Author: News Desk

The Iranian navy will maintain regular missions in the Gulf, the ISNA news agency reported on Wednesday, a day after the United States warned mariners there to stay away from U.S. warships reported Reuters. “The naval units of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman will continue their regular missions in accordance with professional principles as in the past,” ISNA quoted an unnamed military official as saying. The U.S. warning to mariners followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat last month to fire on any Iranian ships that harass U.S. Navy vessels. The Bahrain-based…

Spain has made it compulsory for all citizens, including children over six, to wear masks in public spaces as one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns gradually unwinds. The Health Ministry order said the masks – whose efficiency in curbing the coronavirus is hotly debated globally – would be needed from Thursday for indoor public spaces and outdoors when impossible to keep a two-metre distance, Reuters reports. Spain has suffered 27,778 deaths and had 232,037 cases of the COVID-19 disease, according to the latest data, while the tourism-dependent economy is forecast to contract up to 12.4% in 2020 due its virtual paralysis…

Bahrain has reported 158 new COVID-19 cases, of which 116 are among expatriate workers and 42 are contacts of active cases, this takes today’s cases to 348. These newly registered cases bring up the total cases in the kingdom to 7,532 and there are 4,556 active cases of which 9 are critical and the rest stable, according to the Ministry of Health.  MOH also reported 12 new recoveries from COVID-19, bringing the total recoveries in the country to 2,964. Bahrain has so far conducted 249,411 COVID-19 tests for the early detection of the virus. So far Bahrain has reported 12 fatalities due…

Facebook is launching Shops, a service that will allow businesses to display and sell products on the world’s largest social network’s platforms, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday. The move to build up e-commerce offerings follows Facebook’s launch last year of limited shopping options on photo-sharing app Instagram and messaging app WhatsApp. Company leaders wager making the platforms more business-friendly will generate fresh ad revenue, even as user growth slows. Facebook Shops will tie at least some of those efforts together, enabling businesses to set up a single online store accessible via both Facebook and Instagram. A checkout feature…

Egypt announced 720 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) on Tuesday, taking the confirmed cases to 13,484, according to the health ministry. It is the highest daily toll in the country since the pandemic started. Egypt reported 14 new fatalities linked with coronavirus, bringing the total fatalities in the country to 659. The daily tally of cases has been rising after the government slightly eased a night curfew and other measures. [bkinfobox textcolor=”#000000″ backgroundcolor=”#ffffff” title=”” infobox_align=”aligncenter”] [/bkinfobox]

India’s Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan is set to take charge as the chairman of the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board on May 22. Harsh Vardhan would succeed Dr. Hiroki Nakatani of Japan, currently the Chairman of the 34-member WHO Executive Board. The proposal to appoint India’s nominee to the executive board was signed by the 194-nation World Health Assembly today, officials said on condition of anonymity. His taking over the post seems to be a formality after the decision that he will be India’s nominee as the WHO’s South-East Asia group had unanimously decided last year that India…

In line with its efforts to promote its members and empower their expansion, the Bahrain Chamber in collaboration with Oxford Business Group launched a publication titled “Local to Global: The Journey of Bahraini Start-ups.” The publication, available on the official website of the Chamber and Oxford Business Group, includes chief business and economic information about Bahrain and sheds light on promising sectors, incentives for investors, and business laws and legislations. It also outlines services offered by the chamber and exhibits success stories on the endeavour of local businesses to regional and international markets. In this regard, Chief Executive Officer Shaker…

Minister of Health Shaikh Dr. Basel Al Sabah announced the recovery of 342 novel coronavirus patients, bringing the total number of recoveries to 4,681. In a statement to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), the minister pointed out that analyses and medical examinations and tests proved that these cases were cured of the coronavirus. They will be transferred to the hospital recuperation ward, pending discharge within the next few days, he said. Kuwait has confirmed 15,691 cases of coronavirus, including 118 fatalities, according to the Kuwait MOH. [bkinfobox textcolor=”#000000″ backgroundcolor=”#ffffff” title=”” infobox_align=”aligncenter”] [/bkinfobox]

Millions of people in India and Bangladesh are in the path of a super cyclone which is due to make landfall in less than 36 hours, bringing damaging winds and heavy rain to a region already struggling with the coronavirus pandemic. Super Cyclone Amphan became the strongest storm ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal on Monday night, after intensifying with sustained wind speeds of up to 270 kph, according to data from the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Amphan has weakened slightly since, but the storm is still the equivalent of a strong Category 4 Atlantic hurricane or a super typhoon…

Bahrain has reported 190 new COVID-19 cases, of which 117 are among expatriate workers, 72 are contacts of active cases and 1 is travel-related. These new cases bring up the total cases in the kingdom to 7,374 and there are 4,410 active cases of which 9 are critical and the rest stable, according to the Ministry of Health.  MOH also reported 21 new recoveries from COVID-19, bringing the total recoveries in the country to 2,952. Bahrain has so far conducted 248,205 COVID-19 tests for the early detection of the virus. So far Bahrain has reported 12 fatalities due to health complications.…