Author: News Desk

Ukrainian forces reported battlefield gains on Wednesday in a counterattack that could signal a shift in the momentum of the war, while Kyiv shut gas flows on a route through Russian-held territory, raising the spectre of an energy crisis in Europe. Following days of advances north and east of the second largest city Kharkiv, Ukrainian forces were within just several kilometres of the Russian border on Wednesday morning, one Ukrainian military source said on condition on anonymity. Before the advance, Russian forces had been on the outskirts of Kharkiv, a city 40 km (25 miles) from the frontier. The advance…

An Interior Department investigation into the dark history of Indian boarding schools has found “marked or unmarked burial sites” at some 53 schools, Secretary Deb Haaland said on Wednesday. Haaland, the first Native American cabinet member, last year announced the investigation. A former congresswoman from New Mexico and the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary, Haaland in 2020 introduced legislation calling for a Truth and Healing Commission into conditions at former Indian boarding schools. That legislation is still pending. “The consequences of federal Indian boarding school policies … are heartbreaking and undeniable,” Haaland said in a statement.…

Russian diplomat Sergiy Andreev was feeling unwelcome on the streets of Warsaw even before protesters doused him with red liquid thrown in his face at short range this week. Soon after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Andreev, who is Moscow’s ambassador in Poland, found the embassy bank accounts had been frozen. Attempts to meet with Polish officials for any level of diplomatic discussion were impossible, he said. His regular barber refused to cut his hair. Insurance companies denied coverage for embassy cars, Andreev said. “We are practically isolated,” he told Reuters, before the paint incident on Monday, which…

Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc said on Wednesday it has withdrawn a request for policy guidance from its Oversight Board related to content moderation of posts related to Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine. “This decision was not made lightly — the PAO (policy advisory opinion) was withdrawn due to ongoing safety and security concerns,” the company said in a blogpost. In March, Reuters reported the social media platform would allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine invasion. “While the Board understands these concerns, we believe the request…

Manama: KKC Industries WLL (iCOOL), a Chinese manufacturer of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) products has launched a US$10.7 million manufacturing facility in Bahrain. Through its operations in Bahrain, iCOOL will produce and export air conditioning insulation pipes to the Middle East, US, and European markets, utilising Bahrain’s strategic location and duty free trade through its FTAs with 22 countries around the world, including the first ever US FTA with a GCC member. As an HVAC manufacturer, iCOOL serves customers from 130 countries with an annual revenue of US $420 million. Approximately 80% of the machinery used by iCOOL is…

Britain’s heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles and Prince William took centre stage amid the pomp and pageantry of the opening of parliament on Tuesday, replacing the 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth who missed the grand set-piece event with health issues. With the queen forced to withdraw for the first time in almost 60 years, Charles stepped in to read out the government’s legislative agenda at the Palace of Westminster, the first time he has taken on such a major constitutional duty. The queen, the world’s oldest and longest-reigning monarch, has been absent from nearly all high-profile public events in recent months. She was forced…

Members of the World Health Organization’s European region passed a resolution on Tuesday that could result in the closure of Russia’s regional office and the suspension of meetings in the country in response to its invasion of Ukraine. The special session of the European region passed the resolution, supported by Ukraine and the European Union, with 43 in favour and 3 against and 2 abstentions. Russia’s envoy Andrey Plutnitsky opposed the resolution and said he was “extremely disappointed”.

The Russian military’s failure to seize the Ukrainian capital was inevitable because in the preceding years they had never directly faced a powerful enemy, according to a former mercenary with the Kremlin-linked Wagner Group who fought alongside the Russian army. Marat Gabidullin took part in Wagner Group missions on the Kremlin’s behalf in Syria and in a previous conflict in Ukraine, before deciding to go public about his experience inside the secretive private military company. He quit the Wagner group in 2019, but several months before Russia launched the invasion on Feb. 24 Gabidullin, 55, said he received a call…

Bahrain Defense Force (BDF) Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa received Egypt’s Military Intelligence Director and Reconnaissance Department Major General Khaled Mujawar. Egyptian Ambassador to Bahrain Yasser Mohammed Shaaban and BDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Theyab bin Saqr Al Nuaimi, were present. BDF Commander-in-Chief praised bilateral relations and the development witnessed in the military field.

Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) is recognized as the top Company in Bahrain on the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) ratings list by ESG Invest. The investment research arm of ‘Sustainability Excellence’, provides comprehensive ratings that quantify ESG performance of companies in the Arab World. “We view ESG as central to Alba’s mission — ‘being a responsible corporate citizen, we want to create value for all our stakeholders and society. We are pleased to be selected as the Number One Company for ESG in Bahrain, for the third year in a row, which speaks volumes about our adopted approach when it…