Author: News Desk

Washington: Natasha Peri, an 11-year-old Indian-American girl has been judged as one of the brightest students in the world by a top US university for her exceptional performance in the SAT and ACT standardised tests. Both the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and American College Testing (ACT) are standardised tests that many colleges use to determine whether to accept a student for admission. In some cases, companies and non-profits also use these scores to award merit-based scholarships. All colleges require students to take either the SAT or the ACT and submit their scores to their prospective universities. Peri, a student at Thelma…

Tokyo : Germany’s Malaika Mihambo has snatched gold in her final jump of the women’s long jump on Tuesday in Tokyo. Mihambo saved her best for last, clinching gold from 2021 gold medallist American Brittney Reese with a season best jump of 7 metres, dpa reports. Reese, the 2012 gold medallist and four-time world champion, held the lead from the third round with a jump of 6.97m. However, she couldn’t better Mihambo’s final leap, taking home silver. Nigeria’s Ese Brume also reached 6.97m but took bronze, as her second best effort of 6.67m was inferior to Reese’s 6.81m. Seven women…

US : The U.S. has finally reached President Joe Biden’s goal of getting at least one COVID-19 shot into 70% of American adults — a month late and amid a fierce surge by the delta variant that is swamping hospitals and leading to new mask rules and mandatory vaccinations around the country. In a major retreat in the Deep South, Louisiana ordered nearly everyone, vaccinated or not, to wear masks again in all indoor public settings, including schools and colleges. And other cities and states likewise moved to reinstate precautions to counter a crisis blamed on the fast-spreading variant and…

Bahrain :  President of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA), Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, today received the outgoing Omani Ambassador and the Dean of Diplomatic Corps in Bahrain, Abdulla bin Rashid Al-Mudailawi. Shaikha Mai affirmed the depth of the brotherly Bahraini-Omani relations, and stressed the importance of enhancing cultural exchange and extending bridges of civilisational communication between the two countries, thanks to their common cultural features. Shaikha Mai wished the ambassador every success in his future assignments, expressing hope that the ongoing cooperation between BACA and the Sultanate of Oman will yield more civilisational projects. The…

Adelaide : Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN.AX) is temporarily idling about 2,500 employees without pay for at least two months in a bid to cope with fresh COVID-19 restrictions in Australia slashing domestic travel demand. The decision will directly impact domestic pilots, cabin crew and airport workers, mostly in New South Wales, the airline said on Tuesday, adding that no job losses were expected from the move, Reuters reports. Qantas said it had gone from operating almost 100% of its pre-COVID domestic flying capacity in May to less than 40% in July due to lockdowns meant to curb the rapid spread…

Sydney :  Australia’s New South Wales, home to Sydney, said on Tuesday it could ease a COVID-19 lockdown that demands five million people stay at home until the end of August if 50% of the population is vaccinated, even as new infections linger near a 16-month high. A lifting of restrictions in New South Wales, the country’s most populous state, would be a boost for Prime Minister Scott Morrison, under intense pressure for his government’s handling of the vaccine rollout, with the threat of a second economic recession in as many years looming. New South Wales, which accounts for a…

Tokyo :  Japan will focus on hospitalizing patients who are seriously ill with COVID-19 and those at risk of becoming so while others isolate at home, officials said, amid worries about a strained medical system as cases surge in Olympics host city Tokyo. The country has seen a sharp increase in coronavirus cases, and is recording more than 10,000 daily new infections nationwide. Tokyo had a record high of 4,058 on Saturday. Fewer elderly people, most of whom are vaccinated, are getting infected, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said, Reuters reported. “On the other hand, infections of younger people are…

Bahrain :  His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, today received the outgoing ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, His Excellency Padam Sundas, at Gudaibiya Palace to mark the end of his tenure in Bahrain. His Royal Highness highlighted the importance of continuing to develop the strong ties that exist between the Kingdom of Bahrain and Nepal. His Royal Highness commended the efforts of HE Ambassador Sundas to further Bahrain-Nepal relations and wished the Ambassador success in his future assignments. For his part, HE Padam Sundas expressed his gratitude for…

Tokyo :  Sifan Hassan bagged the first of what she hopes will be an unprecedented hat-trick of track golds while Kenya’s astonishing run of victories in the men’s steeplechase ended as boiling sun gave way to torrential rain at the Olympic athletics on Monday. The conditions caused a delay to the field events, Valarie Allman eventually winning the women’s discus with her opening throw – an unlikely source for the United States’ first athletics gold of the Games. If Dutchwoman Hassan is going to bag her remarkable treble, nobody can say she had it easy as she began the day…

Copenhagen : More than 60 million coronavirus infections have been registered in Europe since the start of the pandemic, compromising about 30 percent of all known cases in the world, World Health Organization (WHO) data showed on Monday. The WHO’s European regional office called for greater efforts to make faster and more equitable progress in vaccinating people against Covid-19, noting the wide disparity between some countries, reports dpa international. While vaccination rates in Europe are among the highest in the world, WHO regional emergency director Dorit Nitzan noted that many people who are in priority groups – such as the…