Author: News Desk

Beirut : Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, has stated that the importation of the Iranian fuel shipments by Hezbollah constitutes a “violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty,” according to comments posted by his office on Twitter. The Office said that Prime Minister Mikati had made his statements in an interview with CNN.

Tokyo :  The race is on for the next Japanese prime minister. Official election campaigning began Friday for the new head of Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party, who typically becomes the national leader because of the party’s control over parliament. Four candidates are competing in the Sept. 29 vote to replace outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who will quit when his term ends at the end of this month after serving only one year. He took over from predecessor Shinzo Abe. Their policies largely focus on the pandemic and its economic fallout, and on the increasingly assertive role China is…

Hamburg : Employees of Airbus Operations and Premium Aerotec went on strike on Friday in a dispute over the future restructuring of the companies, said dpa international. According to IG Metall, a major metalworkers’ union, the Airbus sites in Hamburg and Buxtehude and the Premium Aerotec site in Varel were among those affected. Work was also expected to stop at other sites in the morning. “We are not getting anywhere at the negotiating table,” said IG Metall district leader Daniel Friedrich. As a safety net for the approximately 13,000 employees, IG Metall is asking for a severance payment of three…

Wellington :  New Zealand announced Friday it will keep its border closed to Australia for at least another eight weeks, said dpa international. The so-called Trans-Tasman bubble began in April and allowed Australians and New Zealanders to travel between the two countries without the need to quarantine. However, New Zealand paused the bubble in July as its neighbour struggled to contain new Covid-19 outbreaks. When the bubble was established, both countries had “very few recent cases” of community transmission and a similar elimination strategy, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said. Australia is battling several outbreaks. The state of New South…

Bahrain : Education Minister Dr. Majid bin Ali Al Nuaimi visited Al Nozha Girls’ Primary School, where he inspected mandatory precautionary measures and attended a lesson. Dr. Al Nuaimi also was briefed by School Principal Aisha Al Siddiqi about educational projects, including the “I Can” initiative, which aims at enhancing students’ level through synchronous and asynchronous learning activities. The minister praised the school’s efforts to improve students’ standard, stressing the positive impact of educational projects on the learning outcome.

Bahrain : Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Minister Esam bin Abdulla Khalaf received Council of Representatives members Mp. Abdulla Al Thawadi and Basem Al Malki and discussed issues related to the eighth and ninth constituencies in the Northern Governorate. The meeting was attended by Undersecretary for Works Affairs Ahmed Abdulaziz Al Khayyat and Northern Municipality Director-General Lamia Al Fadhala. The minister laided lawmakers’ efforts to serve citizens and the nation and asses people’s needs in their areas, stressing keenness on following up the municipal councilors’ proposals. He also commended ongoing cooperation between the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and…

Colombo: Sri Lanka on Friday extended the COVID-19 lockdown by another two weeks amid pressure from medical experts. The current lockdown was to end on Tuesday. A special meeting of the COVID-19 Control Committee chaired by President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa decided to extend the measures until Oct. 1, according to presidential spokesman Kingsly Rathnayaka. Medical experts have said although Sri Lanka has seen a decline in daily cases, oxygen requirements and deaths, it remains at risk. The last 24 hours saw 2,314 confirmed cases., reports AP. The lockdown was first imposed on Aug. 20 and extended four times. The government has…

Budapest : An imposing bronze statue was unveiled in Hungary’s capital, which its creators say is the first in the world to pay homage to the anonymous creator of the Bitcoin digital currency. Erected in a business park near the Danube River in Budapest, the bust sits atop a stone plinth engraved with the name of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym of the mysterious developer of Bitcoin whose true identity is unknown. “We think of Satoshi as the founding father of the whole cryptocurrency industry,” said Andras Gyorfi, a Bitcoin journalist and the initiator of the project. “He created Bitcoin, he…

Rome : Italy will be the first country in Europe to impose an obligation on private and public sector employees to show evidence of a coronavirus vaccination or negative test results, reports dpa international. On Thursday, the government of Prime Minister Mario Draghi decided to expand the country’s existing “green pass,” meaning that henceforth, those who cannot show a certificate are no longer allowed to go to work in offices, shops or restaurants from October 15. In Italy, 75 per cent of people over the age of 12 had been vaccinated by Thursday. Draghi pushed through the new decree despite…

His Excellency Interior Minister and Head of the committee to counter extremism, money laundering, and terrorism General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa received on Thursday Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) Governor Rasheed Al Maraj and CBB Deputy Governor Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa who also chairs the committee in charge of setting policies to prohibit and combat money laundering and terrorist financing. Director of Financial Intelligence and deputy head of the committee, Shaikha May bint Mohammed Al Khalifa attended. In the beginning, HE Interior Minister hailed the international accomplishment achieved by Bahrain. As a result, the Kingdom ranked…