Author: News Desk

The Biden administration plans to announce new U.S. sanctions and other punitive actions “very soon” in response to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s re-election in a vote that Washington has denounced as a sham, a senior State Department official told Reuters on Tuesday. The official said the measures would be the first in a series of steps that the U.S. government will continue to “ramp up over time.” Washington expects a “strong resolution” against Ortega when the Organization of American States meets this week in Guatemala but is not likely to use the event to seek Nicaragua’s suspension from the bloc,…

France’s public health authority has recommended people under 30 be given Pfizer’s Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine when available instead of Moderna Inc’s Spikevax jab, which carried comparatively higher risks of heart-related problems. The Haute Autorite de Sante (HAS), which does not have legal power to ban or licence drugs but acts as an advisor to the French health sector, cited “very rare” risks linked to Myocarditis, a heart disease, that had shown up in recent data on the Moderna vaccine and in a French study published on Monday. “Within the population aged under 30, this risk appears to be around five times lesser with…

Sharjah : President of the International Publishers Association (IPA) Bodour Al Qasimi met with the youngest Emirati publisher and owner of Rainbow Chimney AlDhabi AlMheiri, and spoke to her about the future of local publishing, during a meeting with members of the Emirates Publishers Association (EPA) as part of a series of meetings with pandemic-hit publishing markets. Al Qasimi praised the EPA’s journey over the past few years in growing its member network from five to 200, saying this was an indicator of the Emirati publishing industry’s willingness to seize new opportunities, be methodical, collaborate, and learn and grow, according…

Cape Canaveral, Fla, :  Four astronauts returned to Earth on Monday, riding home with SpaceX to end a 200-day space station mission that began last spring. Their capsule streaked through the late night sky like a dazzling meteor before parachuting into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. Recovery boats quickly moved in with spotlights. “On behalf of SpaceX, welcome home to Planet Earth,” SpaceX Mission Control radioed from Southern California. Within an hour, all four astronauts were out of the capsule, exchanging fist bumps with the team on the recovery ship, The Associated Press (AP) reports.…

Abu Dhabi : His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, today departed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the Kingdom of Bahrain. During the official visit to the UAE, His Royal Highness met with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to review and build upon longstanding ties between Bahrain and the UAE, and to explore ways to further enhance bilateral cooperation and coordination, as well as to discuss regional and international developments. His Royal Highness…

Bahrain  The National Initiative for Agricultural Development (NIAD) announced that it has received support from Dar Aqua and Agriculture Company for the afforestation of Al-Ghous Walkway in the Muharraq Governorate, and from SICO investment bank to plant trees along the Mazarea Highway in Northern Governorate. The projects, implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning and the Supreme Council for the Environment, are within the national afforestation campaign, “Forever Green”. The representative of the Dar Aqua and Agriculture Company Manager, Abdulla Al-Fahal, Muharraq Municipality’s Director-General, Ibrahim Al-Jowdar, senior officials, municipal council members and MPs attended…

Bahrain : Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs, Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa, received today Bahrain Friends Group at the European Parliament, in the presence of member of the Representatives Council Ali Ishaqi. The Minister of Justice welcomed the European delegation, praising the efforts of Bahrain Friends Group in boosting cooperation between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the European Parliament member states. The meeting reviewed ways of boosting joint cooperation and exchanging experiences in the legal and judicial field.

Wang Yaping has become the first Chinese woman to conduct a spacewalk as part of a six-month mission to the country’s space station, said an AP report. Wang and fellow astronaut Zhai Zhigang left the station’s main module on Sunday evening, spending more than six hours outside installing equipment and carrying out tests alongside the station’s robotic service arm, according to the China Manned Space agency. The third member of the crew, Ye Guangfu, assisted from inside the station, CMS said on its website. Wang, 41, and Zhai, 55, had both traveled to China’s now-retired experimental space stations, and Zhai…

Bahrain :BAC Chief Development and Technical Officer Abdulla Janahiis now complete, Bahrain Airport Company (BAC) has said. Conducted twice annually over a period of 20 days, the work is vital to maintain civil and airfield ground lighting of the runway, helping to ensure safe and smooth aircraft operations. During the process, all aircraft operations are suspended between 3:50am and 6:30am. “Regular airfield maintenance is crucial to airport safety,” BAC Chief Development and Technical Officer Abdulla Janahi said. “Runways, taxiways, and strip areas experience a great deal of wear and tear during normal operations. Maintaining these surfaces without disrupting flights is part…

Bahrain: Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Minister Essam bin Abdullah Khalaf received lawmakers Dr. Abdullah Al Thawadi and Basem Al Maliki to discuss the service and municipal needs of Hamad Town. The meeting reviewed projects and plans related to the development of main streets and the entrances and exits of Souq Waqif, as well as infrastructure projects such as the sewage network and parking lots.