Author: News Desk

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates :  Dubai’s Expo 2020 on Saturday acknowledged that five workers had been killed on site during construction of the massive world’s fair, revealing for the first time overall statistics for worker fatalities. Expo previously said that its 200,000 laborers who built the site worked some 240 million hours in its construction. It had not offered any overall statistics previously on worker fatalities, injuries or coronavirus infections despite repeated requests from The Associated Press and other journalists. The admission comes after the European Parliament last month urged nations not to take part in Expo, citing the United Arab…

Taiwan has sharply criticised China after Beijing marked the founding of the People’s Republic of China with the largest ever incursion by the Chinese air force into the island’s air defence zone. Chinese-claimed Taiwan has complained for a year or more of repeated missions by China’s air force near the democratically governed island, often in the southwestern part of its air defence zone close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands. Taiwanese fighters scrambled against 38 Chinese aircraft in two waves on Friday, the Taiwan Defence Ministry said. It said Taiwan sent combat aircraft to warn away the Chinese aircraft, while missile systems were…

Abu Dhabi  With the stunning and unprecedented opening ceremony of Expo 2020 Dubai, the UAE has proved that it can challenge the impossible as desired by its prudent leadership under its vision to explore the future that would open the doors of hope for humanity and reflect in its capability to overcome challenges and difficulties facing the world. The opening ceremony of the Expo 2020 Dubai, which represented a harmonious and impressive mixture, brought together the whole world with its various spectrums, including different cultures and civilisations in one place. The event started a new era of excellence and achievement…

Worldwide deaths related to COVID-19 surpassed 5 million on Friday, with unvaccinated people particularly exposed to the virulent Delta strain. The variant has exposed the wide disparities in vaccination rates between rich and poor nations, and the upshot of vaccine hesitancy in some western nations. More than half of all global deaths reported on a seven-day average were in the United States, Russia, Brazil, Mexico and India. While it took just over a year for the COVID-19 death toll to hit 2.5 million, the next 2.5 million deaths were recorded in just under eight months, according to a Reuters analysis.…

UAE :  An Abu Dhabi air ambulance flown by the emirate’s police has crashed, killing four people. The Abu Dhabi police gave no details Saturday on the location or cause of the crash. Police said the victims included two pilots (Lieutenant Colonel Pilot-Instructor Khamis Saeed Al Holy and Lieutenant Pilot Nasser Mohammad Al-Rashidi), a civilian doctor (Shahid Farouq Gholam) and a civilian nurse (Joweil Qeyoui Sakara Mineto).

Riyadh : An official source at Saudi the Ministry of Interior stated that referring to what was previously announced, regarding the requirement of immunisation starting on Sunday, August 1, 2021, in order to enter government, private and educational activities, events and facilities and use of public transportation, and based on what the health authorities have submitted about what has been proven by the competent national and international scientific authorities of the importance of completing the doses of the approved vaccine to control the spread of the virus, especially the variant strains, the Ministry of Interior decided the following: First: Requiring…

The University of Bristol has sacked a sociology professor accused of antisemitic comments following a high-profile investigation and after Jewish students said they felt “unsafe and unprotected” on campus. The university launched the investigation into Prof David Miller’s conduct in March. The case divided the campus between staff and students who accused him of spouting antisemitic tropes in lectures and online, and those who worried that sanctions would stifle sensitive research. In a statement released on Friday, the university said the decision to terminate his employment with immediate effect was prompted by its duty of care to students and the wider university community. Bristol said that…

For the Expo 2020 Dubai opening ceremony’s final act, Al Wasl Plaza was transformed into a magical garden with dancers in fantastical costumes representing blossoming flowers. At the centre of the stage rose a huge silver and white ghaf tree, the UAE’s national tree, as Grammy Award-winning Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli walked out to perform his rousing hit The Prayer. https://youtu.be/OMDO0_Qzqe4 In the UAE, the ghaf, which goes by the scientific name prosopis cineraria, has cultural, historical and environmental significance. Declared as the national tree in 2008, the indigenous tree can tolerate harsh conditions and live for 120 years. Ghaf leaves…

Tokyo : Japan fully came out of a coronavirus state of emergency for the first time in more than six months as the country starts to gradually ease virus measures to help rejuvenate the pandemic-hit economy as the infections slowed, the Associated Press (AP) reported. At Tokyo’s busy Shinagawa train station, a sea of mask-wearing commuters rushed to their work despite an approaching typhoon, with some returning to their offices after months of remote work. The emergency measures, in place for more than half of the country including Tokyo, ended Thursday following a steady fall in new caseloads over the…

Bahrain : Under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saud Culture Minister Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan  inaugurated the Riyadh International Book Fair 2021. The opening ceremony was also attended by outstanding Saudi, Arab and international cultural figures and leaders, including Prince Turki Al-Faisal; Prince Abdurrahman bin Musaed bin Abdulaziz; Chairman of the Board of Directors of General Entertainment Authority (GEA) Turki bin Abdulmohsen Al Al-Sheikh. In addition to   ambassadors, ministers and cultural officials from friendly countries. The ceremony began with the official inauguration of the fair by the…