Author: News Desk

ABU DHABI :  The UAE and Israel signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen their tourism and economic cooperation and reinforce their bilateral ties. The MoU was signed by Dr. Ahmed Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State of Entrepreneurship and SMEs and Chairman of the Emirates Tourism Council, and Yoel Razvozov, Israeli Minister of Tourism, who is currently visiting the UAE. Dr. Al Falasi said the MoU signing took place under the framework of the Abraham Accords between the two countries and the efforts to boost economic cooperation and create partnerships in many areas. The UAE has become a…

Beijing :  Be it sports, politics, hacking or war, the recent history of Russia’s relationship with the world can be summed up in one phrase: They get away with it. Vladimir Putin’s Russia has perfected the art of flouting the rules, whether the venue is the Olympic arena, international diplomacy or meddling in other countries’ elections from the comfort of home. And it has suffered little consequence for its actions. At the Beijing Winter Olympics, Russia the country isn’t here — technically. Its athletes are competing under the acronym ROC, for Russian Olympic Committee, for the third time. The national colors and…

Helsinki :  Finland signed a $9.4 billion agreement on Friday to buy U.S. F-35 fighter jets, reaching a deal to bring 64 radar-evading warplanes to a country bordering Russia at a time of high tensions between Moscow and the West over Russian troops massed near the Ukrainian border. However it will be some years before the planes enter service. Finland has previously said the planes would begin to be deployed in 2027. In addition to the planes, the contract with U.S. government and planemaker Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) includes maintenance equipment, spare parts and training services, Finnish Defence Forces said in…

Bahrain : Under the patronage of the Assistant Chief of Public Security for Operations and Training Affairs, Major-General Dr. Shaikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, a graduation ceremony of a training course “intervention techniques” was organised. Security Attaché at the French Embassy attended. Organised by the Training Directorate in cooperation with the French Embassy and coordination with the Joint Counterterrorism Centre, the course was held from January 30 to February 10. The training was held for Special Security Force personnel. The Assistant Chief asserted that the course was part of the development strategy adopted by Interior Minister and follow up…

US President Joe Biden has called on all American citizens remaining in Ukraine to leave the country immediately, citing increased threats of Russian military action. Mr Biden said he would not send troops to rescue Americans if Moscow invades Ukraine. He warned that “things could go crazy quickly” in the region. Russia has repeatedly denied any plans to invade Ukraine despite massing more than 100,000 troops near the border. But it has just begun massive military drills with neighbouring Belarus, and Ukraine has accused Russia of blocking its access to the sea. The Kremlin says it wants to enforce “red lines” to make…

WASHINGTON :  President Joe Biden is expected to issue an executive order on Friday to move $7 billion of the Afghan central bank’s assets frozen in the U.S. banking system to fund humanitarian relief in Afghanistan and compensate victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to a U.S. official familiar with the decision. The order will require U.S. financial institutions to facilitate access to $3.5 billion of assets for Afghan relief and basic needs. The other $3.5 billion would remain in the United States and be used to fund ongoing litigation by U.S. victims of terrorism, the official said.…

French President Emmanuel Macron refused a Kremlin request that he take a Russian COVID-19 test when he arrived to see President Vladimir Putin this week, to prevent Russia getting hold of Macron’s DNA. As a result, the visiting French head of state was kept at a distance from the Russian leader during lengthy talks on the Ukraine crisis in Moscow. Observers were struck by images of the two leaders sitting at opposite ends of a 4m-long table on Monday during their talks, with some diplomats and others suggesting Mr Putin might be wanting to send a diplomatic message. But two sources…

Bosses at Heathrow Airport on Friday said it had suffered a slow start to 2022 after 1.3 million passengers had their travel plans ruined by the Omicron variant of coronavirus, although there is hope of a summer rebound. The London airport said many passengers either cancelled or did not book trips at all during December and January, with travel demand in January 56 per cent down on pre-coronavirus levels. Heathrow, usually one of the world’s busiest airports, expects to be only half as busy this year as it was before the pandemic, and is banking on a booming summer holiday season to offset the sluggish…

The Oscars will be back to its glistening pre-pandemic glory this year, returning to Los Angeles’s Dolby Theatre with a full-scale event on March 27. Guests will be required to show a negative PCR or rapid antigen test taken on the day of the event, it is being reported that proof of vaccination against Covid-19 will not be he Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will not mandate proof of vaccine, with or without a booster shot, for those attending the ceremony. However, the academy requires its own employees to be vaccinated.  Oscars will be adhering to the minimum safety requirements set out…

Paris : French researcher Luc Montagnier, who won a Nobel Prize in 2008 for discovering the HIV virus and more recently spread false claims about the coronavirus, has died at age 89, local government officials in France said. Montagnier died Tuesday at the American Hospital of Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a western suburb of the capital, the area’s city hall said. No other details have been released. Montagnier, a virologist, led the team that in 1983 identified the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which causes AIDS, leading him to share the 2008 Nobel Prize in medicine with colleague Francoise Barré-Sinoussi. French President…