WESTERN BUREAU: The island’s agricultural sector took a significant hit with last week’s passage of Hurricane Beryl. The Ministry of Agriculture has reported significant damage to several facilities and agricultural projects across the island,...

NEW YORK: In the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, the Jamaican Diaspora in the United States has intensified its efforts to support the island’s recovery. Using a preliminary list of much-needed items and supplies provided by the Office of Disaster...

WESTERN BUREAU: Since Hurricane Beryl swept by last week, it has been common to witness people throughout Hanover parish coming together in large numbers, armed with tools, to clear roads and lend a helping hand wherever needed. With at least one...

Nicolette Dinham’s entire house in Compound, Alligator Pond, was blown away when Hurricane Beryl struck last Wednesday, causing widespread damage to homes and businesses in this southern Manchester fishing community. “A movie alone mi see dis inna...

Democratic lawmakers held a crisis call on Sunday afternoon to discuss President Joe Biden's viability as their 2024 candidate amid growing concerns.

Kiev’s intelligence services have attempted to bribe a pilot of a Tu-22M3 aircraft, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has said Read Full Article at RT.com

A survey conducted by ARD-DeutschlandTREND revealed overwhelming dissatisfaction with the governing coalition Read Full Article at RT.com

Singapore — Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Candy Ko, 32, overcame multiple challenges, such as building up her fitness after piling on 27kg during her second pregnancy and raising a child who had kidney cancer, to become the first and only woman to join the Police Tactical Unit (PTU). The PTU responds to public order and public security incidents, such as riots and terrorist threats, and is under the Special Operations Command (SOC). The SOC has been described as the Singapore police's elite force. Officers have to complete a rigorous three-month-long Police Tactical Course, which equips them with the skills and capabilities to deal with public order and public security incidents, to join the PTU. ASP Ko is the first woman to complete the course and was the parade commander during the graduation ceremony in April. She said: «I was happy and proud of myself. It was quite tough for me as the course was tiring and intense.» ASP Ko also has the distinction of being the first female officer to be given the SOC red beret, a symbol of «bravery and sacrifice».

SINGAPORE — Shortly after she asked a senior executive at work for career guidance, Clarissa (not her real name) received two calls from an anonymous person informing her that the colleague was a married man. The 40-year-old sales executive said their relationship was a professional one, and she was offended by the caller's insinuation that she was having an affair with him. The calls marked the start of two years of torment when she was harassed and stalked online by a person who assumed false identities in various social media accounts. She later realised that the harasser was her colleague's wife. Clarissa, who is single, said: «I was very spooked. I didn't know what she was capable of and what falsehoods she could spread. »I was afraid she would spread false­hoods and kill my career opportunities." Among other acts of harassment, the wife started about a dozen social media accounts under fake identities, at times using the names of Clarissa's colleagues, presumably so that Clarissa would accept her friend request.

Quality art demands a high price - but this TikToker has expressed doubts that what she was recruited to model for is really art to begin with. A woman in Singapore has put up a warning on TikTok after she received an email inviting her to model for a sexually suggestive photoshoot, she said in a video uploaded to her TikTok on July 2. Lai Yi Jing, 21, was contacted by an email address under the name of Gavin Choo, who claimed to be a freelance photographer working on a «unique project» that required the use of models. «He was offering a compensation of $8,000 - indoor shoot, two hours, and it's a clothed shoot,» the junior designer said in her video. At that point, she felt it sounded too good to be true and reached out to Choo out of curiosity. She requested for Choo's portfolio which he did not provide, but in his reply he revealed that his photoshoot would be sexually themed.  Shoot will involve 50 men As someone who respects art, however, Lai also humoured the photographer and continued to consider the details of the shoot, letting Choo know about her interest.

[RFI] Senegal's recently elected president, Bassirou Dioumaye Faye, has promised to renegotiate mining, gas and oil contracts signed with foreign companies. At a top-level summit in Paris this week, his mining minister set out how the new government plans to break away from old practices and alliances.

[Nyasa Times] A March 2024 European Commission report monitoring Malawi's economy says many people in Malawi depend on piecework for a living.

[Daily Trust] President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been re-elected as chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of States and Government for another one-year term.

Given the trusting nature of relations between New Delhi and Moscow, the leaders have many issues to address when they meet this week Read Full Article at RT.com

Chinese President met with Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing

DHAHRAN: Dhahran was the big winner in the Saudi segment of the F1 in Schools National Championships powered by Aramco, with teams claiming first and fourth places in the competition held at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, or Ithra, at the weekend. The 2024 national champion title went to Dhahran’s Shaheen, second place to Al-Ahsa’s Venture, third to Riyadh’s Clad, and fourth — an additional award added for the first time — to Dhahran’s Oryx.

AL-BAHA: The second Fruit Festival concluded on Saturday in Baljurashi, Al-Baha region, with the participation of several government entities, associations, and the Culinary Arts Commission. Fahd Al-Zahrani, director of the local branch of the Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, said that more than 20 exhibitors and productive families participated in the festival, showcasing various unique products and goods based on the region’s abundance of fruit crops.

MAKKAH: The Presidency for Religious Affairs at the Two Holy Mosques launched the 2024 Umrah season plan, one of the largest of its kind in the presidency’s history. The aim is to enrich the experience of Umrah pilgrims and visitors and create a devotional atmosphere through hundreds of religious enrichment initiatives and programs during the Umrah season, as well as attract thousands of volunteers to the Two Holy Mosques.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) on Sunday said it carried out relief efforts targetting the neediest and displaced families in Chad, Sudan and Yemen over the past days. In separate announcements reported by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), KSrelief said it distributed a total of  2,032 baskets of food and 1,175 shelter kits benefitting 19,668 people in five areas of the three countries.

RIYADH: Saudi authorities have arrested three citizens for violating the Kingdom's environmental laws, including two for illegal hunting of wildlife and one accused of arson, the Special Forces for Environmental Security (SPES) announced on Sunday. In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the SPES said its field patrols arrested Ahmed Suleiman Maqbool Al-Sharari and Zahir Dhaif Allah Muslim Al-Sharari for hunting without a license inside the King Salman Royal Natural Reserve (KSRNR). 

Riots, clashes, and looting broke out across France as left-wing supporters flooded the streets to celebrate the New Popular Front’s victory Read Full Article at RT.com

Chinese President Xi Jinping held a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is currently in Beijing on a “peace mission“ Read Full Article at RT.com

Given the trusting nature of relations between New Delhi and Moscow, the leaders have many issues to address when they meet this week Read Full Article at RT.com

Kim Yo Jong stated that the intra-Korean relations are currently at the worst point ever

The presidential Ensemble coalition comes second, with 168 mandates

Embattled US President Joe Biden hit the campaign trail Sunday seeking to reassure voters he was up for a grueling reelection fight, even as more top Democrats reportedly joined the chorus urging him to quit the race. The 81-year-old remained defiant as he hop-scotched across Pennsylvania -- first to the relative safe ground of a predominantly Black church and a campaign field office, and then to a rally with union workers. As Biden arrived in the state capital Harrisburg, reporters shouted questions including whether the Democratic Party was behind him, to which the president grinned and loudly responded: «Yes.» But an uprising has swelled among some fellow Democrats, analysts and voters concerned he lacks the mental acuity and physical fitness to serve a second term -- worries brought to the fore by a disastrous debate performance last month against Republican challenger Donald Trump. So far, five Democratic lawmakers have publicly called on Biden to drop out. The drip-drip of dissent increased Sunday as four senior congressmen, including ranking House Judiciary Committee Democrat Jerrold Nadler and ranking Armed Services Committee Democrat Adam Smith, said on a call with senior party lawmakers that it was time for Biden to exit the race, according to The New York Times and Politico, which cited people familiar with the call. The president, however, has unequivocally declared he is fit to serve, saying that he is the only one who can defeat Trump, and that he is staying in the race. Democratic lawmakers will return to Capitol Hill Monday under pressure to either fall in line behind Biden or urge him to step aside. Reported attempts by Senator Mark Warner to assemble his colleagues to address the crisis were called off, US media reported Sunday, with senators expected at their regular caucus meeting on Tuesday instead. As for the president, his next major test will come on Thursday, when he is scheduled to hold a press conference during the NATO leaders' summit in Washington. Two high-profile congressional Democrats on Sunday stopped short of calling for Biden to quit, but warned he still needed to win over worried voters. «There's only one reason» the race between Trump and Biden «is close, and that's the president's age,» Representative Adam Schiff told NBC's «Meet the Press.» Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said «the president needs to do more,» including unscripted events, to reassure voters. «This week is going to be absolutely critical,» Murphy told CNN. Biden himself largely avoided discussing the crisis when he gave a seven-minute address at Mt. Airy Church of God in Christ, speaking to a constituency he has embraced throughout his half-century political career. «It's good to be home,» he said to cheers, before joking briefly about his age. «I know I look like I'm only 40 years old but I've been around a little bit,» he said. - Democrats debate - Afterwards he visited a Democratic campaign field office to meet and thank staff. He spoke for a few minutes, without using a teleprompter or notes. Some Democrats remain squarely behind Biden, including Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who accompanied him on the campaign excursion. «There's only one person in this country who has kicked Trump's ass in an election, and that is your president,» Fetterman told the Democratic staffers in Philadelphia, as Biden looked on. With Washington ruminating, First Lady Jill Biden is scheduled to campaign for her husband Monday in Georgia, Florida and North Carolina, while the president preps for the NATO leaders' summit, beginning Tuesday. Here, too, he will find himself having to reassure allies at a time when many European countries fear a Trump victory in November. The 78-year-old Republican has long criticized the defense alliance, voiced admiration for Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, and insisted he could bring about a quick end to the fighting in Ukraine. With election day just four months away, any move to replace Biden as the nominee would need to be made sooner rather than later, and the party will be scrutinized for any signs of more open rebellion. Meanwhile, for Biden and his team, the strategy seems to be to ride it out. The campaign has unveiled an intense battle plan for July, including an avalanche of TV spots and trips to key states. © Agence France-Presse

The youngest daughter of celebrated Canadian author Alice Munro has opened up about sexual abuse by her stepfather and the deep hurt she felt when her mother chose to support her husband instead of her child.

Amid rising unease among Democratic leaders, the campaign scrambled to schedule Sunday events to show Biden’s vigor and his intention to forcefully confront Donald Trump.

President Biden has two events in Pennsylvania on Sunday as he and his staff remain defiant against calls to drop out.

Israeli protesters marched through Tel Aviv and Jerusalem chanting «we will not give up» on Sunday, the second consecutive day of stepped-up pressure for a deal to free hostages in Gaza. As the war entered into its 10th month, the demonstrators called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure a truce and hostage-release deal or step down. The nationwide «disruption day» began at 6:29 am (0329 GMT) to correspond with the start of Hamas's October 7 attack that triggered the war. In Israel's two largest cities, demonstrators blocked roads, with tens of thousands stopping traffic along major intersections and a highway in central Tel Aviv where police used water canon to disperse them. Among the protesters, many of whom are related to the hostages, there was a sense the government had deserted those still held in Gaza by Palestinian militants Hamas. Israel says 116 people remain captive, including 42 the military says are dead. «The government doesn't care what the people think, and they don't do anything to bring back our sisters and brothers from Gaza,» said Orly Nativ, 57, who joined the flag-wielding demonstrators in Tel Aviv. «Enough is enough.» Many accuse Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, of not doing more to secure a truce as a matter of political survival. Two far-right members of his cabinet have threatened to resign if a deal was struck. «He knows if he ends the war, his government will fall,» said Nurit Meiri, 50, a social worker in Jerusalem. She carried an Israeli flag and wore a «bring them home» t-shirt to the raucous march on the prime minister's house in Jerusalem, which was tailed by a group of young religious men shouting «traitor.» Meiri's cousin was murdered on October 7 while visiting family, and her son soon starts his mandatory military service. «For what? A prime minister who will do anything to stay in power?» she asked as protesters behind her chanted «choose life.» - War 'a failure' - Large protests have taken place across Israel's commercial hub every Saturday night for months, but have recently swelled and become more frequent. By 9:00 pm on Saturday, protest organisers estimated around 176,000 people had filled a Tel Aviv intersection they call «Democracy Square». That would make it one of the biggest demonstrations since the war began. Earlier, at a separate rally for the hostages, relatives made emotional appeals for a deal to bring home their missing loved ones. Interspersed between art exhibitions evoking the missing men, women and children and tents selling merchandise to support the families, some in the crowd held up signs saying refusing a deal would be tantamount to death. «Our message to the government is very simple. There is a deal on the table. Take it,» said Yehuda Cohen, father of kidnapped soldier Nimrod Cohen. Others were more morose. «This war is a failure,» said Inbar R., a 27-year-old tech worker who did not want to give her full last name. «The only thing it has done is to make the world hate us.» The protests come as indirect truce negotiations between Israel and Hamas have regained momentum after months of failed diplomacy. Netanyahu has consistently opposed any truce deal that would leave Hamas with the ability to fight or govern. The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. Of the 251 hostages seized by militants on that day, Israeli forces have rescued seven of them alive. Another 105 including 80 Israelis were freed during the war's only truce, which lasted one week in November. In response to the October 7 attack, Israel's military offensive has killed at least 38,153 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. © Agence France-Presse

Après la course de pirogues du 22 juin, la fédération des sports traditionnels nous donne rendez vous les 11, 13 et 14 juillet pour assister aux différentes compétitions dans les jardins de Paofa'i et au parc Vaira'i. Les délégations du Pacifique sont arrivées pour affronter nos 'aito...

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke about the anticipation of this «important, full-format visit»

Dangerous flash flooding is possible in some areas, where as as much as 8-12 inches of rainfall expected.