Author: News Desk

Austria’s gas supply situation has improved, with deliveries from Russia at about 60% of agreed volumes, oil and gas group OMV said on Tuesday as the head of the country’s regulator said he saw no need to declare an alert level. OMV said the reduction in deliveries was at around 40% compared with around 50% previously. The energy market has become part of an economic war between Moscow and the West since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 OMV said in June that Russia’s Gazprom had informed it of a reduction in gas deliveries, but that at the time supply for customers…

Russian businessman Vladimir Potanin, the largest shareholder at Nornickel, said he was ready to discuss a possible merger of the mining giant with aluminium producer Rusal , in part as a defence against Western sanctions. Potanin told RBC TV he had sent a letter on Monday confirming his agreement to start merger discussions “because this allows the creation of a national champion. This allows us to even further diversify the shareholder base.” He said the need to “acquire extra stability against sanctions” and the potential requirement for state support for projects in Russia were among reasons to discuss the deal,…

Saudi Arabia has appointed two women to senior positions in government, the latest sign that the kingdom is looking to diversify a predominantly male workforce. Shihana Al Azzaz has been named the first female Deputy Secretary General of the Saudi Cabinet, according to a royal decree issued on Sunday. Al Azzaz was one of the first women licensed to practice law in Saudi Arabia and joins from the Public Investment Fund, where she was general counsel. As part of the changes, Princess Haifa bint Mohammad Al Saud has been appointed as deputy minister of tourism. She was previously assistant minister…

Aluminum Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) won six major National Safety Council (NSC) USA awards for 2021. The awards translate Alba’s leadership in various areas of Safety: Safety Leadership Award, Significant Improvement Award, Perfect Record Award, Occupational Excellence Achievement Award, Milestone Award, and Million Work Hours Award. “We are our last line of defense in Safety, it boils down to each one of us. Safety is everyone’s responsibility in Alba, and I thank our people, employees, and contractors’ personnel for setting these new benchmarks in Safety leadership as we have topped more than 27.5 million safe working hours without LTI and for…

China on Monday rejected as an irresponsible smear a warning from the chief of NASA that China might “take over” the moon as part of a military programme, saying it has always called for the building of a community of nations in outer space. China has stepped up the pace of its space programme in the past decade, with exploration of the moon a focus. China made its first lunar uncrewed landing in 2013 and expects to launch rockets powerful enough to send astronauts to the moon towards the end of this decade. “We must be very concerned that China…

Saudi Arabia’s citizen unemployment rate fell to the lowest since 2008 as economic growth surged on the back of higher oil revenue. Joblessness was at 10.1 percent in the first quarter, down from 11 percent in the final three months of last year. The rate reached 5.1 percent for male citizens and 20.2 percent for female citizens. The economy of the world’s largest crude exporter grew nearly 10 percent in the first quarter, buoyed by higher oil prices and production. The non-oil economy, the engine of job creation, expanded 3.7 percent. Even in a booming job market, the labour participation…

AlMabarrah AlKhalifia Foundation hosted a graduation ceremony for the ninth batch of graduates from the Rayaat Scholarship Program. A total of 26 graduates from various disciplines, including information technology, software engineering and engineering from the University of Bahrain and Bahrain Polytechnic, were feted in the presence of the foundation’s chairwoman of the Board of Trustees HH Shaikha Zain bint Khalid Al Khalifa, board members and staff. Shaikha Zain expressed her great pleasure with the success of the students affiliated with the Rayaat Scholarship Program. She emphasized the role of graduates in achieving the visions and objectives of the foundation to…

DeShanna Neal’s 7-year-old son stopped standing for the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. flag in school, questioning whether the United States of America really stood for, as the pledge says, “liberty and justice for all.” “He said, ‘I will only stand when Black lives matter,'” said Delaware native Neal, 40, a Black, queer mother of two transgender girls and a son she describes as gender non-conforming. Neal is also a candidate for a seat in the state House of Representatives. As much of the nation takes a day off for backyard barbecues, Main Street parades and fireworks displays, some…

The Ukrainian flag has been raised again on Snake Island in the Black Sea, a Ukrainian military spokesperson said on Monday, after Russian troops withdrew from the strategic outpost last week. “The territory (Snake Island) has been returned to the jurisdiction of Ukraine,” Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern military command, told a news conference.

Western envoys in China criticised Russia on Monday for its invasion of Ukraine, with the U.S. ambassador saying China should not spread Russian “propaganda”, during an unusual public forum in a country that has declined to condemn Moscow’s attack. Speaking at the World Peace Forum, organised by Tsinghua University, U.S. ambassador Nicholas Burns called the Russian war against Ukraine “the greatest threat to global world order”. Burns said he hoped China’s foreign ministry spokespeople would stop repeating “Russian propaganda” blaming NATO for the war. “I hope foreign ministry spokespersons would also stop telling lies about American bioweapons labs, which do…