Author: News Desk

The Director-General of Traffic, Brigadier Shaikh Abdulrahman bin Abdulwahab Al Khalifa, said that minor traffic accidents could be processed in one step through insurance companies on Saturday. The processing should be done if both sides reached an agreement and could repair their vehicles without the interference of the General Directorate of Traffic. The move is in line with an order by Interior Minister General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa to assign the insurance agreement terms in agreed-upon damages to insurance companies representatives from July 21. He said that the General Directorate would supervise the process to protect the rights…

Not Friends, Negotiators: Biden-Putin summit makes small gains U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Wednesday to hold arms control and cyber-security talks, recording small gains and big differences at a first summit they both described as pragmatic rather than friendly. The discussions at the lakeside Villa La Grange in Geneva lasted three hours – less than Biden’s advisers had said they expected – but the U.S. president said they had been intense and detailed, and that “we didn’t need to spend more time talking”. Putin called Biden a constructive, experienced partner, and said they spoke the…

Bahrain has approved “REGN-COV2” for emergency use, a new drug by Regeneron in collaboration with F. Hoffmann-La Roche, for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 cases. REGN-COV2 contains a combination of Casirivimab and Imdevimab, which are drugs called “monoclonal antibodies”, that are designed to block viral attachment and entry into human cells to neutralise the virus. REGN-COV2 also received emergency use approval from the US FDA to treat mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19 in non-hospitalised adults and adolescents of 12 years of age and older, who weigh at least 88 pounds (40 kg), and for those who are…

India’s technology minister said on Tuesday that Twitter had deliberately defied and failed to comply with the country’s new IT rules, which became effective in late May. The new rules or the so-called Intermediary Guidelines, announced in February, are aimed at regulating content on social media firms such as Facebook, its WhatsApp messenger and Twitter, making them more accountable to legal requests for swift removal of posts and sharing details on the originators of messages. The rules also require big social media companies to set up grievance redressal mechanisms and appoint new executives to coordinate with law enforcement. India’s technology ministry wrote to Twitter…

The Public Health Department of the Ministry of Health has reported eight violations as it continued its inspection visits to ensure full application of precautionary measures to address COVID-19. The restaurants were referred to the relevant authorities for legal action. The department on Tuesday inspected an additional 88 food and beverage establishments in its campaign to ensure public health and safety. Establishments that failed to meet the required standards were warned to address the issues and rise up to the needed responsibility levels and implement anti-COVID measures.

Biden says NATO defense pact is a ‘sacred obligation’ U.S. President Joe Biden offered an unequivocal commitment to defend fellow NATO countries on Monday. “Article 5 we take as a sacred obligation.” Article five is the mutual-defense clause of the military alliance. “I just want all of Europe to know that the United States is there.” The members are in Brussels for an annual summit. Biden sought to rally Western allies to support a U.S. strategy to contain China’s military rise, and present a united front in the face of Russian aggression. Allied leaders are concerned about Russia’s recent military…

With the persistent growth of mixed martial arts (MMA) in Europe through BRAVE Combat Federation, Tatsiana Kukhareva—the director of Rukh Sport Management—expects a bright future for the local scene in Belarus. Rukh Sport Management recently partnered with the Bahrain-based promotion to host the historic BRAVE CF 51: THE FUTURE IS HERE, which took place at the state-of-the-art Falcon Club Arena last June 4. BRAVE CF’s inaugural event on Belarusian soil featured 11 high-octane bouts, captivating the global audience from start to finish. The host country has plenty to be proud of as three of its hometown heroes walked away with…

A Chinese spacecraft will blast off from the Gobi Desert on a Long March rocket in the coming days, ferrying three men to an orbiting space module for a three-month stay, the first time China has sent humans into space for nearly five years. Shenzhou-12, meaning “Divine Vessel”, will be the third of 11 missions needed to complete China’s space station by 2022. Among them, four will be missions with people on board, potentially propelling up to 12 Chinese astronauts into space — more than the 11 men and women that China has sent since 2003. The craft will also…

The Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA) issued its foreign trade report of May 2021, encompassing data on the balance of trade, imports, exports (national origin), and re-exports. The value of imports increased by 6%, reaching BD402 million during May 2021 compared to BD378 million for the same month of the previous year. The top 10 countries accounted for 66% of the value of imports, with the remaining countries accounting for 34%. According to the report, Brazil ranked first when it came to imports to Bahrain, with a total of BD52 million; China was second with BD46 million; and Australia was…

Novavax on Monday reported late-stage data from its U.S.-based clinical trial showing its vaccine is more than 90% effective against COVID-19 across a variety of variants of the virus. The study of nearly 30,000 volunteers in the United States and Mexico puts Novavax on track to file for emergency authorization in the United States and elsewhere in the third quarter of 2021, the company said. Novavax’s protein-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate was more than 93% effective against the predominant variants of COVID-19 that have been of concern among scientists and public health officials, Novavax said. Protein-based vaccines are a conventional approach…