Author: News Desk

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomed on Tuesday Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to AlUla with a hug for the 41st Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit. The Emir confirmed his attendance a day earlier after an announcement that Saudi Arabia would be reopening its airspace and land and sea borders to Qatar. Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa was the first to arrive at the Prince Abdul Majeed Bin Abdulaziz Domestic Airport in AlUla. He was shortly followed by Omani Deputy Prime Minister Fahd bin Mahmoud al-Said. Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah also arrived in Saudi Arabia,…

Saudi Arabia will reopen its airspace and land and sea border to Qatar as of Monday, Kuwait’s foreign minister said in televised comment, under a deal towards lifting a blockade of Qatar. “Based on (Emir) Sheikh Nawaf’s proposal, it was agreed to open the airspace and land and sea borders between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Qatar, starting from this evening,” said Ahmad Nasser Al-Sabah on state TV. The announcement comes on the eve of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit on Tuesday in AlUla, Saudi Arabia that will be chaired by King Salman. Qatar’s ruler is now expected to attend…

Britain needs to tighten restrictions in some areas of the country to tackle the rapid spread of a new variant of the coronavirus after case numbers surged in recent weeks, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Monday. England is currently divided into four different tiers of restrictions, depending on the prevalence of the virus, and Hancock said the rules in some parts of the country in Tier 3 were clearly not working. “There is very worrying data that shows the virus continues to spread,” he told BBC TV. READ MORE: Greek PM to reshuffle cabinet to make it more efficient…

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is set to reshuffle his cabinet on Monday with the aim of increasing the effectiveness of the conservative government. His press office said announcements on the new line-up would be made at 12 noon (1000 GMT). READ MORE: UK to allow mixing of COVID-19 vaccines Greece is currently in a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, and the government needs to tackle the fallout of the pandemic, speed up economic reforms and revive growth. Mitsotakis is also likely to want to signal continuity in some key areas such as finance and…

The eighth Lower Criminal Court today issued verdicts against 10 suspects, who failed to implement the mandatory precautionary health measures in force in restaurants and cafés to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Secretariat-General of the Supreme Judicial Council announced. According to the court rulings, the defendants have to pay fines ranging from BD 1,000 to BD 2,000.

The eighth Lower Criminal Court has issued verdicts against four suspects , who failed to implement the mandatory precautionary health measures in force in restaurants and cafés to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Secretariat-General of the Supreme Judicial Council announced. The defendants were punished with fines ranging from BD 1,000 to BD 2,000.

Chief of the Ministries and Public Bodies Prosecution today received two notifications from the Public Health Directorate at the Ministry of Health, reporting violations of a café and a restaurant of the mandatory health measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. According to the report, the restaurant was not committed to social distancing. It also failed to leave the mandatory two-metre distance between tables, and one of its personnel was neither wearing the face shield, nor wearing the face mask in the right way. As for the café, it was flouting the precautionary measures though using the multi-use…

Experts at India’s drugs regulator have recommended for emergency use two coronavirus vaccines, one developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and the other backed by a state-run institute, the government said on Saturday. A government minister said earlier the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine had been given the green light on Friday, paving the way for a huge immunisation campaign in the world’s second most populous country. The government said the final decision on the two vaccines would be made by the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation’s (CDSCO) chief, who has called a news conference on Sunday. The process for the final approval…

Britain will allow people to be given shots of different COVID-19 vaccines on rare occasions, despite a lack of evidence about the extent of immunity offered by mixing doses. In a departure from other strategies globally, the government said people could be given a mix-and-match of two COVID-19 shots, for example if the same vaccine dose was out of stock, according to guidelines published on New Year’s Eve. “(If) the same vaccine is not available, or if the first product received is unknown, it is reasonable to offer one dose of the locally available product to complete the schedule,” according…

The National Initiative for Agricultural Development (NIAD) has announced the postponement of Bahrain International Garden Show 2021 (BIGS 2021) due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic affecting the globe. READ MORE: HM Bahrain King pardons 169 inmates NIAD stressed that all efforts are now directed towards hosting the exhibition in March 2022. The postponement provides an opportunity for businesses to recover from the ramifications of the pandemic and start marketing their goods and services locally and internationally. It will also allow the organizers to ensure the continuity of the growth achieved by this important platform over the years to match the…