Author: News Desk

India : Aishwarya Rai was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate on Monday in connection with the Panama Papers leak case. She was questioned for almost five hours. Aishwarya Rai waded through a sea of journalists and others as she left the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office on Monday after being questioned for around five hours in the Panama Papers leak case. She appeared before the agency in Delhi. The ED recorded Aishwarya’s statement in the case over allegations of stashing wealth abroad under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999. She had earlier submitted records on the foreign payments under investigation. The ED…

WASHINGTON :  Warning that extremism in the ranks is increasing, Pentagon officials are issuing detailed new rules prohibiting service members from actively engaging in extremist activities. The new guidelines come nearly a year after some current and former service members participated in the riot at the U.S. Capitol, triggering a broad department review. Senior defense officials tell that fewer than 100 military members are known to have been involved in substantiated cases of extremist activity in the past year, but they warn that the number may grow given recent spikes in domestic violent extremism, particularly among veterans. Officials said the…

Geneva :  The World Economic Forum is again delaying its much-ballyhooed annual meeting of world leaders, business executives and other elites in Davos, Switzerland, amid new uncertainties about the omicron variant of the coronavirus. The forum, which repeatedly delayed, moved and finally canceled last year’s event, says the previously planned Jan. 17-21 gathering in the alpine town will now take place in “early summer” — without giving specifics, reports AP. “Current pandemic conditions make it extremely difficult to deliver a global in-person meeting,” the forum said in a statement. “Preparations have been guided by expert advice and have benefited from the…

Bahrain ; Information Affairs Minister Ali bin Mohammed Al Romaihi expressed thanks and gratitude to His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for honouring him, along with other ministry’s officials, with The Prince Salman bin Hamad Medal for Medical Merit”. This came during the ceremony which was held today at Gudaibiya Palace, under the patronage of HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, to honour medical frontliners and officials from the BDF, the Ministry of Interior and supporting entities. Al Romaihi paid tribute to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa…

Bahrain :  Within His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s directives to provide 40,000 housing units, and in line with the order of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, to distribute 2,000 units to the citizens, Housing Minister, Bassim bin Yacoob Al-Hamar, oversaw the distribution of the housing units to beneficiaries at Salman Town today. Al-Hamar affirmed the Housing Ministry’s keenness to ensure easy procedures to the beneficiaries and provide special services to people with determination, noting that the distribution process will continue until the end of December, in implementation…

Bahrain :  The first training programme targeting trainers who deal with victims of trafficking in persons, organised by the Regional Centre of Excellence for Capacity Building in the Field of Combatting Trafficking in Persons, in collaboration with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in the GCC, has concluded. On the occasion, Chief Executive Officer of the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA), Jamal Abdulaziz Al-Alawi, expressed LMRA’s pride in the role played by the Regional Centre of Excellence for Capacity Building in the Field of Combatting Trafficking in Persons to develop and…

Manama, Dec. 20 (BNA): The Deputy King, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, today honoured a number of frontline medical professionals and supporting entites with the “The Prince Salman bin Hamad Medal for Medical Merit”, at a ceremony held under his patronage, at Gudaibiya Palace. During the ceremony, His Royal Highness conveyed the greetings and appreciation of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to the frontline medical professionals and supporting entities for their efforts to mitigate COVID-19 over the past two years. His Royal Highness highlighted that the Royal Order to grant the “Prince Salman…

London : Britain and the Gulf States signaled they were “setting the stage of a new era” for economic ties following a meeting of foreign ministers on Monday. The countries will also begin substantive talks on a free trade agreement in the new year, it was announced after the Gulf’s foreign ministers gathered at Chevening House in Kent in a day-long meeting with Liz Truss. Speaking at her 17th-century grace-and-favour mansion, following talks with the Gulf Co-operation Council ministers Britain’s foreign secretary said an agreement was a “win-win for all parites”. “I want us to have much deeper links in…

India : The Foreign Ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan called on Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 20 December 2021. The Foreign Ministers of the Central Asian countries are visiting New Delhi for participating in the 3rd meeting of the India-Central Asia Dialogue. The Central Asian Foreign Ministers conveyed the greetings of their Presidents to Prime Minister Modi, and emphasized the readiness of their leadership to further strengthen relations with India. They briefed the Prime Minister on the deliberations of the India-Central Asia Dialogue held under the chairmanship of External Affairs Minister of India on 18-19…

Bahrain : Bahrain has won two global awards for its Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) strategy by the fDi Intelligence Awards 2021. The awards are based on the performance of 34 International Promotion Agencies (IPA’s), focusing on IPAs that stood out in rankings published by ‘fDi Intelligence’ in the past year. fDi Intelligence named Bahrain the winner of “fDi’s choice Bespoke Award for Infrastructure developments”. Bahrain was the only GCC country to receive the award in the field of infrastructure developments. According to the fDi Intelligence Awards 2021, the award is in appreciation of the Kingdom’s development projects that have led…