Author: News Desk

Spain will allow all vaccinated travelers to visit the country from June 7, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Friday, as the tourism hotspot aims to revive its virus-battered travel industry. “From June 7, all vaccinated people and their families will be welcome in our country, Spain, regardless of their country of origin,” Sanchez said at an international tourism fair in Madrid. He also announced that British travelers would be allowed to visit Spain for holidays from next week. “From next Monday, the 24th of May, Spain will be delighted to receive British tourists again into our country,” Sanchez said. He said…

Cryptocurrency exchanges operating in Hong Kong will have to be licenced by the city’s markets regulator and will only be allowed to provide services to professional investors, according to government proposals published on Friday. Governments and financial regulators around the world are still assessing whether and how they should regulate the cryptocurrency industry. Investor protection and preventing money laundering are particular concerns. Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether have been on a roller-coaster ride this week which has raised further questions about their potential as mainstream investments. Dozens of cryptocurrency exchanges operate in Hong Kong, including some of the world’s…

The Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs (NPRA) announced on Friday that entry to Bahrain will be restricted, effective Sunday, to citizens, GCC nationals and holders of residence visas from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal. In a statement today, NPRA announced that passengers arriving from the aforementioned countries will have to be quarantined for 10 days, present a certificate confirming the result of a negative PCR test containing a QR code, no more than 48 hours before their arrival. “Political Prisoner” concept does not exist in Bahrain: Interior Ministry Bahrain welcomes ceasefire in Gaza Strip The Nationality, Passports and…

The Ministry of Interior has dismissed baseless allegations made by Al Jazeera Channel in a report on its website. In a statement, the ministry said that the report “Activists reveal the suffering of political detainees in Bahrain with COVID-19 outbreaks” is part of its ongoing incitement against Bahrain and its people. Refuting the allegations, the ministry said: “First: The records of the “Reformation and Rehabilitation” in Bahrain doesn’t know the “political prisoners” concept that comes out of the imagination of those promoting it, such as the inciting channel that works against Bahrainis and knows only the language of violence and…

The CEO and co-founder of TikTok’s owner ByteDance has announced he will step down and transition to a new role by the end of the year. In a letter to employees, Zhang Yiming said he will be succeeded by fellow co-founder Rubo Liang. The move marks the biggest shake-up at the Chinese technology giant since its launch almost a decade ago. TikTok’s popularity has helped it become a global sensation but has also drawn scrutiny. “The truth is, I lack some of the skills that make an ideal manager. I’m more interested in analysing organizational and market principles, and leveraging…

A giant slab of ice bigger than the Spanish island of Majorca has sheared off from the frozen edge of Antarctica into the Weddell Sea, becoming the largest iceberg afloat in the world, the European Space Agency said on Wednesday. The newly calved berg, designated A-76 by scientists, was spotted in recent satellite images captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission, the space agency said in a statement posted on its website with a photo of the enormous, oblong ice sheet. Its surface area spans 4,320 square km (1,668 square miles) and measures 175 km (106 miles) long by 25 km…

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is seriously ill and his trial on charges of bribing witnesses should be temporarily suspended, a Milan prosecutor said on Wednesday. Berlusconi, 84, has been in and out of hospital this year after contracting COVID-19 last September, and speculation has mounted in recent days over a deterioration of his health. “We definitely believe Berlusconi is seriously ill and is suffering from a serious disease. This is what medical certificates and consultancies show,” prosecutor Tiziana Siciliano said. Speaking during a hearing for a case connected to one in which Berlusconi was acquitted of having sex…

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) reassured an anxious Japan on Wednesday that the Tokyo Olympics would be safe for athletes as well as the host community, amid mounting opposition to the Games and fears it will fuel a spike in COVID-19 cases. Speaking in Tokyo alongside senior Japanese officials, IOC chief Thomas Bach said he believed more than 80% of residents of the Olympic Village would be vaccinated or booked for vaccination ahead of the Games set to start on July 23. He rejected growing calls to cancel the global sporting showpiece, already delayed once due to the pandemic, saying…

Bitcoin’s volatile week-long slide saw it tumble to below the $40,000 mark on Wednesday as news of further restrictions on cryptocurrency transactions in China added to earlier concerns sparked by Tesla boss Elon Musk’s tweets. Bitcoin, the world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, fell about 9% to as low as $38,940.04, even slipping below a key 200-day moving average. It is now down 40% from the year’s high of $64,895.22 on April 14. Elon Musk loses world’s second-richest ranking Bitcoin price lower after Musk tweet Ether, the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain network, dropped about 15% to $2,875.36. The declines…

India total COVID-19 caseload surged past 25 million on Tuesday as a powerful cyclone complicated the health crisis in one of the states where the disease is spreading most quickly. COVID-19 tests were administered to 200,000 people evacuated from coastal districts of the western state of Gujarat before the cyclone struck late on Monday and efforts were being made to try to limit any spread of infections. “Masks have been arranged for people shifted to shelter homes,” said Sandip Sagale, a top official in Ahmedabad, the main city in Gujarat. “Efforts are also made to maintain social distancing.” India’s total…