The Seychelles Investment Board (SIB) hosted two panel discussions on the future of investments and sustainable investments in the country on Monday as part of activities to mark its 20th anniversary. The half-day forum, held at Eden Bleu Hotel, gathered representatives from various industries, such as finance and tourism, as well as high-level government officials. The SIB was established on July 1, 2020, and among its many roles is to develop an investor-friendly business environment. In the past two decades, it has assisted investors through the process of establishing a business from conception through to development and implementation. The SIB's chief executive, Ann Rosette, told participants that the forum was initiated to «encourage a discussion about the economy, business and the future of investment in Seychelles.» She added that the 20th anniversary was a good time to analyse and understand the many factors that will influence investment in the years to come. The Minister for Investment, Entrepreneurship and Industry, Devika Vidot, said «SIB's aim is to ensure that Seychelles remains an attractive destination for investors worldwide.» She said that her ministry together with SIB is «working tirelessly to reduce bureaucratic obstacles, enhance transparency and ensure greater predictability in the local investment and business landscape.» Vidot said the authorities were acknowledging the opportunities and challenges the country faces in priority sectors of agriculture, fisheries, Blue Economy and sustainable manufacturing, among others. With this in mind, the minister said, «We need to enhance our policies and continue to support SIB, so we may overcome the obstacles and seize new opportunities for growth and development.» Meanwhile, in the discussions about the public-private sector for financing as the catalyst for growth, the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry's chairman, Oliver Bastienne, stated that one of the challenges small and medium enterprises face is accessing finance to grow their business. A point that business tax consultant, Peter Roselie, agreed with and added «that we should look at our policies to tackle the issue.» The points raised in the forum will provide ideas that the participants may apply in their daily business practices.

Yellowhead County in west-central Alberta says a fire that prompted the closure of a major highway west of Edmonton involved a gas metering station.

At least 20 homes have been affected by flash flooding in the British Columbia Interior following heavy rains that forced the overnight closure of the Trans-Canada Highway near Kamloops.

It once broke down on an expressway. A man bought a pre-owned Mercedes-Benz GLC300 from used car dealer Carro and ended up spending more than $40,000 on repairs within a year. The Stomp contributor said that soon after the purchase, issues began to surface. «The engine warning light came on despite multiple repairs,» he recounted. «Although these issues were addressed under warranty, the process was long and painful. I still had to pay for the car loan when it was under repair.» A few months after the engine overhaul, the car broke down on the expressway. «The piston had protruded from the engine. Various third-party workshops advised that this was beyond repair and extremely rare for a relatively young car,» said the Stomp contributor. «A new engine replacement cost me $40,000. All these happen within a year after my purchase.»

She sent her dog for a grooming session, but was horrified to see a cable tie being used on her pet's mouth.  Horrified, pet owner Lim Zhiyi took to Facebook on June 29 to share her experience with First Class Pets at Jalan Jurong Kechil.  Lim shared that saw her Japanese spitz's mouth tied shut when she went to pick up the dog, Mochi, ahead of time.  «It left a deep mark on my dog’s muzzle area, proving how tight and uncomfortable it was.»  She then confronted the shop owner, who explained that the groomer did so as Lim's dog had the tendency to bite.  The owner also claimed that their groomers had tried different types of muzzles, and found that the cable tie worked the best.  Lim wrote: «We were not informed of this practice at all until we saw and probed.»  «Aren't professional groomers supposed to have relevant skills to handle pets properly and do what is best for the pets instead of what is best for themselves?»  Lim's post attracted a flurry of comments from pet owners, who agreed that using a cable tie was «unacceptable». 

[New Times] The government, on June 29, promulgated a 2024/2025 state finance law under which Rwanda plans to spend a national budget of more than Rwf5.69 trillion for the fiscal year that commenced on July 1.

This summer, a lot of tourists on cruise ships are expected to arrive in Ísafjörður. This week, thousands of tourists will arrive in Ísafjörður, most of whom were due to arrive on July 4, or about nine thousand. This is what Hilmar Kristjánsson Lyngmo, the harbor manager of Ísafjörður, says to Morgunblaðið.

Polynésie La 1ère continue de vous faire vivre les législatives 2024. Rendez-vous les 2 et 3 juillet à 19h40 pour les débats entre les candidats des circonscriptions 2 et 3, en tahitien et en français.

Ils se préparent tous les deux aux Jeux Olympiques de surf à Teahupo'o dans la même équipe. Les deux pépites du surf français Vahine Fierro et Kauli Vaast sont aussi amis de longue date.

World Economic Forum founder and director Klaus Schwab, speaking at the WEF’s recently concluded summer meeting in China, has informed his elitist followers that ushering in the globalist agenda will require humanity to be “forced” into a “collaboration” with the unelected organization. And the time for forced collaboration has now arrived.

They were secret for 16 years. Now a judge has released the Epstein grand jury records A Palm Beach County judge has released the grand jury records in the 2008 Jeffrey Epstein criminal case.

A new study published in the International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine, has found Merck seriously misled the participants in a trial of its Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine and compromised their right to informed consent.

Brazil is the only country in the world mandating Covid-19 vaccines for children aged 6 months to 5 years. In the end, the arguments of those who support this are similar to those of Islamic State members.

An address to the “No to Agenda 2030” conference in Rome, Italy

Al Mayadeen TV reported that the most violent clashes took place in Afrin

Israel's army yet again ordered the evacuation of parts of southern Gaza on Monday following a rare rocket barrage claimed by militant group Islamic Jihad. The Israeli military said about «20 projectiles were identified crossing from the area of Khan Yunis» in southern Gaza, in a rare salvo after nearly nine months of devastating conflict. The rockets were aimed at Israeli communities near the Gaza border and were fired in retaliation for Israeli «crimes... against our Palestinian people», said the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad militant group which has fought alongside Hamas. Most launches were intercepted, the Israeli military said, reporting no casualties and adding that artillery was «striking the sources of the fire». This was followed by an order to evacuate Al-Qarara, Bani Suhaila and other towns in Rafah and Khan Yunis, nearly two months after an initial order to evacuate Rafah ahead of a ground offensive. Prior to the ground incursion in Rafah, well over one million people had been displaced to the southernmost city. «Fear and extreme anxiety have gripped people after the evacuation order,» said Bani Suhaila resident Ahmad Najjar. «There is a large displacement of residents.» Witnesses and the civil defence agency reported Israeli air strikes including in the southern Rafah area and the central Nuseirat refugee camp. - 'Difficult fight' - Witnesses also reported constant Israeli tank fire in Gaza City's Shujaiya district where battles raged for a fifth day. An AFP correspondent reported Israeli helicopters firing on houses in Shujaiya, while Hamas's armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said it was continuing to fight in Shujaiya and Rafah. The Israeli military said troops «eliminated numerous terrorists» in raids in Shujaiya, where air strikes also killed «approximately 20» militants. The military also announced the death of a soldier in southern Gaza, bringing its total toll during the ground offensive to 317. Netanyahu, who recently declared that the «intense phase» of the war was winding down, said on Sunday troops were «operating in Rafah, Shujaiya, everywhere in the Gaza Strip». «This is a difficult fight that is being waged above ground... and below ground» in tunnels. The war started with Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. The militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza including 42 the army says are dead. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 37,900 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. Months of on-and-off talks towards a truce and hostage release deal have made little progress, with Hamas saying Saturday there was «nothing new» in a revised plan presented by US mediators. - 'Torture' - Israeli authorities released Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Gaza City's Al-Shifa hospital, along with dozens of other detainees returned Monday to Gaza for treatment, sparking anger from Netanyahu. Successive Israeli raids have reduced large parts of Al-Shifa, the territory's largest medical complex, to rubble. Israel has accused Hamas of using Al-Shifa and other hospitals in Gaza as a cover for military operations, claims the militants have rejected. Speaking after his release, Abu Salmiya said he had suffered «severe torture» during his detention since November. «Detainees were subjected to physical and psychological humiliation» and «several inmates died in interrogation centres and were deprived of food and medicine», he said. Israel's Shin Bet intelligence agency said it had decided on the release alongside the Israeli military «to free up places in detention centres». The agency said it «opposed the release of terrorists» who had taken part in attacks on Israeli civilians «so it was decided to free several Gaza detainees who represent a lesser danger». But Netanyahu said he had ordered the agency to conduct an investigation into the release and provide him with the results by Tuesday. «The release of the director of Shifa Hospital is a serious mistake and a moral failure. The place of this man, under whose responsibility our abductees were murdered and held, is in prison,» Netanyahu said in a statement. According to Abu Salmiya, no charges were ever brought against him. The United Nations and relief agencies have voiced alarm over the dire humanitarian crisis and the threat of starvation the war and Israeli siege have brought for Gaza's 2.4 million people. The UN humanitarian agency OCHA reported that during the entire month of June, Israeli authorities facilitated less than half of 115 planned humanitarian assistance missions to northern Gaza. In a displacement camp in Gaza's Deir al-Balah, pharmacist Sami Hamid said skin infections were on the rise, particularly among children, «because of the hot weather and lack of clean water». «The number of skin infections has increased, especially scabies and chickenpox,» as have hepatitis cases probably linked to untreated sewage flowing right beside tents, said Hamid. © Agence France-Presse

Hurricane Beryl -- the earliest-ever Category 4 storm in the Atlantic -- swept quickly across several islands in the southeastern Caribbean on Monday, dumping heavy rain and unleashing devastating winds as it churned towards Jamaica. Carriacou Island, which is part of Grenada, took a direct hit early in the day from the storm's «extremely dangerous eyewall,» with sustained winds at upwards of 150 miles (240 kilometers) per hour, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Nearby islands, including Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, also experienced «catastrophic winds and life-threatening storm surge» according to the NHC. Video obtained by AFP from St. George's in Grenada showed heavy downpours with trees buffeted by gusts. «In half an hour, Carriacou was flattened,» Grenada's Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell told a press conference. «We are not yet out of the woods,» Mitchell added, noting that while there were no deaths reported so far, he could not say for sure that none had occurred. Later on social media, Mitchell said the government was working to get relief supplies to both Carriacou and the island of Petite Martinique on Tuesday. «The state of emergency is still in effect. Remain indoors,» he wrote on Facebook. - Rare early strong storm - Beryl became the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season on Saturday and quickly strengthened to Category 4. Experts say that such a powerful storm forming this early in the Atlantic hurricane season -- which runs from early June to late November -- is extremely rare. It is the first hurricane since NHC records began to reach the Category 4 level in June. «Only five major (Category 3+) hurricanes have been recorded in the Atlantic before the first week of July,» hurricane expert Michael Lowry posted on social media platform X. Barbados appeared to be spared from the worst of the storm but was still hit with high winds and pelting rain, though officials reported no injuries so far. Barbados seems to have «dodged a bullet,» Minister of Home Affairs and Information Wilfred Abrahams said in an online video, but nonetheless «gusts are still coming, the storm-force winds are still coming» he said. Homes and businesses were flooded in some areas, and fishing boats were damaged in Bridgetown. The storm prompted the cancellation of classes on Monday in several of the islands, while a meeting this week in Grenada of the Caribbean regional bloc CARICOM was postponed. At 0000 GMT Tuesday, the storm was moving away from the Windward Islands and into the Caribbean Sea. «Beryl is expected to remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane as it moves over the eastern Caribbean» Tuesday, the NHC said, adding that Jamaica had issued a hurricane warning, ahead of the storm's expected arrival on Wednesday. The NHC also warned the Cayman Islands and areas on the Yucatan Peninsula to monitor the storm's progress. - Extreme weather - A Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale is considered a major hurricane, and a Category 4 storm packs sustained winds of at least 130 miles per hour. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in late May that it expects this year to be an «extraordinary» hurricane season, with up to seven storms of Category 3 or higher. The agency cited warm Atlantic Ocean temperatures and conditions related to the weather phenomenon La Nina in the Pacific for the expected increase in storms. Extreme weather events including hurricanes have become more frequent and more devastating in recent years as a result of climate change. © Agence France-Presse

SINGAPORE — About two weeks since an incident between two vessels caused an oil spill and blackened some of Sentosa's beaches, footfall at the International Food Street on the island has nosedived by about 80 per cent and revenue has tumbled by more than 50 per cent. Food and beverage supervisor Tasha Daniel, 26, said business worsened in the second week after the oil spill, when the food street — comprising six food kiosks at the Central Beach Bazaar — drew a daily revenue of $1,000 to $2,000. This is lower than the $3,000 earned daily in the week after the oil spill, and less than half of the $6,000 or more the food street raked in every day before the incident, said Daniel.  Waterfront businesses have seen takings and footfall tumble after the oil spill on June 14 stained Singapore's shores, forcing some beaches to close and water-based activities to stop. F&B establishments and an adventure sports centre on Sentosa reported lower foot traffic and earnings, while businesses at East Coast Park were less affected. Vessel charter companies have also taken a beating.

A 21-year-old man is expected to be charged with causing death by rash act on Tuesday (July 2). According to the police, the man was arrested on Monday for his suspected involvement in the death of a 33-year-old man, whose body was retrieved from the Singapore River following a search the day before. The police said that they received a call for assistance about a man who had fallen into the waters of Singapore River on June 30 at about 10.15pm. The Singapore Civil Defence Force deployed divers from its Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team to perform an underwater search and subsequently retrieved the body of the older man.  He was pronounced dead at the scene. The police identified the suspect through investigations as well as the help of police cameras and CCTV images. The two men allegedly had an argument over a woman near Clarke Quay Central after drinking. The suspect allegedly pushed the deceased into the river, reported Lianhe Zaobao. If convicted, the suspect faces a jail term of up to 5 years, a fine, or both.

The parties discussed current issues of Belarusian-Russian cooperation, highly praised the results achieved in the course of cooperation between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, outlined promising areas of work and agreed to continue contacts

It is expected that the head of the Cuban military department will participate in the parade that will be held in Minsk on July 3

The US Democratic Party could formally nominate Joe Biden as their presidential candidate as early as July 21 Read Full Article at RT.com

President Joe Biden has attacked the Supreme Court over its ruling that US presidents have “absolute immunity” for their official actions Read Full Article at RT.com

West Jerusalem’s potential transfer of US-made Patriot sysytems to Kiev could backfire, Moscow’s ambassador to the UN has said Read Full Article at RT.com

ANKARA, Turkey (HOL) – Diplomatic efforts took a significant turn as the foreign ministers of Somalia and Ethiopia met in Ankara on July 1, 2024, to address escalating tensions between the two nations. Facilitated by Turkey, this meeting marks a new step towards discussing the highly contentious Ethiopia-Somaliland MoU that has rattled regional stability in the Horn of Africa.

"Freedom is never dear at any price. It is the breath of life. What would a man not pay for living,” The words uttered by Mahatma Gandhi during his fight for freedom. These words serve as a poignant reminder of the struggles and sacrifices our forefathers endured in their pursuit of liberty. On June 26, 1960, the northern protectorate of Somalia gained independence from Britain and Five days later on July 1, 1960, the south Italian protectorate and British northern united forming the Republic of Somalia under President Aden Abdullah Osman, Prime Minister Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, and a 123-member National Assembly representing both territories. The words of Mahatma Gandhi have led to a reflection on just how far our country has come, the victories we have achieved, and the challenges we still face.

President Joe Biden called the Supreme Court's immunity decision 'dangerous' and said it would embolden former President Donald Trump.

Ronaldo had the opportunity to score the winner from the penalty spot in extra time but his effort was kept out by Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

British-American actress Lucy, 30, showed off her bright pink hair as she led the stars at day one of Wimbledon on Monday.

Labour's plan to water down anti-strike laws will plunge Britain back into the 'bad old days' of 1970s-style snap walkouts or spark huge tax hikes, the Tories warned last night.

Jill Biden insists she and her husband 'will continue to fight' despite his catastrophic TV debate performance.

The president and his aides signal their intent to push ahead as the party anxiously awaits the post-debate polls.

The decision raised fears that a future president will be able to act with impunity because official acts have been deemed off limits from prosecution.

Biden says the court removed restraints on presidents, including Trump

Hungarian Prime Minister expressed the hope that right-wing conservative forces will be able to bring about changes in the EU