Author: News Desk

 Tokyo : There’s nothing like watching the Olympics on TV to give you a major case of wanderlust. Despite the mostly empty stadiums — spectators were banned — athletes from around the world have still been able to awe us, and with the beautiful scenery of Japan as backdrop. The good news is that many of the special structures built for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be sticking around long after the events finish, so when borders eventually open up you can go and see where your favorite athletes competed for gold.

Bahrain : His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa exchanged cables of congratulations on the new Hijri Year 1443 with leaders of GCC, Arab and Islamic countries. HM the King wished them good health and happiness and their brotherly countries and peoples many happy returns. He prayed to Allah the Almighty  to protect them all from the novel coronavirus and to lift the pandemic off humanity.

Bahrain :  His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, exchanged congratulatory cables with Arab and Muslim leaders crown princes, and prime ministers on the occasion of the new Hijri year 1443. In the cables, His Royal Highness wished them continued good health and greater success in maneuvering challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bahrain  :The Jafferi Endowments Directorate held the annual meeting of the community centres and Husseinyas via video conference to discuss  preparations for the Ashoora season 1443. Supreme Council for Health (SCH) President, Head of the National Medical Taskforce for Combating COVID-19 Lieutenant-General Dr. Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al-Khalifa, attended the remote session, along with governors, taskforce members, municipalities general directors, in addition to 250 participants. Dr. Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al-Khalifa highlighted Bahrain’s strides in combating the pandemic, urging commitment to all mandatory precautionary measures which will be enforced at men and women community centres and Husseinya processions during the…

KSA : Saudi Arabia is to begin accepting vaccinated foreign visitors to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina as part of the Umrah pilgrimage. The authorities will begin taking travel requests from Monday. The kingdom closed its borders some 18 months ago because of the coronavirus pandemic. Since 1 August, vaccinated foreign tourists are also allowed in. Last month, only around 60,000 vaccinated residents were allowed to take part in a scaled-down Hajj. BBC

London : The war against Covid-19 is changing, putting into stark relief the deepening divide between countries that have the weapons to fight the virus and those that don’t. As concerns mount over the highly contagious Delta variant, wealthy nations are tightening their grip on vaccine arsenals, while desperate people elsewhere in the world are dying due to a lack of shots. Teetering on the edge of a dreaded new wave of coronavirus infections, the United States and Europe are deploying a barrage of monetary incentives and mandates to convince vaccine holdouts to get off the fence, and momentum is building to dole…

Israel : Bahrain’s Undersecretary for International Relations at the Foreign Ministry Dr. Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa landed in Israel on Sunday, for a four-day trip aimed at deepening relations between the countries. Al Khalifa is expected to meet with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and President Isaac Herzog. In addition, Al Khalifa and Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz will prepare for an eventual meeting between Lapid and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani, under the auspices of a high steering committee for relations between Bahrain and Israel which they lead and will meet this week. TJP

BRASILIA :  When U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan visited Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday, he brought a message from Washington: Don’t mess around with elections. A source familiar with the matter confirmed that the Biden administration raised concerns over Bolsonaro’s unfounded claims of fraud in Brazil’s all-electronic voting system and his threat not to accept the results of next year’s election if the system is not changed. The nature of the message delivered by Sullivan was first reported in the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper on Saturday. It quoted a U.S. official saying Sullivan stressed the importance of…

Bahrain : The General Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science in cooperation with the Southern Governorate Police Directorate and the Labour Market Regulatory Authority has arrested 74 workers for violating the residency and labour rules on 7th August. The arrest was part of an inspection campaign to fight illegal workers and street vendors issues. Some of the arrestees are wanted in various security cases. Legal proceedings are being taken. MOI

China : Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said on Sunday that it was cooperating with a police investigation into sexual assault allegations aired by a company employee. A statement by Alibaba said the company also had suspended “relevant parties suspected of violating our policies and values,” asserting that it had a “zero-tolerance policy against sexual misconduct.” An unidentified female employee made the allegations in a lengthy internal posting quoted by Chinese media, which AFP is unable to verify. She accused her manager and a client of sexual assault during a work trip to the city of Jinan in Shandong province, according…