Author: News Desk

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…

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not congratulate his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden on Monday’s U.S. Independence Day because of Washington’s “unfriendly” actions towards Moscow, the Kremlin said. “Congratulations this year can hardly be considered appropriate,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call. “The United States’ unfriendly policies are the reason.”

Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station on Monday celebrated Russia’s capture of the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk, a significant milestone for Moscow in the war. Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, described Moscow’s capture of the Luhansk region as “a liberation day to celebrate both on Earth and in space.” The agency posted pictures of cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergei Korsakov smiling as they held up flags of Russia’s proxies in eastern Ukraine, the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic and Donetsk People’s Republic. “This is a long-awaited day that the residents of the occupied areas of the Luhansk…

Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) underlined its commitment to the development of Bahraini youth. Chief Executive Officer Ali Al Baqali met with around 70 students who are undergoing On-The-Job training (OJT) programs across different functions in Alba. The event was organized for the students who joined the company this year from different local and overseas universities to complete their OJT requirements as part of their undergraduate degrees. “Learning experiences are like journeys. It is not only about learning more but also doing more in a world with the change being the only constant,” Al Baqali said. “We to help trainees translate…

Spire premier GCC Open Banking provider is set to expand its operations in Bahrain and the MENA region through a BD 15 million investment plan with support from the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB). This expansion will create 200 jobs over the next three years in high-value data sciences and artificial intelligence sectors. Spire graduated from the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) Open Banking Sandbox and was ratified by CBB to offer Open Banking services in Bahrain. Spire aims to provide Open Banking compliance infrastructure and strategic financial management solutions for banking customers and small businesses. “Open Banking will comprehensively…

Russia said on Sunday its forces and their allies had taken control of Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, after capturing the final Ukrainian holdout of Lysychansk, although Ukraine has yet to comment after reporting heavy fighting there. After fierce Ukrainian resistance prevented Russian seizing the capital Kyiv after its Feb. 24 invasion, Moscow turned its focus to taking full control of Luhansk and Donetsk provinces in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting in the area since Russia’s first military intervention in Ukraine in 2014. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu informed President Vladimir Putin that Luhansk had been “liberated”,…