Author: News Desk

A U.S. aircraft carrier and its strike group have returned to the South China Sea after a port call in Singapore, deploying in the disputed region as tensions with China rise over a possible visit to Taiwan by congressional leader Nancy Pelosi. Officials with the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet confirmed the deployment of the USS Ronald Reagan to the vital trade route but did not comment on questions about tensions over the trip by Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. “USS Ronald Reagan and her strike group are underway, operating in the South China Sea following a successful…

Gotabaya Rajapaksa has resigned as president of Sri Lanka after fleeing to Singapore in the face of mass protests at home over his rule. He is believed to have wanted to leave Sri Lanka before stepping down in order to avoid the possibility of arrest under a new administration. The cost of food, fuel and other basic supplies has soared for Sri Lankans. In the capital Colombo, delighted demonstrators greeted news of the president’s departure with dancing. Mr Rajapaksa arrived in Singapore after first flying to the Maldives on Tuesday night. Reports say he is accompanied by his wife and…

New Zealand’s easing of its strict border curbs has triggered a rush of new departures among locals seeking fresh opportunities abroad, adding further pressure to the country’s already tight employment market. A net 10,674 people left the country over the 12 months to May, according to government data released on Tuesday, extending a drain that ran over the past year and is expected to last until new immigrants arrive in greater numbers in 2023. According to Reuters, that exodus comes as New Zealand struggles to fill jobs with the number of foreign workers still very low and the economy close…

As part of its strategic direction to upskill national talent with emerging skills in the labour market, the Labour Fund “Tamkeen” announced its support for the recruitment and training of Bahrainis in Artificial Intelligence in collaboration with His Highness Shaikh Nasser Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Centre. This collaboration will enhance the Centre’s position as the first center for Artificial Intelligence (AI) research in the Kingdom, which was established with the aim of finding solutions in AI that serve both the public and private sectors by working with reputable academics and students from universities and higher educational institutions in a…

Minister of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Bahrain Polytechnic, Wael bin Nasser Al-Mubarak, has underlined the importance of benefiting from modern technologies in developing fish farming, noting that innovations and technical solutions will contribute to supporting the Ministry’s projects to raise fish production rates locally. The minister indicated that the food security strategy, directed by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and supported by the government, led by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, focuses largely on using modern technologies in…

Oil prices fell on Tuesday on a strong dollar, and expectations of weakening demand due to fresh COVID-19 curbs in top world crude importer China and fears of a global economic slowdown. Brent crude futures fell $2.32, or 2.2%, to $104.78 a barrel by 0953 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $101.46 a barrel, down $2.63, or 2.5%. Both contracts fell by about 3% earlier, Reuters reported. The euro sank on Tuesday, trading at near parity with the dollar, and stock markets fell as the prospect of further central bank tightening and worries about the health of…

Walmart Inc has struck a deal with Canoo Inc to buy 4,500 electric vehicles as part of the U.S. retailer’s goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040. Shares of Canoo jumped about 37% in trading before the bell, after Walmart said on Tuesday that it also had an option to purchase up to 10,000 units as it electrifies its delivery fleet. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. In June, Walmart said it was expanding transportation pilots with the manufacturers of electric, hydrogen and natural gas-powered vehicles, including Cummins Inc and Daimler Truck’s Freightliner. The retailer in January said it had reserved 5,000…

Amazon worker Gerald Bryson had hand-counted thousands of items in his warehouse’s inventory over three days when his manager showed him a “Supportive Feedback Document.” Bryson had made 22 errors, the 2018 write-up said, including tallying 19 products in a storage bin that in fact had 20. If Bryson erred like this six times within a year, the notice stated, he would be fired from the Staten Island warehouse, one of Amazon.com Inc’s largest in the United States. Internal Amazon documents, previously unreported, reveal how routinely the company measured workers’ performance in minute detail and admonished those who fell even slightly…

An enormous space telescope has given astronomers a peek into the early cosmos, capturing light of galaxies that formed not long after the birth of the universe. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the world’s most advanced space observatory, was in development for nearly two decades and is expected to create an astronomical revolution. The $10 billion “time machine” will help astronomers to study what the universe looked like millions of years ago. It is much more advanced than the Hubble Space Telescope because of its breakthrough technology, design and its planned location in space. https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1546621144358391808?s=20&t=K5d0ziFLxbXT_Ds6-g9Qrg Hubble made countless discoveries after it was launched in…

Oman has temporarily closed all tourist sites across the Sultanate due to unstable weather conditions, local media reported. According to the Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority (CDAA), the decision comes after several missing cases and deaths were reported in different parts of the country. https://twitter.com/Rassd_Oman/status/1546371213408305155?s=20&t=wzXDGrxLdy3VoF1Y0OM-EQ An eight-member expat family drowned in the sea on Sunday after they fell off a cliff near the Al Mughsayl beach in Dhofar Governorate. The authority also confirmed the death of two Omani citizens in Suhar after their vehicle swept away in Wadi Ahan. In a statement issued on Sunday, the CDAA said all tourist…