian forces in Ukraine’s Mariupol continued their ground assault on the Azovstal steel plant for a second day, British military intelligence said in a tweet on Friday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address on Thursday that Russian forces were still storming and shelling the Soviet-era Azovstal plant, where civilians and military forces are sheltering.

As a proactive and positive contribution putting the Kingdom of Bahrain on the global map, BRAVE Combat Federation, founded by is Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Chairman of the General Sports Authority and President of Bahrain Olympic Committee, has become one of the most successful Bahraini exports in the world. BRAVE CF has been directing the attention of the world to the Kingdom of Bahrain since its inception in 2016 as it toured the globe holding events across Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, and South America…

Manama: It’s that time of year again, when Bahrain’s entire aspiring ‘belle of the ball’ gets set to hit the catwalk in their quest to win the coveted Indian Club May Queen Crown. The Indian Club May Queen Pageant has had pride of place on The Club’s calendar for over thirty years and seems to go from strength to strength as the years pass by – well known for both its beautiful contestants and its innovative and exciting stage decors. The Indian Club May Queen 2022 event will take place on the eve of 27th May 2022 (Friday) and is open…

Australia has defended its ties with the Solomon Islands, after the Pacific nation’s leader made a scathing attack on critics of a new China pact. On Tuesday, Solomon Islands PM Mannasseh Sogavare said foreign governments were undermining his country over the security deal. https://youtu.be/scA4XZRYFzk Australia and the US fear China could build a naval base in the region. Australian leader Scott Morrison denied any interference towards his country’s Pacific “family”. In a wide-ranging speech to parliament, Mr Sogavare lashed critics of the agreement, questioned the West’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and lauded China’s treatment of Christians. Without specifically…

Almost three times as many people have died as a result of COVID-19 as the official data show, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) report, the most comprehensive look at the true global toll of the pandemic so far. There were 14.9 million excess deaths associated with COVID-19 by the end of 2021, the U.N. body said on Thursday. The official count of deaths directly attributable to COVID-19 and reported to WHO in that period, from January 2020 to the end of December 2021, is slightly more than 5.4 million. The WHO’s excess mortality figures reflect people who…

Firefighters slowed the advance of the largest wildfire in the U.S. as heavy winds relented Wednesday, while President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration that brings new financial resources to remote stretches of New Mexico devastated by fire since early April. U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez announced the presidential disaster declaration during an evening briefing by the U.S. Forest Service about efforts to contain the sprawling wildfire in northeastern New Mexico, which has fanned out across 250 square miles (647 square kilometers) of high alpine forest and grasslands at the southern tip of the Rocky Mountains, The Associated Press (AP)…

Taiwan signalled on Thursday that it had abandoned a plan to buy advanced new anti-submarine warfare helicopters from the United States, saying they were too expensive. Taiwan had earlier said it was planning to buy 12 MH-60R anti-submarine helicopters, made by Lockheed Martin Corp unit Sikorsky, but domestic media said the United States had rejected the sale as not being in line with the island’s needs. Asked in parliament about recent changes to Taiwan’s purchases of new U.S. weapons, Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng mentioned the helicopter case first. “The price is too high, beyond the scope of our country’s ability,” he…

Beijing returned to work on Thursday after a five-day Labour Day holiday with China’s capital on high COVID alert as it tries to eradicate an outbreak it has managed to limit to dozens of new cases a day for about two weeks. Authorities in Beijing are determined to avoid the fate of China’s commercial hub of Shanghai, where most of its 25 million people have endured more than a month of increasingly frustrating confinement to their residential compounds. The capital’s streets were slightly less busy than on a normal working day as authorities have encouraged people to work from home…