Author: News Desk

Sydney: Western Australia (WA) Premier Mark McGowan on Monday said he does not plan to reopen the state’s borders until 2022, amid ongoing Covid-19 outbreaks in the country’s east. McGowan said he wants vaccination rates between 80 and 90 per cent before setting a date to allow people from New South Wales (NSW), Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which are dealing with outbreaks, to travel to the state. “We have opened at various points of time along this road and I expect we will open again once we get to very high levels of vaccination. I expect that…

New York : Hurricane Ida’s death toll continued to rise, with many in the U.S. Northeast holding out hope for people missing in the floodwaters, while nearly 600,000 customers in Louisiana still lacked power a week after the storm made landfall. Ida slammed into Louisiana on Aug. 29 as a powerful Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 150 miles per hour (240 kph). The latest death toll there rose to at least 13 people on Sunday. The storm weakened as it moved north but still unleashed flash flooding on the East Coast that killed at least 50 more people,…

Bahrain : Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Chairman Sameer Abdulla Nass praised the role of the local press in  highlighting challenges in order to reach solutions that serve the national economy. Receiving a Bahrain Journalists Association (BJA) delegation led by Chairman Isa Al Shaiji, he reiterated support to the media, praising the national press for its pioneering role in supporting development and highlighting the economic situation in total transparency and raising issues that serve the private sector. Al Shaiji praised  the crucial role played by the chamber in supporting  the national economic development and contribution to efforts to…

The United Arab Emirates announced a new class of visas on Sunday, the latest step in a series of moves aimed at attracting talent and boosting growth. “Green Visas” will allow expatriates to apply for work without being sponsored by an employer, targeting investors and highly skilled workers as well as top students and graduates. Green visa holders will be able to sponsor their parents and children up to the age of 25 on their permits. The government also said it would allow people who’ve lost their jobs to remain in the country for up to 180 days, a major…

Bahrain : The Ministry of Information has launched a comprehensive awareness program “We resume with Caution and Responsibility) that coincides with the return of all employees to offices following remote work from home. The campaign, carried out by the Occupational Safety, Security and Health Committee, included highlighting the most important procedures and precautions to be taken while working in offices and the requirements for social distancing between employees. More than 20 volunteers among the ministry employees participated in sanitizing all the offices over three days. On Sunday, they conducted more than 100 rapid antigen tests, provided awareness kits to employees…

Bahrain :  Minister of Foreign Affairs,  Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, today participated in the “Missile Dialogue Initiative” workshop, organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), in the presence of a number of senior officials, and with the participation of several experts, specialists and speakers. The workshop was held with the support of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany. The workshop aims to enhance international cooperation and discussion, encourage high-level exchange of views on missile technologies and related global security dynamics, as well as address missile technology trends and their implications.

Cairo: Bahrain is participating in the 47th Arab Labour Conference in Cairo with a delegation head by Labour and Social development Minister Jameel bin Mohammed Ali Humaidan. Topics to be reviewed by the conference include “entrepreneurship and small enterprises” with a focus on the reality of entrepreneurship and the economic and legislative structures in Arab countries to support this sector. It will also discuss obstacles limiting the growth and stability of medium and small enterprises. The conference will also debate the impact of COVID-19 on small enterprises and the precautionary measures taken by countries to limit the spread of the pandemic;…

Bahrain : The Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) and the General Directorate of Traffic (GDT) will hold a video session via Insta live on September 8 at 10 a.m. The video, to be broadcast via their Instagram channels @iGABahrain and @TrafficBH, will discuss the new service for reporting minor and mutually resolved traffic accidents via the eTraffic app. Citizens and residents have been urged to join the Insta Live where Head of Legal Affairs Section Major Khaled Buqais will help raise awareness on the new services and familiarize audiences with their criteria, as well as reply to enquiries. The new…

Bahrain : The Ministry of Health has inspected 430 hair salons, beauty parlours and massage outlets since the 1st  of August. Health Inspectors checked the validity of employees’  medical test certificates and clarified procedures for booking appointments via  Bahrain.bh portal. The campaign is in line with Edict 15 of 2020, issued by the Minister of Health, making it mandatory for employees working at trading and industrial outlets to undergo periodic medical screening. Food Control inspectors also conducted 952 field visits last month to food outlets to ensure their full compliance with mandatory health regulations and protect employees and customers’ safety.…

Houston : U.S. Gulf Coast energy companies on Saturday got a boost from the reopening of ports and restart of oil refineries shut by Hurricane Ida, but damage to key facilities still crimped oil production. The ninth named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season has cut more U.S. oil and gas production than any of the eight named storms to strike the U.S. Gulf Coast last year. After landfall in Louisiana last Sunday, Ida raced to the U.S. northeast, causing deadly flooding, Reuters reported. Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the largest U.S. Gulf Coast producer, was still evaluating damage to…