Author: News Desk

At least 44 people are dead and dozens missing as two days of continuous, heavy rain in western Germany causes massive floods and travel chaos. Flash floods hit cities across Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany’s most populous state, turning streets into rivers and causing houses to collapse. Further heavy rain and storms are forecast for Thursday and Germany’s weather service said more heavy rain could be expected by the end of the day. Eighteen people died and dozens were missing around the wine-growing region of Ahrweiler, police said, after the Ahr river that flows into the Rhine rose and brought down…

Johnson & Johnson is voluntarily recalling five Neutrogena and Aveeno brand aerosol sunscreen products after detecting a cancer-causing chemical in some samples. The New Jersey-based company said on Wednesday that consumers should stop using the products and discard them, after internal testing identified low levels of benzene in some samples. J&J is also notifying distributors and retailers to stop selling the products and arranging for their return “out of an abundance of caution”. Benzene is classified as a substance that could potentially cause cancer depending on the level and extent of exposure. J&J said benzene is not an ingredient in…

Vaccination at Oman government designated centres will be suspended from July 16 until July 25, General Directorate of Health Services of the Governorate of Muscat has said. The campaign has been in full swing in Oman, with the daily vaccinations reaching up to 40,000 people. While the shots given in government assigned centres which are free of cost are intended predominantly for Omani citizens, private clinics and hospitals spread across the country are engaged in adminstering the shots for expatriates at a cost. The vaccination facilities at government health centres are also used by expatriate healthcare workers and those who…

The Economic Development Board (EDB), the country’s Investment Promotion Agency (IPA), was recognised by the international economic development organisation OCO Globalfor its resilience in responding to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, ranking 6 th top global IPA with the most resilience to add new source markets in the 2021 OCO Global Innovation Index. The EDB also ranked 2nd , alongside Invest Denmark and Invest HK (Hong Kong), in the technology sub- index, highlighting the EDB’s efforts in using technology to attract, facilitate and promote investment. The 2021 OCO Global IPA Innovation Index evaluated 20 leading global IPAs on…

Bahrain announces the upcoming changes to the Kingdom’s alert level Following a review of the average COVID-19 positivity rates and approval by the Government Executive Committee, the National Medical Taskforce for Combatting the Coronavirus (COVID-19) today announced that the Kingdom of Bahrain will adopt the Green Alert Level on Friday 16 July 2021. The Kingdom will adopt the Orange Alert Level during the Arafah and Eid Al-Adha holidays, starting from 19 July to 22 July 2021. This is in line with the previous announcement that some dates will be designated a higher alert level in the interest of public health…

The Civil Aviation Affairs has updated travel regulations, expanding the number of Red List countries, in line with directives issued by the Government Executive Committee after a review of the latest recommendations of the National Medical Taskforce for Combating the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Passengers arriving from Red List countries, including passengers who have transited through any of those countries at any point in the preceding 14 days, are prohibited from entry unless they are citizens or residents of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Passengers eligible for entry must present a negative PCR certificate, with a QR code, administered within 48 hours of…

The head of the U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore, plans to step down to deal with a family health issue, a U.N. spokesperson said on Tuesday. Fore, a former head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) who was appointed to run UNICEF by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in 2018, will stay in the job until a replacement is found. Since it was established in 1946, UNICEF has had seven executive directors – all Americans. Guterres thanked Fore for “her inspiring leadership of UNICEF and for her service to improve the lives of children all around…

Twenty-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer has pulled out of the Tokyo Olympics because of a knee injury. Federer, 39, lost in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon this year but anticipates re-joining the tour for the hard-court swing later in the year. The Swiss won doubles gold at Beijing 2008 alongside Stan Wawrinka and silver in 2012 in the singles after losing to Andy Murray in the final in London. Federer, now ranked number nine in the world, had two knee surgeries in 2020. In the last two years he has seen his Grand Slam tally equalled by Spain’s Rafael Nadal…

Racist abuse of England players is ‘unforgivable’ England manager Gareth Southgate said the racist abuse aimed at Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after the Euro 2020 final defeat by Italy was “unforgivable”. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Football Association also condemned it. All three players missed penalties in the 3-2 shootout loss and were targeted on social media after the game. The Metropolitan Police is investigating the abuse and said “it will not be tolerated”. “It’s just not what we stand for,” said Southgate. “We have been a beacon of light in bringing people together, in people…

Gulf Air, Bahrain’s national carrier, announces that it will resume its direct operations to Tbilisi International Airport in Georgia starting with 3 weekly flights, beginning from July 15. “We have been operating direct flights between the Kingdom of Bahrain and Georgia since 2017 and it is one of the airline’s main destinations in the Caucasus region,” Captain Waleed Abdulhameed AlAlawi, Acting CEO said. “We are extremely happy to see a much healthier trend in summer traffic and the resumption of some of our most popular destinations as the global vaccination program continues to bring a sense of normalcy back into our routine.”…