Author: News Desk

Bucharest: Two patients died and a nurse was injured when a fire broke out in a COVID-19 hospital in the central Romanian city of Ploiesti early on Thursday, officials said, the latest in a string of deadly hospital fires over the past year. The fire, which was quickly extinguished, broke out at around 0200 GMT and affected one room. Fifteen patients in the wing were moved to another hospital, Reuters reported. There were more than 17,400 COVID-19 patients, including 310 children, being treated in Romanian hospitals on Thursday, including 1,823 in intensive care units. Romania has the second lowest…

WASHINGTON : Women — and some men — in Congress have been fighting for government child care assistance for almost 80 years. With President Joe Biden’s $1.85 trillion social services package, they are as close as they have ever been to winning. And it’s not just child care subsidies. Biden’s bill making its way through Congress would put the U.S. on course to providing free prekindergarten, paid family leave to care for children or sick loved ones, and an enhanced child tax credit in a massive expansion of federal support to working families. Taken together, it’s Democrats’ answer to President Richard Nixon’s…

BALTIMORE : With Americans facing the highest annual inflation rate in decades, President Joe Biden is trying to persuade the country his infrastructure economic plans can fix the problem. The president heads to the Port of Baltimore on Wednesday for the start of what is likely to be a national tour to showcase the $1 trillion legislation that cleared Congress last week. The president intends to emphasize how the spending can strengthen global supply chains to help lower prices, reduce shortages and add union jobs, the White House says. That message became more critical after the government reported Wednesday that consumer…

TOKYO :  Fumio Kishida, reelected as Japan’s prime minister on Wednesday after his governing party scored a major victory in key parliamentary elections, said the coronavirus remains the country’s most urgent issue and pledged to take steps to mend the pandemic-battered economy. Kishida, who briefly met with U.S. President Joe Biden at the U.N. climate summit last week, said he hopes to visit Washington by the end of the year to deepen the bilateral alliance amid growing concerns about China’s rise in the Indo-Pacific. He said the pandemic, the economy and national security are his top priorities. “Coronavirus remains the…

Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, opened up Tuesday about her campaign for paid family leave, the struggle for gender equity in corporate America, and her own mental health. “Paid leave, from my standpoint, is just a humanitarian issue,” she said in a panel discussion at the DealBook Online Summit Tuesday. The Duchess has been getting on the line with members of Congress to advocate for a federal guarantee. Her remarks echoed an open letter she wrote last month to lawmakers, urging them to recognize paid leave as a “national right.” “This is one of those issues that is not red or…

LOS ANGELES : Rudd, known for his starring roles in Marvel’s “Ant-Man” films, “This is 40” and “Clueless,” was revealed as this year’s winner Tuesday night on CBS’ ”The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” The actor tells the magazine in an issue out Friday that some will be surprised by him receiving the honor. “I do have an awareness, enough to know that when people hear that I’d be picked for this, they would say, ‘What?’” he said. “This is not false humility. There are so many people that should get this before me.” But of course, Rudd won’t turn down…

KENOSHA :  The judge in Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial sent the jury out of the courtroom and berated the prosecutor for questioning Rittenhouse about whether he was using deadly force to protect property. Judge Bruce Schroeder heatedly accused lead prosecutor Thomas Binger on Wednesday of improperly trying to introduce testimony that he had earlier said he was inclined to prohibit. The judge accused Binger of attempting to provoke a mistrial in the case with his line of questioning.

London : A top European Union court on Wednesday rejected Google’s appeal of a 2.4 billion euro ($2.8 billion) fine from regulators who found the tech giant abused its massive online reach by giving its own shopping recommendations an illegal advantage in search results. The European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s top competition watchdog, punished Google in 2017 for unfairly directing visitors to its own shopping service, Google Shopping, to the detriment of competitors. The EU’s General Court ruled that it “largely dismisses” Google’s appeal of that antitrust penalty and is upholding the fine, said an AP report. “The General Court…

Bahrain : The Cowboys Committee in Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (Breef) has recently announced the schedule of  various programmes that will be organised in the new season 2021/2022. The schedule will include several programmes and activities that are dedicated to cowboys in the Kingdom, including the first cowboys’ tournament on December 17, 2021, “Al Kashta” annual activity, which takes place on January 1, the Bahraini Arab Dress competition on February 12, 2022, and the second cowboys’ tournament, which will be the concluding activity. On the occasion, Breef affirmed its keenness to organise diverse programmes, in line with the…

Bahrain :  Sustainable Energy Authority (SEA)’s President Dr. Abdulhussain bin Ali Mirza received Turkish Ambassador to Bahrain Esen Çakıl. Dr. Mirza praised the historical relations between the two countries, which have always been reflected by cooperation in the fields of renewable energy and energy efficiency. SEA president briefed the ambassador on the national plans for renewable energy and energy efficiency and the most prominent existing and future projects in the field of sustainable energy. He highlighted the Kingdom’s goals to reach zero carbon neutrality by 2060, and the opportunities these goals hold to enhance cooperation in the fields of renewable energy…