Bahrain prime minister has died, royal palace says

DUBAI— Bahrain's Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al Khalifa has died, the royal palace announced on Wednesday on Twitter.

Sheikh Khalifa passed away on Wednesday morning at Mayo Clinic hospital in the United States, Bahrain's state news agency said.

The burial ceremony will take place upon the repatriation of his body and the funeral will be limited to a specific number of relatives, the statement said.

Official mourning has been declared for a week.

-reuters-

Bahrain records first coronavirus death in GCC

A Bahraini woman has died from the novel coronavirus, the health ministry announced on Monday, marking the first death from the disease among Gulf Co-operation Council states. 

The 65-year-old woman had pre-existing medical conditions, the ministry said on Twitter. 

Nearly 1,000 cases of the virus have been recorded so far across the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Most of those infected have been people returning from Iran, where more than 850 people have died in the outbreak, according to official figures released by the Islamic republic.

Facing a mounting public health threat, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman have taken drastic measures to combat the pandemic.

The Gulf countries have shut down cinemas and other entertainment centres. Some have closed gyms and spas.

In the UAE on Monday, Burj Khalifa -- the world's tallest building and one of the most popular tourist destinations in Dubai -- said it was temporarily closing its observation decks. 

Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, the authorities temporarily suspended "attendance at work places" in almost all government agencies, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. 

Kuwait has taken the strictest measures in the GCC by largely locking down the country over the weekend.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Kuwait, Bahrain announce first coronavirus cases

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Kuwait and Bahrain confirmed on Monday their first novel coronavirus cases, health ministries in the two Gulf states announced, adding all had come from Iran.

Kuwait reported 3 infections and Bahrain one.

"Tests conducted on those coming from the Iranian city of Mashhad showed there were 3 confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19)," the Kuwaiti health ministry said in a statement posted on Twitter.

It said the cases were of a 53-year-old Kuwaiti man, a 61-year-old Saudi citizen and a 21-year-old stateless Arab. 

"All three cases are under constant observation by the health authority," the ministry added. 

Bahrain's healthy ministry also reported the country's first COVID-19 case on Monday after a "citizen arriving from Iran was suspected of having contracted the virus based on emerging symptoms". 

The patient was transferred to a medical center for "immediate testing", which proved positive for the infection, the ministry added.

Iran's confirmed death toll rose to 12 on Monday, with the outbreak prompting travel bans from nearby countries.

Last week, Kuwait announced a ban on entry of all ships from the Islamic republic and enforced a ban on flights to and from the country. 

Thousands of Bahraini and Kuwaiti Shiite Muslims travel to Iran frequently to visit holy sites.

China's death toll from the new coronavirus rose to 2,592 on Monday, after the National Health Commission reported 150 more fatalities, all but one in the epicenter of Hubei province.

The novel coronavirus has spread to more than 25 countries and is causing mounting alarm due to new pockets of outbreaks in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Agence France-Presse 

Bahrain stops issuing visas for Qatari nationals

DUBAI - Bahrain's interior ministry said on Tuesday that it would stop issuing new visas to Qatari nationals, escalating measures against Qatar more than a year into a diplomatic row.

The statement, carried on state news agency BNA, said Qatari students studying in the kingdom and other Qatari citizens with existing visas would not be affected.

It also said the move came in response "hostile acts" by Qatari authorities. It did not elaborate.

Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut diplomatic, transport and trade ties with Qatar in June 2017, accusing it of financing terrorism. Doha denies that and says the boycott is an attempt to rein in its support for reform.

In October, Bahrain said it would impose entry visas on Qatari nationals as a security measure.

Citizens from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council countries are otherwise supposed to be able to travel within the GCC carrying only an identity card.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

F1: Bottas ends Hamilton's pole run in Bahrain

MANAMA - Finland's Valtteri Bottas took his first Formula One pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday with a sizzling lap that ended Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton's bid for a seventh in a row.

Triple world champion Hamilton qualified alongside, a mere 0.023 - or 17 centimetres - slower than Bottas's time of one minute 28.769 seconds but with everything still to play for on Sunday.

That clinched the first front row lockout of the season for the reigning champions after two races with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel splitting the Silver Arrows.

Hamilton, joking and laughing in a later news conference, appeared delighted for Bottas and offered a warm handshake to a man who left China last weekend with his mind in turmoil after a costly mistake behind the safety car.


"Firstly, a big congratulations to Valtteri. He has been working so hard, gelled so well with the team and today he was just quicker, he did the better job and hats off to him," said Hamilton.

"That's how close I think qualifying should always be. It forces us all to be more on the limit."

"For sure, it feels good," said Bottas, the first Finnish driver to secure a pole position since Hamilton's then-team mate Heikki Kovalainen for McLaren at the 2008 British Grand Prix, 168 races ago.

"It's my first pole in my career in my fifth season in F1 so it took a few years but hopefully it's the first of many for me," he added.

Vettel, joint leader of the world championship standings with Hamilton after two races with one win each, will start in third place with Red Bull's Australian Daniel Ricciardo fourth.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, whose last pole was also in 2008, qualified fifth.

Mercedes won the race last year with now-retired champion Nico Rosberg, the man Bottas has replaced, and have now taken five successive poles at the desert Sakhir circuit.

Hamilton had been fastest in both the first and second phases of qualifying, and set the pace with his first lap in the final session before Bottas pulled off his masterstroke.

The unflappable Finn let out a rare whoop over the team radio, with engineer Tony Ross -- who had inadvertently called Bottas 'Nico' during the race in China -- replying that "for a moment there you actually showed some emotion, well done".

Hamilton and Vettel, sitting alongside Bottas in front of reporters, jokingly asked the polesitter whether the Finnish language had a word for 'excited' or 'exciting'.

Bottas thought hard but words failed him. "Kind of," he hesitated, as his rivals laughed.

"See, it doesn't exist," said Vettel. "It's not one that's really used much in the vocabulary," added Hamilton.

"I don't know really," concluded Bottas.

Dutch teenager Max Verstappen qualified sixth for Red Bull with Nico Hulkenberg seventh on a good day for Renault, who had Britain's Jolyon Palmer in 10th place after his first appearance in the final phase.

Brazilian Felipe Massa starts eighth for Williams and France's Romain Grosjean ninth for Haas.

German driver Pascal Wehrlein also made a strong return after a back injury kept him out of the first two races, qualifying 13th for Sauber while Swedish team mate Marcus Ericsson was only 19th.

(Editing by Ed Osmond and Ian Chadband)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Gulf Air jet makes emergency landing in NAIA

MANILA – A Gulf Air jet bound for Bahrain made an emergency landing at Terminal 1 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Friday due to engine trouble.

All 200 passengers are safe. The Airbus 330 turned back one hour into its flight. The cause of the emergency was not immediately know.

Faint smoke billowed from the plane’s left engine as safety crew inspected it on Bay 7 of NAIA 1.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Filipinos in Bahrain rally to help 'Yolanda' victims

MANAMA, Bahrain - Filipinos from all walks of life in the Kingdom of Bahrain are uniting to help the victims of typhoon Yolanda (international codename: Haiyan), the strongest typhoon in the world to ever make a landfall.

A newly-formed group, the United Pinoy Photographers in Bahrain, will conduct a shoot for a cause. The proceeds from the event will be donated to ABS-CBN's Sagip Kapamilya. Models and individuals offered their services for free.

The DHL-Bahrain have extended their help by providing free boxes for relief goods which will be shipped, free of cost, to affected areas, through the Red Cross.

Volunteer players from the Filipino Club Tennis Group are spearheading the collection of relief goods as their simple way of extending assistance to typhoon-hit kababayans.

Members of the Filipino community at the Sacred Heart Church are also accepting donations of relief goods.

The Filipino Club-Bahrain has initiated a donation campaign, providing hotlines for donations. All generated funds will be remitted to Sagip Kapamilya, while relief goods will be forwarded to different legitimate agencies in the Philippines. A regular updated report on the donations will be posted in social networking page of the Filipino Club.

"We are receiving calls and messages from Filipinos and foreigners if it is possible to handover their donations to the Filipino Club. Knowing that we have the social and moral obligations to do so, the club decided to head the donation campaign," said the club's coordinator, Emil Durano.

Pinoy Day Out, an event that will be held on November 22 (Friday) at ‘The Lost Paradise of Dilmun Waterpark Bahrain’, has been coordinated by Charms & Senses and in coordination with the Filipino Club-Bahrain and the Fil-Am Association (Bahrain). Part of the discounted entry fee will be donated to the victims of 'Yolanda'.

A group of Pinays is also planning to sell souvenir t-shirts. Proceeds will be donated to the typhoon victims.

"We have seen the sufferings of the victims and their families. All we can do now is to generate funds that can be used to help them. Though our funds might be small from this undertaking, our prayers are so big to make things happen," said Annette Aviles, the groups' representative.

Dabarkadz Group, a group of Filipinos in Bahrain, is celebrating its third year anniversary on November 29 (Friday) with a one-day fun day through different ballgames and Pinoy activities at the Muharraq Club Old Gym.

"We are doing a donation drive ‘Bangon Visayas’ for the benefit of the victims of the recent earthquake and typhoon. Individuals and groups are requested to give their donations during their event," said Rodel Santiago. He added that a Filipino cargo company will be shipping the relief goods free of cost.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com