Author: News Desk

Russia’s foreign ministry on Saturday said it expected commodity flows with China to grow and trade with Beijing to reach $200 billion by 2024, the Interfax news agency reported, as Moscow looks east in the face of growing western isolation. The ministry said Chinese companies must be wary of the risk secondary sanctions pose, but said Beijing was ready to expand its cooperation with Moscow, Interfax reported.

China will take steps to support its economy, including embattled internet platforms, as risks grow from its COVID-19 outbreaks and conflict in Ukraine, a top decision-making body of the ruling Communist Party said on Friday, lifting markets. The coronavirus and conflict in Ukraine have contributed to economic headwinds in a crucial year for China and President Xi Jinping, who is expected to secure a precedent-breaking third leadership term in the autumn. Private economists have said Beijing’s target for economic growth of about 5.5% this year will be hard to achieve without significant stimulus, as lockdowns and other tough curbs to…

Russia’s most senior lawmaker said on Friday that Ukraine was effectively mortgaging itself to the United States by seeking to tap billions of dollars of weapons loans proposed by U.S. President Joe Biden. Biden on Thursday asked Congress for $33 billion to support Ukraine – a dramatic escalation of U.S. funding for the war with Russia – and the Ukrainian president pleaded with lawmakers to give the request a swift approval. Vyacheslav Volodin, who as the speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament often voices the Kremlin’s views, accused the United States of seeking to profit from the…

Britain will send investigators to Ukraine to help gather evidence of war crimes, including sexual violence, its foreign minister said on Friday. Both Ukrainian prosecutors and the International Criminal Court (ICC) are investigating potential war crimes in Ukraine since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, which the Kremlin calls a “special military operation” to demilitarise its neighbour. Moscow denies committing war crimes in Ukraine or targeting civilians during a war that has killed thousands, devastated many cities and towns and forced five million people, mostly women and children, to flee abroad. Speaking after meeting with ICC officials, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said…

A cargo carrying over 71,000 tonnes of Ukrainian corn finished loading in the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta on Thursday, the first since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the manager of port operator Comvex said. With Ukraine’s sea ports blocked since the war started more than two months ago, the world’s fourth-largest grain exporter has been forced to send shipments by train via its western border or through its small Danube river ports into Romania. “This is the first panamax vessel with Ukrainian corn to leave the port,” Comvex President Viorel Panait told Reuters. The ship taking the…

Manama: Under the patronage of Health Minister Faeqa bint Saeed Al Saleh, the Public Health organized the World Immunisation Week ceremony 2022 titled “Long life for all”. Health Ministry Undersecretary Dr. Waleed Al Manea affirmed the efficiency and safety of the vaccines permitted throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr. Al Manea stressed that the Kingdom is committed to the prevention of infectious diseases targeted by vaccination by working to implement health strategies, developing and following up the progress of work plans and indicators of local programs and strengthening national capacity in this field through integration between all levels of health care. He pointed…

Manama: Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, concluded its Ramadan initiatives by donating Iftar boxes to UCO Parents Care Centre; where the airline’s social committee team handed over the Iftar boxes to the Centre’s Director General Ms. Reema Bin Shams at the Centre’s location in Hidd. Ms. Bin Shams praised Gulf Air’s Ramadan initiatives which contribute to strengthening the bonds of Bahraini society, and appreciated the airline’s interest in various segments of the society based on its principles of corporate social responsibility in extending a helping hand, and its effective role in the communities in which it…

Manama: Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) has postponed an initiative aimed at collecting a voluntary contribution. In a statement today, it announced that the procedures for collecting the optional contribution would be further reviewed in a way that supports the development and growth of the tourism sector in Bahrain.

Manama: The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) announced that it has granted the US Company ‘SpaceX’ the license to offer Starlink satellite and Internet services in Bahrain.  The Kingdom is the first in the GCC to grant a license for this service. Starlink is a new and innovative service that uses a network of satellites along the Earth’s orbit in low altitudes. This allows it to provide fiber-grade internet services to consumers across the world, including those in residential and commercial units, as well as ships and planes. This service will help to maintain the Kingdom’s position, as a leading…