Author: News Desk

DUBAI : Major international airlines canceled flights heading to the U.S. or changed the planes they’re using Wednesday, the latest complication in a dispute over concerns that new 5G mobile phone service could interfere with aircraft technology. Carriers took widely different approaches to the brewing crisis affecting international travel, from Middle Eastern airline Emirates drastically reducing its U.S.-bound flights to Air France saying it would fly as normal. It wasn’t immediately clear why the airlines made those decisions — or whether they took into account that mobile carriers AT&T and Verizon agreed this week to pause the rollout of the new high-speed…

Bahrain :  The Ministry of Health today announced the opening of registration for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged 5 to 11, starting from Wednesday, 19 January 2022. This coincides with the arrival of the first shipment of vaccines specified for this age group. The Ministry stressed the importance of vaccination, particularly for children, to protect them, their families and the community. The Ministry of Health urged all parents who wish to vaccinate their children to register them via the BeAware app, or the Ministry’s website: healthalert.gov.bh. The Ministry noted that the vaccine will be administered at the vaccination centre…

MOSCOW :  Russia maintained a tough posture amid the tensions over its troop buildup near Ukraine, with a top diplomat warning Wednesday that Moscow will accept nothing less but “watertight” U.S. guarantees precluding NATO’s expansion to Ukraine. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who led the Russian delegation at the security talks with the U.S. in Geneva last week, reaffirmed that Moscow has no intentions of invading Ukraine as the West fears, but said that receiving Western security guarantees is the categoric imperative for Moscow. The talks in Geneva and a related NATO-Russia meeting in Brussels last week were held as…

NEW YORK : The New York attorney general says her investigators have uncovered evidence that former President Donald Trump’s company used “fraudulent or misleading” valuations of its golf clubs, skyscrapers and other property to get loans and tax benefits. In a court filing late Tuesday, lawyers for Attorney General Letitia James told a judge they have not decided whether to bring a lawsuit in connection with the allegations, but that investigators should be allowed to question Trump and his two eldest children under oath as part of the civil probe. The Trump Organization issued a statement Wednesday calling the investigation…

Bahrain : Education Minister, Dr. Majid bin Ali Al-Nuaimi, has affirmed that the education of children with special needs in Bahrain enjoys the full support of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, noting that many schools are delivering distinguished services to this segment. Dr. Al-Nuaimi was speaking while patronising the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Awali National School, in the presence of Dr. Shaikha Rania bint Ali Al Khalifa, the Chairperson of the Bahrain Society for Children with Behavioural and Communication…

Geneva:  The worst of the coronavirus pandemic — deaths, hospitalizations and lockdowns — could be over this year if huge inequities in vaccinations and medicines are addressed quickly, the head of emergencies at the World Health Organization said Tuesday. Dr. Michael Ryan, speaking during a panel discussion on vaccine inequity hosted by the World Economic Forum, said “we may never end the virus” because such pandemic viruses “end up becoming part of the ecosystem.” But “we have a chance to end the public health emergency this year if we do the things that we’ve been talking about,” he said, The Associated Press…

Los Angeles : The Grammy Awards ceremony honoring top performances in music has been rescheduled for April 3 in Las Vegas, the Recording Academy and broadcaster CBS said in a statement on Tuesday. The awards had been set to take place on Jan. 31 in downtown Los Angeles, but organizers scrapped that date as the Omicron variant sparked a new wave of COVID-19 infections. Comedian Trevor Noah will host the ceremony, which will be televised and streamed live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Nominations for the 2022 Grammys were announced in November. Pianist and bandleader Jon Batiste led a field…

Bahrain : Commander-in-Chief of the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF), Field Marshal Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, today carried out an inspection visit to a BDF unit. The BDF chief was informed about the unit’s achievements, efforts to enhance combat and administrative readiness, as well as training and rehabilitation programmes. He stressed the importance of concerted efforts to develop the unit, urging everyone to be more dedicated in order to improve the performance level and administrative quality. He gave directives to improve work level, wishing everyone further success in carrying out their patriotic duties for the best interests of the…

Bahrain : His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa today ratified and issued Law (1) of 2022, approving the kingdom’s accession to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity, adopted in October, 2010. The Prime Minister and ministers, each in their own capacity, shall implement the provisions of this law, which comes into force one day after its publication in the Official Gazette.

All the homes on one of Tonga’s small outer islands have been destroyed by a massive volcanic eruption and tsunami, with three people so far confirmed dead, the government said on Tuesday in its first update since the disaster. With communications badly hampered by the severing of an undersea cable, information on the scale of the devastation after Saturday’s eruption had so far mostly come from reconnaissance aircraft. But the office of Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni said in a statement that every home on Mango island, home to about 50 people, had been destroyed, only two houses remained on Fonoifua, and Nomuka island…