Author: News Desk

Esteban Ocon has only outqualified Renault team mate Daniel Ricciardo once in 2020 – at the Styrian Grand Prix back in July – but he came almost as close as is possible to repeating the feat in Bahrain, falling short by the smallest of margins to the Australian. The Frenchman hailed the performance of his Renault R.S.20 as he got through to Q3 for the second race in a row, before adding his disbelief at the gap between the two Renaults: just 0.002s. He said: “The car felt awesome. Today I felt it was a great lap coming around. Daniel…

Max Verstappen says he will have his work cut out to beat the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix from third on the grid – but hasn’t ruled out the possibility of a win, especially since he reckons tyre wear will have a big say in the race result. Verstappen was fastest in FP3 but could only manage third on the grid in qualifying as Hamilton took another blistering pole on Saturday. All is not lost for the Dutchman, however, as heavy tyre degradation is expected to make this race a two-stop contest, which could open…

Nadhim Zahawi has been appointed as a new health minister to oversee rollout of the Covid vaccine in England. The rollout is expected to begin before Christmas, subject to regulatory approval. Mr Zahawi, MP for Stratford-on-Avon, will oversee distribution of the vaccine until at least next summer. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he was “delighted”, adding in a tweet there was “an enormous task ahead”. Under the interim arrangement, Mr Zahawi will serve as a joint minister between the health department and the business department, where he currently works. His primary focus will be on delivering the vaccine, with most…

The Italian army was called to AS Roma’s training ground after several unexploded Second World War bombs were discovered, the Series A club said on Saturday. “A big thank you to the Italian army and their bomb squad, after they safely and successfully removed a number of devices dating back to the Second World War from the club’s training centre at Trigoria,” club said on Twitter. It also showed a picture of soldiers removing the bombs which appeared to be around one foot long. The Il Messaggero newspaper said that there were around 20 bombs which were uncovered during work…

Max Verstappen threw down the gauntlet ahead of qualifying as he set the fastest lap of FP3 in Bahrain, to top the session ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in P2 and Valtteri Bottas in P3. Soft tyres were the only compound used in FP3 and qualifying runs came thick and fast with 15 minutes remaining. Verstappen was top midway through the session on higher-fuel runs, but improved later on to set the benchmark of 1m28.355s – even as his rear wing flap oscillated comically down the straights when DRS was activated. Hamilton eventually finished 0.263s off Verstappen, and just a…

Lulu Hypermarket, in collaboration with the Italian Embassy and the Italian Trade Agency and Trade Promotion Section of the embassy, has announced an exciting gourmet Italian Cuisine Week from November 25 to December 01, 2020 at Lulu Hypermarket, Dana Mall. With Italian food trending worldwide, it is a great opportunity to explore a wide range of new products, favourite classics and time-tested popular brands of foods. There will be a 30% discount promotion on all Italian products during the festival. For expert home chefs, Lulu has announced a cookery contest with an e-twist: Master chefs, as well as little chefs…

The National Initiative for Agricultural Development (NIAD) has announced the names of the winners of the third edition of the King Hamad Prize for Agricultural Development that featured three categories – Best Agricultural Project, Best Bahraini Farmer, and Best Agricultural Research and Studies – and prizes worth BD40,000. The Initiative was launched by Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Wife of HM the King and President of the Consultative Council of the National Initiative for Agricultural Development in March 2010. The Initiative focuses mainly on creating a positive competitive environment among owners of agricultural projects, farmers as…

Walt Disney would lay off about 32,000 workers, primarily at its theme parks, an increase from the 28,000 it announced in September. The layoffs will be in the first half of 2021. The lay off comes as the company struggles with limited customers due to the pandemic. Earlier this month, Disney said it was furloughing additional workers from its theme park in Southern California due to uncertainty over when the state would allow parks to reopen.

Argentina soccer legend Diego Maradona has died at the age of 60, a source close to his family confirmed. Regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the game, Maradona became a household name after inspiring his country to World Cup glory in 1986. He took center stage at the tournament with a memorable performance against England where he scored his iconic “Hand of God” goal. The diminutive forward out-jumped legendary keeper Peter Shilton and punched the ball into the net. Later in the game he scored one of the best goals in history after weaving his…

Bahrain Deputy Prime Minister His Highness Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa received India’s Minister of External Affairs Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. The minister conveyed the condolences of the Indian government on the passing of the late His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, and recalled with gratitude his contributions to strengthening Bahrain-India relations. He also highlighted the late HRH Prince Khalifa’s rich legacy in development and civilizational areas both locally and internationally. The meeting, attended by His Highness Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Foreign Minister Dr. Abdullatif Al Zayani, and the grandsons of HRH Prince Khalifa, reviewed…