Author: News Desk

Fire crews made slow progress Saturday battling some of the largest wildfires in California history — thanks to improved weather conditions and additional resources coming from others states. But danger loomed with the threat of thunderstorms and lightning forecast for Sunday that could spark new fires and overwhelm firefighters battling hundreds of fires throughout the state. Light winds, cool and moist air hitting land from the ocean and more equipment arriving for firefighters helped them make their most significant progress battling three massive Northern California fire “complexes” — multiple wildfires in one area being treated as a single incident. They…

Social distancing is one of the easiest and most efficient ways to avoid virus infection, a family physician has said. When applied properly, social distancing will prevent the virus from spreading and will accelerate its elimination, Dr. Reem Al Saffar said as she lauded Bahrain’s steady efforts to mitigate COVID-19. Social distancing means maintaining a safe distance between people to help limit the spread of the virus and reduce the risk of infection, she added. Maintaining social distancing is important, even if the person is not infected, as it is a precautionary measure intended to stay away from possible infection…

The World Health Organization’s Europe office said it has begun discussions with Russia to try to obtain more information about the experimental COVID-19 vaccine the country recently approved. Last week, Russia became the first country in the world to license a coronavirus vaccine when President Vladimir Putin announced its approval. But the vaccine has not yet passed the advanced trials normally required to prove it works before being licensed, a major breach of scientific protocol. Russian officials claimed the vaccine would provide lasting immunity to COVID-19 but offered no proof. Catherine Smallwood, a senior emergency official at WHO Europe said…

DoorDash, the largest U.S. third-party delivery company for restaurants, on Thursday launched a new grocery service, entering an increasingly crowded market dominated by Instacart and Amazon’s Amazon Fresh. Grocery delivery on DoorDash’s app will begin with Meijer Inc, among others, and expand to more regional and specialty chains in coming weeks, DoorDash’s head of “new verticals” Faud Hannon told Reuters. The more than $680 billion U.S. grocery industry has seen sales rise as the coronavirus pandemic prompted people to stay home and cook more, and to shun shopping themselves in favor of lower-contact delivery services. DoorDash grocery orders are fulfilled…

BRAVE Combat Federation’s 40th iteration, scheduled to take place in Stockholm, Sweden, will mark the first time Anton Turkalj will co-headline a card in his career, as he takes on Ibo Aslan in the second most important fight of the Sweden Finale. Anton’s way to the co-main event of the evening has been one of a rising star. A long-time IMMAF amateur veteran, Turkalj won a European Championship in 2017 and medaled in 2018 European and the 2017 IMMAF World Championship, in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Since he turned pro, Anton has not faced a single loss yet. Five wins…

In the biggest speech of his nearly 50 years in public life, Joe Biden will spell out his vision for the presidency on Thursday when he accepts the Democratic nomination to challenge Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 U.S. election. Biden’s speech on the fourth and final night of the Democratic National Convention will be a high point in a long political career for the former U.S. senator and vice president, who fared poorly in two previous runs for the White House in 1988 and 2008. It will conclude a nominating convention that was held virtually amid the coronavirus pandemic,…

Bahrain will be lifting the 10-day quarantine requirement for all incoming passengers. The compulsory 10-day quarantine will be lifted for all the passengers who test negative, following their test upon arrival in Bahrain. The passengers will still be required to pay the cost of two COVID-19 tests, an arrival test, and a test to be conducted after their stay in Bahrain for 10 days, at a total of BHD 60. Passengers will need to sign a declaration that they will follow the Kingdom’s Ministry of Health regulations to self-isolate until a negative test result comes back and will be required to…

Bahrain’s Ministry of Health reported that the Kingdom had conducted over one million COVID-19 PCR diagnostic tests. In an update on the Kingdom’s COVID-19 response, Bahrain’s Minister of Health Faeqa bint Saeed Alsaleh, confirmed the milestone figure had been reached as part of the ‘Trace, Test, Treat’ strategy that has involved proactive testing on a scale well above many other countries. The Minister highlighted this strategy has resulted in Bahrain conducting 675 tests per 1,000 people, one of the highest rates in the world. Equally, with only 4.8 % of positive cases from total tested, Bahrain is recording cases well…

The Trump administration on Wednesday suspended or terminated three bilateral agreements with Hong Kong covering extradition and tax exemptions, the latest in a series of U.S. moves in response to China’s imposition of strict national security laws over the former British territory. “The Chinese Communist Party chose to crush the freedoms and autonomy of the people of Hong Kong,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted. The State Department cited Beijing’s violation of its pledge for Hong Kong to retain broad autonomy for 50 years after its 1997 reversion to Chinese rule. President Donald Trump already had determined that Hong Kong…

Barcelona officially announced Ronald Koeman as its new coach on Wednesday, a day after club president Josep Bartomeu said the Dutchman accepted the coaching offer and only details needed to be sorted out. “Today is a day to be happy and proud,” Koeman said after being introduced by Bartomeu. “Everyone knows what Barça means to me. It’s my home.” Koeman returns to the club where he thrived as a defender under Dutch great Johan Cruyff in the early 1990s. It was Koeman’s extra-time winner in the final against Sampdoria at Wembley Stadium that gave Barcelona its first European title nearly…