Category: Sports

Manama, A cycling parade was organized on the occasion of the kingdom’s National Days, in commemoration of the establishment of the modern Bahraini State as an Arab and Muslim state, founded by Ahmed Al Fateh in 1783, and the anniversary of His Majesty the King’s Accession to the Throne.

The Bahrain Cycling Association (BCA) organised the celebratory parade in cooperation with the Northern Governorate under the slogan: “Leader and People.. Nation’s Joy”.

BCA Chairman Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Northern Governor Ali bin Al Sheikh Abdulhussein Al Asfoor and other officials attended then event.

The parade which embodied the meaning of loyalty and patriotism started at the iconic Bahrain Fort and ended at Beit Al Jasra.

BCA Chairman Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and Northern Governor Ali bin Al Sheikh Abdulhussein Al Asfoor led more than seventy cyclists who took part in the event.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Dubai, Under the patronage of the Chairperson of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) Her Highness Shaikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF) unveiled the Global Knowledge Index leaders for 2021.

The index comes in its fifth edition in a row and it aims to measure knowledge globally as a comprehensive closely connected with sustainable development and with different dimensions of modern human life.

In this year’s edition, the knowledge index included 155 variables, selected by more than 40 international sources and databases.

The results of the global knowledge index for the year 2021 unveiled that Switzerland came in first place globally for the fifth year in a row, followed by Sweden, the US, Finland and the Netherlands. The UAE was ranked 11th globally and first in the Arab World at GKI 2021.

Switzerland has retained its top ranking for the fifth consecutive time this year.

“The world is not completely out of the grip of COVID-19, but without doubt what stands out as we negotiated these trying times, is the relentless quest for knowledge that led us to develop vaccines as well as remedial and precautionary measures against the virus. Obviously, this continuing focus on knowledge and its triumph is what has led us to bring back careful normalcy in our daily life, and what has enabled this face-to-face meeting today,” CEO of MBRF Jamal bin Huwaireb said.

He said this year there has seen an extended participation in GKI endeavour, globally as well regionally, signifying the increased commitment towards reinforcing knowledge as a key driver for economic and social growth. The Arabic countries which debuted this year included Iraq and Palestine, joining the portfolio of 16 regional countries in the index.

Globally, the country level participation at GKI 2021 was at 154, compared to 138 last year.

Other countries in the GKI global leader list up to the 100th position included Qatar at the 38th place, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at 40th, Kuwait at 48th, Oman at 52nd, Egypt at 53rd, Bahrain at 55th, Tunisia at 83rd and Lebanon at 92nd. Morocco was at 101 globally, followed by Jordan at 103, Algeria at 111, Iraq at 137, Sudan at 145, Mauritania at 147 and Yemen at 150.

“When the word stands at these challenging crossroads, the increased global participation at GKI is a robust indicator of how knowledge is the single most important factor that will help world nations prosper and lead in front for the benefit of posterity with sustainable focus. In this context, the GKI series has developed into an accepted and prudent benchmark in assessing knowledge-based societies and their growth,” said Dena Assaf of the UN, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

“It is encouraging to see that in certain key branch indexes that drive knowledge, innovation and education, Arab countries have been faring well and are firmly on the road to progress. Significantly, it shows the positive impact of the awareness that the new world is largely shaped and led by countries that have an edge in knowledge,” Regional Hub Manager at UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States (RBAS) Khaled Abdel-Shafi said.

The average global performance rate at GKI 2021 stood at 48.4 percent, while for the seven branch indexes of the index, the best performance was for pre-university education at 60.8 percent, followed by enabling environment (55.3), economy (52.9), technical learning and professional training (51.2), higher education (46.1), ICT (43.3) and research and development and innovation (31.4).

GKI has been produced annually since 2017 by the Knowledge Project, a partnership between UNDP-RBAS and MBRF. The index includes 155 variables, selected from over 40 sources and international databases including the UNESCO, World Bank, ITU, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), International Labour Organisation (ILO) etc.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

London, Some players and staff members at Manchester United reported positive tests for the coronavirus on Sunday, reports AP.

The people who tested positive were sent home before training and the Premier League was notified. The rest of the squad trained and practice was adjusted to individual and non-contact sessions.

United is scheduled to play Brentford in the Premier League on Tuesday. Tottenham had a coronavirus outbreak last week, forcing the postponement of two of its games — including a match at Brighton in the Premier League.

British newspaper The Sun was the first to report the positive tests at United. United played Norwich away on Saturday, winning 1-0, and the whole travelling group tested negative in routine tests.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

NEW YORK, A Winter Olympics-themed Day was celebrated at Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden in New York on Saturday, bringing the 2022 Winter Olympics closer to American citizens.

Organized by the Chinese Consulate General in New York, the event featured a photo exhibition and a lighting ceremony, impressing the audiences with the charm of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and winter sports.

Key elements of the 2022 Games, including cute images of the Games’ official mascots Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon, as well as many sports pictograms, were on display.

“The motto of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics is ‘Together for a Shared Future.’ I believe that if we could play together, we could work together,” Chinese Consul General in New York Huang Ping said at the event.

Huang also voiced his hope that “athletes around the world could happily meet and compete at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, so as to enhance mutual understanding and help build a better world.”

“The Olympic spirit of solidarity, friendship and peace not only inspires the athletes to exceed their physical limits, but also promotes mutual understanding across cultures and build a harmonious world,” said the Chinese diplomat.

Martha Neighbors, interim president and CEO at Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, told Xinhua that the motto of the Games “Together for a Shared Future” is wonderful.

“I think that’s absolutely something for not just individuals, but communities and nations to aspire to,” she said, adding she wishes the Beijing Winter Olympics “a huge success.”

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will take place on Feb 4-20, followed by the Paralympic Winter Games on March 4-13.

The US, UK, Canada and Australia have said they will not send government representatives to the February games because of concerns over China’s human rights record.

France has no plans to join a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, President Emmanuel Macron said, adding any such move would be insignificant and merely symbolic.

Source: Nam News Network

Manama, Kimi Raikkonen has created headlines in F1 far beyond his 2007 world title. Now the popular 42-year-old Finn is set for his last race.

Kimi Raikkonen is the last world champion to date for cult team Ferrari but the Finn himself is a cult figure as he leaves Formula One racing after two decades on Sunday.

The 2007 world title for the Scuderia in a dramatic finale against the McLaren duo of two-two reigning champion Fernando Alonso and rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton was the highlight of Raikkonen’s career.

But Raikkonen made himself immortal when he told his then Lotus team via radio to “just leave me alone, I know what I am doing” while en route to victory at the 2012 Abu Dhabi race.

His current Alfa Romeo team duly wrote “Dear Kimi, we will leave you alone now” on his car for his farewell on the same Yas Marina course, said dpa international.

That same year 2012 he tried to get through an escape route after sliding off the track at the Brazilian Grand Prix, only to find himself in front of a locked gate and having to turn around.

“You can get back on the track by going through the support race pit lane but you have to go through a gate. I knew this as I did the same thing in 2001 and the gate was open that year. Somebody closed it this time,” he said at the time.

That year 2001 marked his debut season in F1 at Sauber, after just 23 previous races.

He also drove for McLaren 2002-06, Ferrari 2007-2009 and 2014-2018, returned after a two-year F1 break at Lotus 2012-13, and ended his career at Alfa Romeo 2019-21, winning 21 grands prix, climbing 108 podiums and st for his 349th race Sunday.

Now 42, Raikkonen has competed against Michael Schumacher and his son Mick as well as Jos Verstappen and his son Max who is fighting for the title against Hamilton on Sunday.

“I don’t consider this funny, I like it,” Raikkonen told dpa ahead of his finale. “It is quite nice, I don’t feel old. You only start to feel old when you are old in the head. But I am not feeling old.”

Raikkonen is not known for many emotions and is commonly known as The Iceman.

But he was always popular in the paddock – for his hard racing but also for famous images such as walking through the Bahrain desert in his red Ferrari suit after his car failed, or leaving a Monaco race after a retirement and watching the rest of the race from a yacht.

“It is unbelievable what he has done,” Williams driver Geroge Russell said of Raikkonen, and his former Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel said: “If you have it (a problem with Raikkonen) then he isn’t the problem – it’s you.”

Raikkonen said Thursday that probably “my wife will be more emotional than me,” as wife Minttu and their two children are in Abu Dhabi for his farewell.

He has also said he had no immediate plans for the future at the end of a career in a sport he never took too seriously.

“I always considered my life outside Formula One much more important than Formula One itself. It takes up a lot of your time but Formula One was never the most important thing in my life,” he told dpa.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Madrid, A giant illuminated star has been inaugurated on the second highest tower of the landmark Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona.

In front of thousands of people in the streets around the church, the Cardinal and Archbishop of Barcelona, Joan Josep Omella, blessed the “Star of Bethlehem” on Wednesday evening after Mass was said.

Afterwards, the bright light inside the 12-pointed star made of steel and glass, which weighs 5.5 tons and measures 7.5 meters from point to point, was lit shortly before 8 pm (19:00 GMT) at a height of 138 meters, according to Deutsche press agency (dpa).

Architect Antoni Gaudi was following the ceremony “certainly deeply moved from Heaven,” Cardinal Omella said at the inauguration.

The Catalan architect, who was run over by a tram in 1926, had designed the Roman Catholic basilica. However, the building, which was begun in 1882, has still not been completed.

According to the latest estimates, the basilica will be ready by 2030 at the earliest.

The star on the tower, which cost about 1.5 million euros (1.7 million dollars) and is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, will catch and reflect the sunlight during the day.

In the evening, spotlights will illuminate the steel and glass colossus from within – changing the Barcelona skyline “forever and ever” and helping to end “the great darkness of the pandemic,” Omella explained.

Located north of the Spanish metropolis’ old town, the church, consecrated as a basilica by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010, is a Barcelona landmark and, along with the Alhambra in Granada, the most visited sight in Spain. Before the outbreak of the pandemic, more than 4.5 million visitors were counted annually.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

MOGADISHU, More than 300,000 people in Somalia’s Galgaduud region have been affected by a severe drought that has gripped most of the country and forced the federal government last month to declare a state of emergency.

“There is not enough food, not enough water,” says Deeko Adan Warsame, the chair of the women’s council of Guriel, a town of some 100,000 people in Galgaduud.

Late in October, the first rainfall in many months came to Guriel, bringing hope to its inhabitants. It also attracted many people who came here from other places as far as neighboring Ethiopia along with their animals in search of food, water, and pasture.

But as the drought seemed to be giving a short respite to Guriel’s residents, the conflict tightened its grip on the town. At the end of October, heavy fighting broke out between the Somali National Army and Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama’a group, killing dozens and forcing people to move again, this time out of town. Some 100,000 people fled to neighboring villages.

Intense shelling damaged several buildings, including Guriel’s main hospital, Istarlin. The Kulmiye Community hospital, the second-largest in the town, was destroyed in a fire. Its medical wards now stand empty and roofless, with charred walls and heaps of corrugated metal lying on the floor.

“I don’t find words to describe what I feel when I look at the hospital turned into rubble,” says Mohamed Sheikh Ahmed, who oversees operations in the area for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). “The fighting may be over now, but we will feel its consequences for a long time.”

Another vital facility heavily damaged by the fighting was a local borehole, whose two generators stopped working after they were hit by bullets. The borehole provided water to thousands of people and their animals. Water is the most precious resource in the region and the pressure on it is growing, as more people arrive from other areas displaced by the drought.

“You can run away from the fighting, but you can’t escape from the drought,” says Warsame. “We have missed three rounds of rain already.”

Source: Nam News Network

Manama, The fourth edition of the Nasser bin Hamad Traditional Sports Season (Mawrooth) has today concluded on a high note.

His Majesty the King’s Representative for Humanitarian Work and Youth Affairs His Highness Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa extended thanks and gratitude to HM King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa for patronising the event.

HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa praised the royal support and directives which contributed to promoting the sports heritage to conserve Bahrain’s national identity.

HM the King deputised HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa to attend the final ceremony and distribute prizes to winners in different contests.

HH Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Head of the General Sports Authority and Bahrain Olympic Committee President was also present.

HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa launched “Bahrain Pearls”, a book compiled by BOC Traditional Sports Committee, under the supervision of Shaikh Khalid bin Hmood Al Khalifa.

HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa also attended the traditional rowing races, covering 2000 and 3000 metres, on HM the King’s Cup.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Manama, HH Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, First Deputy President of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, President of the General Sports Authority and President of Bahrain Olympic Committee has received at his office in Al Wadi Palace, Bahrain National Cricket Team members who won the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier which was hosted by Qatari capital Doha.

The event was attended by Shaikh Salman bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Vice President of the General Sports Authority, Dr Abdulrahman Sadiq Askar, CEO of the General Sports Authority, Mohammed Hassan Al Nusf, Secretary-General of Bahrain Olympic Committee and Hatem Abbas Dadabai, President of Bahrain Cricket Association and its Board members.

HH Shaikh Khalid affirmed that the victory in the event came thanks to the great performances showcased by the players, stating that this accomplishment represents a great start for the national team towards further successes.

HH Shaikh Khalid valued the exceptional efforts exerted by the Association under the presidency of Dadabai which have positively impacted the team’s performance and created ideal circumstances for the players to give their best. Finally, Shaikh Khalid congratulated the Association’s Board and members on the accomplishment.

Source: Bahrain News Agency