SHANGHAI: Thought Big Tech was taking over your life through smartphones? It may be coming for your car next as Chinese firms lead a stampede into auto manufacturing in their battle for more consumers. 

KUWAIT: Kuwait University announced the vaccination of all its staff members who registered on the Ministry of Health’s website to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, including Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti members of the academic staff, as well as the administrative body. 

BEIRUT: During the first days of Ramadan, Lebanese citizens and Syrian refugees flocked to east Bekaa’s Souk al-Marj market to shop, a tradition followed by local Muslims to mark the holy month. 

THE HAGUE: The Netherlands’ third-largest bank ABN Amro is to pay a €480-million ($575 million) settlement to prosecutors after a probe found the bank failed to comply with anti-money laundering laws. The bank’s announcement follows a 2019 investigation by prosecutors who said the Amsterdam-based bank failed to sufficiently monitor bank accounts and did not report “unusual transactions” or reported them too late.

QUEENSTOWN, New Zealand: Families reunited in emotional scenes yesterday as Australia and New Zealand launched a quarantine-free travel bubble that opened the border almost 400 days after its pandemic-enforced closure. 

LONDON: US investment bank JPMorgan yesterday confirmed it is financing the breakaway Super League featuring 12 of Europe’s top football clubs, which threatens to shake-up the world’s biggest sport. “I can confirm that we are financing the deal, but have no further comment at the moment,” a bank spokesman said in a statement to AFP. 

KUWAIT: Kuwait has vaccinated around 42,000 students and nearly 60 percent of teachers against COVID-19 ahead of the final exams, Al-Jarida Arabic daily reported yesterday. 

KUWAIT: The Council of Ministers yesterday decided to extend the partial curfew from 7 pm until 5 am until the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, government spokesman Tareq Al-Mazrem said. 

SAN FRANCISCO: No work email after 5:00 pm on Fridays, mandatory vacations: The outfit behind role-playing video game sensation “Hades” doesn’t believe you have to go through hell to reach the top.