Author: News Desk

Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep and other Screen Actors Guild members are reportedly threatening to strike. More than 300 members are said to have signed a letter addressed to the SAG-AFTRA Leadership and Negotiating Committee suggesting industrial action could be on the way if an agreement isn’t reached on a new contract with major Hollywood studios, production companies and streaming platforms. As reported by Rolling Stone magazine, the the letter reads: “We hope you’ve heard the message from us: This is an unprecedented inflection point in our industry,

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his government’s deeply controversial judicial overhaul will no longer include a provision to remove Supreme Court oversight of legislation. The provision would have allowed parliament to pass laws that are immune from judicial review, a measure that critics say would render Israel’s legal system pointless. The removal of the “override clause” will rankle many in Mr Netanyahu’s coalition, the most right-wing in Israel’s history. The clause is particularly important to ultra-Orthodox parties in the coalition, who view it as a way of ensuring that men in the community continue to be exempt from military service, a…

Saudi Arabia’s unemployment rate dropped on an annual basis in the first quarter of 2023 as labour market indicators in the kingdom improved, driven by more women joining the workforce, government data has shown. The overall unemployment rate, which counts both Saudi citizens and expats, decreased to 5.1 per cent in the three months ended in March, from 6 per cent during the same period in 2022, the General Authority for Statistics (Gastat) said in its quarterly report on Thursday. For Saudi nationals, the rate stood at 8.5 per cent in the first quarter, a decrease from 10.1 per cent in…

Canada : A professor and two students were stabbed in a university classroom in the Canadian city of Waterloo on Wednesday, police said. A man has been arrested in connection with the attack. Waterloo Regional Police said it took place in a ground-floor classroom at Hagey Hall, a building near the university’s main entrance. The victims’ injuries were serious but not life-threatening, police added.

Manama : The Kingdom of Bahrain will tomorrow mark the International Day of Parliamentarism, annually observed on June 30.  Council of Representatives Speaker Ahmed bin Salman Al Musallam congratulated His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister on this occasion. In a statement today on this occasion, the Speaker expressed thanks and gratitude to HM the King, hailing the royal support to the legislative branch of government. He also commended the constructive and fruitful cooperation with the Government, chaired by HRH the Crown Prince…

Manama : An Almond Festival will be held in Bahrain for the first time next month, Agriculture and Marine Resources Undersecretary at the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture, Dr. Khalid Ahmed, has announced. The first edition of the festival will be held at the Bahraini Farmers’ Market site in the Budaiya Botanical Garden on July 8 and July 15. He indicated that the Ministry plans to hold the Almond Festival every year to attract the citizens, residents and nationals of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, noting that it will feature a line-up of events that would appeal to…

Pilgrims celebrated on the third day of the annual Hajj pilgrimage that began on Monday. An enormous number of pilgrims traversed the holy sites in the last few days and have now completed most of their Hajj rituals. Pilgrims who had performed Hajj before have said they are “very impressed” with the positive development of Hajj and the kingdom’s security services and volunteers. “When I compare today’s Hajj, it is very different. We didn’t have air conditioners, coolers or such tents before,” India’s former Hajj Committee chairman Salamat Ullah said. After saying dawn prayers on the morning of Eid Al…

A Russian missile strike on a crowded pizza restaurant in eastern Ukraine has killed 10 people, including 14-year-old twin sisters, and injured at least 61. Four of the dead were children. Announcing the deaths of the teenage twins on Telegram, the educational department of Kramatorsk City Council said: “Russian missiles stopped the beating of the hearts of two angels.” The sisters have been named as Yulia and Anna Aksenchenko. The other two children were believed to be 12 and 17 years old. The wounded included a baby born in 2022. The building housing the restaurant, which was popular with soldiers and journalists in the…

Brisbane : NASA is looking to develop resources on the moon that initially include oxygen and water, and eventually may expand to iron and rare earth, and has already taken steps toward excavating moon soil in 2032, a scientist said on Wednesday. The U.S. space agency plans to return Americans to the moon as part of its Artemis mission by 2025 and to learn from the mission to facilitate a trip to Mars. A key part of the mission is advancing commercial opportunities in space. The agency is looking to quantify potential resources, including energy, water, and lunar soil, as…

Manama : Citizens and residents today performed the Eid Al-Adha prayers at the designated mosques and Musallas (open-air prayer areas) across the Kingdom of Bahrain. Khateebs delivered sermons in which they highlighted the lofty spiritual values of Eid Al-Adha, urging commitment to Islamic teachings. https://youtu.be/2Z_OOnTyw5o In their sermons, the khateebs prayed to Allah the Almighty to protect His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, wishing the Kingdom of Bahrain and its people continued security, progress and prosperity, under HM the King’s leadership.