Author: News Desk

North Korea fired what is thought to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) toward the sea off its east coast on Thursday, militaries in South Korea and Japan said. It would be the first full-capability launch of the nuclear-armed state’s largest missiles since 2017, and represent a major escalation in the North’s development of weapons potentially able to deliver nuclear warheads anywhere in the United States. The North’s return to major weapons tests also poses a new national security headache for U.S. President Joe Biden as he responds to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and presents a challenge to South Korea’s…

New daily COVID-19 cases in the Chinese commercial hub of Shanghai remained close to 1,000 on Thursday as authorities scrambled to identify and isolate asymptomatic infections, though a leading expert said the outbreak was being contained. Though the number of cases in Shanghai remains small by global standards, the densely populated city has become a testing ground for China’s “zero-COVID” strategy as it tries to bring the highly infectious Omicron variant under control. In a meeting on Wednesday, Shanghai’s Communist Party leaders emphasised the need to continue testing, implementing “closed loops” and cutting off transmission chains in order to bring…

Recovery crews searched in light rain for a second black box from a China Eastern Airlines passenger plane that plunged into a mountainside with 132 people on board, as more information emerged about the pilots of the flight. A first black box found on Wednesday was the cockpit voice recorder based on an early assessment, a Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) official told reporters. The recording material appeared to have survived the impact in relatively good shape, and was being sent to Beijing for analysis, the official said. The cockpit voice recorder would provide investigators with details of the communications…

A senior Taiwanese official said on Thursday he did not see China adopting a “reunification law” as it would put too much pressure on Beijing to set a timetable for bringing the island under its control, which could severely raise tensions. China, which views democratically run Taiwan as its own territory, has not officially proposed such legislation, which would be a follow-up to a 2005 law giving Beijing the legal basis for military action if it judges Taiwan to have seceded or to be about to. But it has been discussed in state media, and last week a spokesperson for…

Bahrain’s Deputy Prime Minister H.E. Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa today inaugurated the Lulu Group’s anchor store in the new waterfront retail space at the Danaat Al Lawzi project in Hamad Town. He was welcomed by LuLu Group Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Yusuffali M.A., alongside H.E. Zayed Rashid Alzayani Minister of Industry, Commerce & Tourism, H.E. Engineer Basem bin Yaqoub Al Hamar, Minister of Housing, Indian Ambassador Mr. Piyush Srivastava, Mr. Ahmed Jaafar Mohammed Al Hayki Assistant Undersecretary for Labour Affairs at the Ministry of Labour and Social Development, RHF Secretary-General Dr. Mustafa Al Sayed other VIP dignitaries & Senior officials of LuLu Group. Also…

Saudi Education Minister Dr. Hamad bin Mohammed Al Al-Shaikh received the Ambassador-designate of Bahrain to Saudi Arabia Shaikh Ali bin Abdulrahman bin Ali Al Khalifa. The meeting reviewed the historical relations between the two kingdoms, and their steady growth in all fields. They discussed aspects of cooperation in the field of education, especially in the exchange of scholarships, and the promotion of opportunities to study and exchange students in the two brotherly countries to Bahraini and Saudi universities. The two sides emphasized the importance of exchanging scientific expertise and educational activities in a way that serves common interests and meets…

New Zealand will remove many of its COVID-19 pandemic mandates over the next two weeks as an outbreak of the omicron variant begins to wane. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Wednesday that people will no longer need to be vaccinated to visit places like retail stores, restaurants and bars from April 4. Gone, too, will be a requirement to scan QR barcodes at those venues. A vaccine mandate will be scrapped for some workers including teachers, police officers and waiters though it will continue for health care and aged care workers, border workers and corrections officers. Also gone from Friday…

A delegation from the parliament participating in the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)’s 144th assembly met with a delegation from the Indian parliament in Bali. Shura Council First Deputy Chairman Jamal Mohammed Fakhro represented the delegation. The delegation noted that the growing Bahraini-Indian relations reflect the leaderships’ keenness to strengthen of the economic cooperation, trade exchange and exchange of experiences in various fields. The Indian delegation praised the friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries.

Chief of Public Security Lt-General Tariq Al Hassan participated in the meetings of the Arab forum to reinforce international anti-corruption cooperation in the Saudi capital Riyadh. Lt-General Al Hassan highlighted Bahrain’s remarkable regional and international achievements in its fight against corruption, and affirmed the importance of such meetings in reinforcing the exchange of anti-corruption expertise and successful experiences. The forum included three sessions that focused on promoting joint Arab work and efforts to promote integrity and combat corruption. Al Hassan and President of the Saudi National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha) Mazen Al Kahmous signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU). The Chief said…

Japan lifted a power-supply warning for Tokyo and surrounding areas as supply stabilized, a day after the government had warned of possible blackouts in the aftermath of an earthquake last week. The warning was lifted at 11:00 JST (02:00 GMT), after the government issued an urgent call the previous day to save energy, to which businesses and households responded by dimming lights and turning down thermostats. Although Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), which powers the capital and its surrounding areas, had warned that as many as 3 million households could lose power in the evening on Tuesday, Japan managed to…