Author: News Desk

Around 100 Ukrainian civilians were being evacuated from a ruined steelworks in the city of Mariupol on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, after the United Nations had confirmed a “safe passage operation” was in progress there. Mariupol, a strategic port city on the Azov Sea, has endured the most destructive siege of the war, with Pope Francis, in an implicit criticism of Russia, telling thousands of people in St Peter’s Square on Sunday it had been “barbarously bombarded”. “Grateful to our team! Now they, together with (United Nations), are working on the evacuation of other civilians from the plant,”…

The company behind the “Bored Ape” series of NFTs has raised around $285 million worth of cryptocurrency by selling tokens which represent land in a virtual world game it says it is building. Last year, U.S. start-up Yuga Labs created the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, blockchain-based tokens representing a set of 10,000 computer-generated cartoon apes. As non-fungible tokens (NFTs) – crypto assets that represent digital files such as images, video, or items in an online game – exploded in popularity, Bored Ape prices surged to fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars each. They became one of the most prominent…

Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday it had struck at weapons supplied to Ukraine by the United States and European countries and destroyed a runway at a military airfield near the Ukrainian city of Odesa. The ministry said it used high-precision Onyx missiles to strike the airfield, after Ukraine accused Russia of knocking out a newly-constructed runway at the main airport of Odesa. Odesa regional governor Maksym Marchenko said Russia had used a Bastion missile, launched from Crimea. Russia’s defence ministry also said its air defence systems had shot down two Ukrainian Su-24m bombers over the Kharkiv region overnight.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday rejected criticism that Germany was not showing leadership in western efforts to supply Ukraine with heavy weapons to repel Russia’s invasion, saying that he’d rather be cautious than make hasty decisions. Scholz is under pressure at home and abroad to supply Ukraine with heavy arms such as tanks and howitzers and support an immediate EU embargo on Russian energy imports to strip President Vladimir Putin of hard currency that helps him finance the war. “I take my decisions fast and in concert with our partners,” Scholz told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper in an interview.…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said the lifting of sanctions imposed on Russia is part of peace talks with Ukraine, but senior Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak denied that this was the case. “At present, the Russian and Ukrainian delegations are actually discussing on a daily basis via video-conferencing a draft of a possible treaty,” Lavrov said in comments to China’s official Xinhua news agency published on the Russian foreign ministry’s website on Saturday. “The talks’ agenda … includes, among other things, the issues of denazification, the recognition of new geopolitical realities, the lifting of sanctions, the status of the…

The European Union is leaning toward a ban on imports of Russian oil by the end of the year, two EU diplomats said, after talks between the European Commission and EU member states this weekend. The European Union is preparing a sixth package of sanctions against Russia in response to the invasion just over two months ago of Ukraine that Moscow calls a special military operation. The package is expected to target Russian oil, Russian and Belarusian banks, as well as more individuals and companies. The Commission, which is coordinating the EU response, held talks dubbed “confessionals” with small groups…

The crescent of the month of Shawwal could not be sighted from the Tamir observatory or from the observatory of Majmaah University in Hautat Sudair on Saturday, which means that Sunday (May 1) will be the last day of the holy month of Ramadan and Monday (May 2) will be the first day of Eid Al-Fitr, local media reported. https://twitter.com/hsharifain/status/1520423011949719552?s=20&t=ALFO9iSG6u37zPjgyC4I7A

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa today received a cable from Labour and Social Development Minister, Jameel in Mohammed Humaidan. The minister extended, on behalf of all workers in the kingdom, deepest thanks and gratitude to HM the King, marking the International Workers’ Day, which is observed all over the world on May 1. The minister commended HM the King’s unlimited interest in workers and constant keenness to patronise the kingdom’s celebrations of the Labour Day to honour dedicated and distinguished workers in various production sectors. Minister Humaidan affirmed HM the King’s unwavering support for workers’ rights and…

The moon-sighting panel will convene today, Saturday evening, to receive news and testimonies about the birth of the new crescent, of the month of Shawwal for the year 1443 Hijri, signaling the advent of  Eid Al Fitr The panel will meet at the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (SCIA) headquarters, it was announced. The SCIA urged the public who sights the new Shawwal crescent to contact the moon-sighting panel. The sighting of the moon signifies the end of Ramadan, the ninth month on the lunar-based calendar. In the Islamic calendar, Ramadan is followed by the month of Shawwal. The first…

The General Directorate of Traffic today announced that there will be high traffic presence during Eid Al-Fitr holidays, through monitoring main roads and junctions near commercial malls and roads of heavy traffic. It called upon road users to follow traffic rules, including the speed limits, especially in residential areas and not to cross the red signals.