Author: News Desk

National Guard Commander, General Shaikh Mohammed bin Isa Al Khalifa, met with Chief of Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Air Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu, at the Command headquarters in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. The PAF Chief hailed the visit of the National Guard Commander to Pakistan which comes within the framework of boosting military relations between both countries. The National Guard Commander praised the advanced level of bilateral military cooperation, lauding Pakistan’s role in preserving regional and international security and stability. Both sides discussed issues of common interest and ways of further bolstering bilateral relations of friendship and cooperation mainly…

Even as authorities lock down cities in China’s worst outbreak in two years, they are looking for an exit from what has been a successful but onerous COVID-19 prevention strategy, the Associated Press (AP) reported. A study, interviews with Chinese public health staff and recent public messaging by government-affiliated experts indicate that China is exploring ways of slowly easing its zero-tolerance approach — with the emphasis on slowly. The latest sign came Monday in an essay published by Zhang Wenhong, an infectious disease specialist who is part of Shanghai’s COVID-19 response team and known as China’s “Dr. Fauci” — after…

Labour and Social Development Minister Jameel bin Mohammed Ali Humaidan received Khalid Zayed Ali who presented a copy of his PhD dissertation titled “Role of Bahraini newspapers in prioritizing political issues”. The PhD thesis analyses the impact of Bahraini newspapers in directing public opinions regarding political issues and using journalistic styles in highlighting topics and proposals to officials. The minister stressed the importance of the dissertation and commended the writer’s efforts to rely on field research, scientific style and investigative style.

Registration to join Bahrain College of Teachers will open on Sunday and run until March31, the Ministry of Education announced. The registration is open for Bahraini students, holders of general secondary qualifications, with cumulative average of 80% and above. Students expected to graduate, and who have a current cumulative average of 78% or above, can also submit their applications temporarily, provided that they achieve the required rate upon graduation to complete the application. The applicant must also be expected to graduate from the current academic year 2021/2022, or from graduates of the previous two academic years, from public and private…

A former Russian deputy prime minister who spoke out against the Kremlin’s actions in Ukraine has quit as chair of a prestigious foundation after a lawmaker accused him of a “national betrayal” and demanded his dismissal. Arkady Dvorkovich, deputy prime minister from 2012 to 2018, became one of Russia’s most senior establishment figures to question the war when he told U.S. media this week that his thoughts were with Ukrainian civilians. His comments prompted a senior ruling party lawmaker to demand that he be fired and to accuse him of being part of a “fifth column” undermining Russia. The 49-year-old…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he spoke with the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on Friday and Ukraine expects progress to be made on its application to join the European Union in the coming months. “Had substantial conversation with EC President,” Zelenskiy said on Twitter. “EC opinion on UA (Ukraine) application for #EU membership will be prepared within few months. UA Government and EC are instructed. Moving to our strategic goal together.”

A World Health Organization spokesperson said on Friday that the end of the COVID-19 pandemic was a long way off, citing a rise in cases in its latest weekly data. The U.N. health agency has previously said that the acute phase of the pandemic could end this year but it would depend on how quickly we meet its target to vaccinate 70% of the population in each country, among other factors. Asked by a journalist at a Geneva media briefing about the timing of the pandemic’s end, Margaret Harris said it was “far from over”. “We are definitely in the…

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for a ceasefire in Ukraine during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, a German government spokesperson said. In their nearly hour-long conversation, Scholz also stressed that the humanitarian situation needed to be improved and progress needed to be made in finding a diplomatic solution as soon as possible, said the spokesperson.

Ukraine’s food supply system is falling apart under Russia’s invasion, with infrastructure destroyed and shops and warehouses growing empty, the United Nations said on Friday. Russia fired missiles at an airport near Lviv on Friday, a city where hundreds of thousands found refuge far from Ukraine’s battlefields, as Moscow tries to regain the initiative in its stalled campaign against Ukraine. U.S. President Joe Biden was due to talk with Chinese president Xi Jinping, in an attempt to starve Russia’s war machine by isolating Moscow from the one big power that has yet to condemn its assault. More than three weeks…

Russia has lost any illusions about ever relying on the West and Moscow will never accept a world order dominated by the United States, which is acting like a sheriff seeking to call all the shots in a saloon bar, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. Western nations have imposed sweeping sanctions across Russia’s financial and corporate sectors in response to Moscow’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, plunging Russia’s economy into its gravest crisis since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union. Lavrov, President Vladimir Putin’s foreign minister since 2004, said the West’s reaction to what Moscow has called a “special…