Author: News Desk

The value of dogecoin dropped sharply in early U.S. hours on Sunday, after Tesla chief and cryptocurrency supporter Elon Musk called it a ‘hustle’ during his guest-host spot on the “Saturday Night Live” comedy sketch TV show. Dogecoin was quoted as low as $0.47 on crypto exchange Binance, down 28% from levels around $0.65 before the show. The billionaire Tesla Inc chief executive hosted the show at 11:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday (0330 GMT on Sunday). Cryptocurrency enthusiasts had for days been eager to see what he would say, after his tweets this year turned the once-obscure digital currency into a…

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday he expected to be able to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin soon and the White House said ongoing differences between the United States and Russia would not need to be resolved in advance of a summit. Biden told reporters at the White House he wanted to meet Putin despite Russia’s build-up of military forces near Ukraine. “It does not impact my desire to have a one-on-one meeting and you’ll notice he had more troops before. He’s withdrawn troops,” he said. Asked about meeting Putin in June, he said: “I’m confident we’ll be able…

China’s Sinopharm state company has offered substantial support for the COVAX programme to provide COVID-19 vaccines mainly to poor countries, a WHO official said on Friday after the global health body gave emergency approval to Sinopharm’s vaccine. Senior WHO adviser Bruce Aylward said it would be up to Sinopharm to say how many doses of its vaccine it can provide to the programme, but added: “They are looking at trying to provide substantial support, make substantial doses available while at the same time of course trying to serve China’s population.” (Reuters)

Mexico City: At least 23 people were killed after a bridge on an elevated section of the Mexico City underground system partially collapsed as a train was passing over it late Monday, the Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) reported. At least 49 people were injured, some of them seriously, Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum told journalists at the scene of the accident. At least seven people were being operated on in hospitals, and children were among the dead, Sheinbaum said. The cause of the accident was initially unclear. Several carriages of a line 12 metro train plunged several metres and collided into each other, videos circulating…

Munich: Bavarian Premier Markus Soeder declared on Tuesday that his state would be open again for tourists this month amid hopes that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic might be over for Germany, the Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) reported. Holidays in Bavaria, which is a popular destination for travellers not just from Germany but around the world, would be possible again from May 21 in regions with low infection numbers, Soeder said. Bavaria’s decision came amid signs that the number of new infections across Germany has been falling after a protracted lockdown. Berlin, along with several states including Bavaria, is also moving to provide…

Manama: His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has today met remotely, at Al Safriya Palace, Southern Governor His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa, Muharraq Governor Salman bin Isa bin Hindi Al-Mannai, Capital Governor Shaikh Hesham bin Abdulrahman Al-Khalifa and Northern Governor Ali Abdul Hussein Al Asfoor. HM the King also met remotely citizens from the four governorates, marking the last ten days of Holy month of Ramadan, as part of HM the King’s meetings with leading Bahraini personalities. HM the King delivered a speech on this occasion, congratulating the audience and all the people of…

Billionaire couple Bill Gates and Melinda Gates said in a joint statement on Monday that they have decided to end their marriage. “After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” the two said in a statement posted on the Twitter account of Bill Gates, who cofounded Microsoft Corp. “We no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in the next phase of our lives. We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life,” their statement…

The Ministry of Finance welcomed the IMF statement issued at the conclusion of the staff mission for the Kingdom 2021 Article IV. The statement underscored the positive results of the Saudi economic reforms, projected continuation in the economic recovery, and expected decline in the unemployment rate and inflation. The IMF projected real GDP growth at 2.1% this year and 4.8 % in 2022 (compared to a contraction of -4.1 % in 2020) and rebounded recovery of real non-oil GDP growth in the second half of 2020. The high-frequency indicators also suggest continued recovery in 2021. The real non-oil GDP growth…

Bahraini Journalists Association (BJA) has issued a report on the status of the Bahraini press during the coronavirus crisis (Covid 19), in conjunction with the World Press Freedom Day and Bahrain’s celebration of the 82 years since the establishment of the first political newspaper in the Arabian Gulf. The report indicates that despite the gains achieved by the Bahraini press for eight decades, it is currently going through exceptional circumstances caused by COVID-19 and its repercussions on the media. The pandemic has affected the various Bahraini media institutions, but they are still resilient and are facing all the challenges and…

India postponed exams for trainee doctors and nurses on Monday, freeing them up to fight the world’s biggest surge in coronavirus infections, as the health system crumbles under the weight of new cases and hospitals run out of beds and oxygen. The total number of infections so far rose to just short of 20 million, propelled by a 12th straight day of more than 300,000 new cases in a pandemic sparked by a virus first identified in central China at the end of 2019. Medical experts say actual numbers in India could be five to 10 times higher than those reported. Hospitals…