DUBAI/KUWAIT: Zain, a leading mobile telecom innovator in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa, has been awarded the ‘Best Brand’ accolade for 2020 at the prestigious Telecoms World Middle East Awards for a record seventh consecutive year. 

KUWAIT: Kuwait yesterday reported seven deaths due to COVID-19 and 663 new infections. The figures took the country’s death toll up to 701 and the caseload to 116,146, health ministry data showed. 

NEW YORK: Boeing shares climbed on Friday following a report that the European air safety regulator is ready to allow the 737 MAX jet to return to the skies after its worldwide grounding. 

WASHINGTON: Europe’s tiny Andorra formally joined the International Monetary Fund on Friday, becoming the crisis lender’s 190th member state as the tourism and trade-dependent principality struggles with the coronavirus pandemic. 

BEIJING: China’s economic recovery gathered pace in the third quarter, according to an AFP poll of analysts, with consumer spending gradually picking up as coronavirus fears eased, helping a wider rebound spurred by investment and exports. Growth in July-September is expected to come in at 5.2 percent when official data is released Monday, bringing the world’s second-largest economy closer to last year’s 6.1 percent annual expansion, even as countries around the world struggle to contain the deadly pandemic.

KUWAIT: Kuwait yesterday reported four deaths and 739 new cases due to COVID-19. The figures took the country’s death toll up to 694 and the caseload to 115,483, health ministry data showed. According to ministry spokesman Dr Abdullah Al-Sanad, the number of people hospitalized with the virus stands at 7,681; 139 of whom in intensive care units.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s budget carrier HK Express joined airlines offering “flight to nowhere” yesterday with an inaugural journey filled with media and influencers, sparking criticism from environmentalists.

BRUSSELS/BERLIN/WASHINGTON: Financial leaders from the Group of 20 major economies on Wednesday underscored the urgent need to bring the spread of the coronavirus pandemic under control, and vowed to “do whatever it takes” to support the global economy and financial stability.