Manama, Dec 25 (IANS) India is keen to help the Bahraini coast guard upgrade its skills in containing oil spills and conducting search and rescue operations, a senior Indian Coast Guard official said. Indian Coast Guard ship Vijit arrived in Bahrain Wednesday on a four-day visit as part of efforts to enhance maritime cooperation, the […]
Beijing, Dec 25 (IANS) The Chinese military has developed and will test an Ebola vaccine on humans this month, a defence ministry spokesman said Thursday. Spokesman Yang Yujun said at a regular press briefing that the vaccine has been developed by a research team at the Academy of Military Medical Sciences. “The vaccine has recently […]
Sanaa, Dec 25 (IANS) Gunmen kidnapped a senior Yemeni intelligence officer in the capital Thursday, a security officer told Xinhua. About 20 gunmen raided the house of Maj. Gen. Yehya al-Marani, the head of political security bureau for domestic affairs, at dawn, and then took him to an unknown place, the officer said on condition […]
Madrid, Dec 25 (IANS/EFE) Spain’s King Felipe VI has established the fight against unemployment as Spain’s top priority and said that combatting corruption was an “inescapable objective”. Felipe Wednesday delivered his first Christmas address since assuming the throne June 19 upon the abdication of his father, Juan Carlos, who had announced June 2 he was […]
Kiev, Dec 25 (IANS) The Ukrainian parliament Thursday approved a bill granting more powers to the country’s top security body, the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC), the legislature’s press service said. The bill, which gives the NSDC the right to make decisions independently in emergencies without approval from the head of state or government, […]
Mogadishu, Dec 25 (IANS) Somalia’s new Prime Minister, Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke, took over office from his predecessor Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed in a ceremony held Thursday. Ahmed congratulated Sharmarke and requested that the parliament and the president work with Sharmarke in order to achieve his constitutional duties, Xinhua reported. “I am very pleased that I am […]
Washington, Dec 24 (IANS/EFE) Former US president George W.H. Bush has been transferred, as a precautionary measure, to a hospital in Houston after suffering respiratory problems, according to a statement from his office. The former president, 90, was admitted Tuesday to the Houston Methodist Hospital where he would remain under observation as a precautionary measure, […]
Brussels, Dec 24 (IANS/EFE) Belgian Defence Minister Steven Vandeput personally authorised the use of a military aircraft for flying Belgium’s King Philip and his family to Asia for their Christmas vacation, sparking controversy about the use of public resources for private purposes, a media report said Wednesday. Vandeput granted permission for the royal family to […]
Lisbon, Dec 24 (IANS/EFE) Three days after its inauguration, a statue of Real Madrid’s Portuguese star striker Cristiano Ronaldo erected in his honour in his hometown in the Madeira Islands has generated a great deal of buzz for what looks like as a bulge in the statue’s pants. On Wednesday, several Portuguese newspapers collected dozens […]
Berlin, Dec 23 (IANS/EFE) German security forces are on high alert as fears grow that terror attacks by radical Islamists might be carried out in any part of the country, according to a leaked report published Tuesday by the Bild newspaper. According to the confidential report seen by the paper, Germany’s participation in the fight […]