Live updates from the 2024 campaign trail with the latest news on presidential candidates, polls, primaries and more.

Many have now claimed that the Red, White and Royal Blue star has joined the likes of Timothee Chalamet and Jacob Elordi - who have been dubbed 'babygirls'.

Seizing profits generated by frozen Russian assets would open Pandora’s box and erode investor trust, Euroclear’s CEO has warned   Read Full Article at RT.com

Michelle Ellis (pictured), 45 from Plymouth was bitten twice by the family dog on 13 January 2021 on her right wrist and outer forearm and called an ambulance two days later.

Ukraine said Tuesday it had unravelled a Russian plot to assassinate senior Ukrainian political and military figures, including President Volodymyr Zelensky. Two Ukrainian security officials were arrested for their links to the group, which had aimed to carry out high-profile killings ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin's inauguration on Tuesday. «The terrorist attack, which was supposed to be a gift to Putin for his inauguration, was in fact a failure of the Russian secret service,» Vasyl Maliuk, head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), said in a statement. Kyiv says Zelensky has been targeted by Russia on multiple earlier occasions, including at the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022. The SBU said it had exposed a network of agents set up by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) tasked with identifying individuals close to Zelensky's security detail who could take the Ukrainian leader hostage and kill him. «The network, whose activities were supervised by the FSB from Moscow, included two colonels of the State Department of Protection who were leaking classified information to Russia,» the SBU said. Ukraine's State Department of Protection is in charge protecting the president and other senior officials and their families. A source in Ukrainian law enforcement told AFP that the suspects were detained «a few days ago». «They were really highly placed men. One of them was a head of department,» the source said. - 'Five or six' attempts - The SBU published photos of masked operatives in camouflage uniform arresting several suspects at night. In a video posted on the SBU's website, a man with his face blurred said his task was to «test the mood» among the presidential office's security guards, and select someone ready to detain the president, possibly as he went to give his nightly broadcast. The SBU said Russia also planned to eliminate Maliuk, as well as the head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov and other officials. Budanov was due to be assassinated before Orthodox Easter, which fell last weekend, the SBU said. The service's spokesman Artem Dekhtyarenko said the assassin had been promised a reward of up to $80,000. It published video footage purportedly of an FSB handler telling an agent to surveil a house linked to a target, apparently Budanov, and text when he arrived. «You'll most likely hear a loud blast,» the man says, telling the agent to then use a drone to carry out a secondary strike. The SBU published what it said were phone messages between a FSB handler and a colonel in the Ukrainian State Department of Protection, who it said personally brought drones, rounds and anti-personnel mines to Kyiv. It also gave names of three men it said were FSB handlers working with Ukrainian moles. Those detained are suspected of treason and preparing a «terrorist act», punishable by life in prison. Zelensky told The Sun in November that he had survived at least five or six assassination attempts. Polish and Ukrainian prosecutors announced last month they had detained a man suspected of aiding a Russian plot to assassinate Zelensky. And the SBU said last August that a woman had been arrested for over a plot to kill the Ukrainian leader by trying to uncover details of his movements outside Kyiv. © Agence France-Presse

Rescue workers reported on Tuesday making contact with 11 people under the rubble in a race to save dozens still unaccounted for after a building collapsed in the South African city of George killing at least seven. Thirty-three people have been pulled out of the debris of the five-storey apartment block, which caved in Monday afternoon while under construction, municipal authorities said. Seven of those have died, the authorities said in George, 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of Cape Town. Forty-two people were still unaccounted for, including the 11 with whom contact had been established, the authorities said. With the second night of rescue work underway, emergency services personnel surrounded a hole where a survivor was pulled out of the rubble and put onto a stretcher, an AFP correspondent saw. As they emerged, slight cheers of relief were heard. Another body was retrieved and wrapped in a blanket. Crowds of onlookers stood behind the barricade tape. «We are in contact with 11 people» trapped under rubble, Colin Deiner, head of rescue operations, had told reporters. Life had been detected under three areas of the site. - 17 hours work to rescue one survivor - On the sidelines of the site, Deiner told AFP it was a «long, involved operation with so many complexities» and an «extensive search with dogs, with systemic equipment» required. He added it took rescue personnel 17 hours to bring one of the victims out of the rubble after they were initially located. Recalling that the international standard for such operations is three days, George mayor Leon van Wyk told a local television station in the early evening that «over the next 40-odd hours we are hoping to rescue as many people» as operations entered a second day. The main focus is to get everyone out, Deiner said. «Once we have got all the people that we know about out, we are going to start a process called delayering,» he added. «We would then start lifting the different floors off each other,» he said, adding it would be «tricky» to remove the concrete trapping the building workers. A construction crew of 75 people was on site at the time of the collapse at around 2:00 pm local time (1200 GMT) on Monday, authorities said. Three rescue teams were working on three different areas of the collapsed building, which included an underground car park. The reasons for the collapse were still unknown. The construction plans for a 42-unit apartment block had been approved by the city in July. President Cyril Ramaphosa offered his «deep condolences to the relatives and friends» and said his thoughts were with the families of the dead and missing. He called for an investigation, saying it must «bring closure to the community and prevent a repeat of this disaster». George, which has a population of about 160,000, is a picturesque coastal city located on the tourist trail along South Africa's southern coastline. - Diggers, sniffer dogs - Photos shared by the city council showed a flattened construction site with emergency services on the ground. The broken roof of the building was still clearly visible atop the pile of rubble. Rescue operations had continued throughout Monday night with floodlights illuminating the cordoned-off site. A coordination post was set up to run the operations, which involve numerous emergency services and over 200 personnel. More diggers and sniffer dogs were dispatched from Cape Town, emergency services said. Officials said relatives of those trapped had been asked to gather at the city hall near the construction site, where they would be taken care of. Religious leader and social workers were present to assist and comfort emotional families. Men, women and children sang and prayed at the city hall as they awaited news on their loved ones, an AFP correspondent saw. One pastor told AFP they were offering «spiritual support» to those affected by a tragedy. «Our thoughts are with the families and all those affected, who continue to wait for word of their loved ones,» van Wyk said. George is run by the Democratic Alliance, the leading opposition party, which also controls the Western Cape province. © Agence France-Presse

Seychelles' Ministry of Lands and Housing is updating its digital platform, which is expected to be up and running by May next year, said a top official on Tuesday. Speaking to the media, the principal secretary for Lands, Denis Barbe, said the Ministry is currently working with the Department of Information, Communication and Technology (DICT) to ensure product quality. «The Lands Department already has a platform. However, it is outdated and it does not compile all the information needed. After it is updated, the platform will include different types of pertinent information such as the amount of land available in the Land Bank and will also include a way for applicants to check the progress of their application in the future. It will also help us with long-term planning, especially in terms of the types of land available, whether residential or other types,» said Barbe. He added that developers working on the platform will be given six months to complete this project but given the complexity of this project, there might be delays. Barbe said the platform will be linked to work already being done to compile a comprehensive and credible list of land available and interested applicants. «Any applicant who did not participate in the previous Land Point System exercises will be allowed to come forward and confirm their interest in land allocation. This will also be the case for applicants who had already started some form of transaction after the Land Point System and the process fell through somehow. At the time of the announcement the Ministry will extend a grace period of three months for them to confirm their interest,» said the principal secretary. Barbe explained that the exercise is meant to streamline and clean the current list of applicants so that this is a credible and comprehensive list that can be linked to the digital platform. «This is necessary because we need a credible list. Once we have that, everyone can be given a realistic wait time regarding their application. Applicants will simply be able to interact with this system and not need to contact the department's staff, thus making the procedure more efficient. This will re-establish trust with the public and promote more transparency for this process,» he added. With the phasing out of the Land Point System in 2022, the updated list of applicants will be based on two main criteria. The first will be the length of time since the application was made, and the second will be based on financial ability. «This means that the oldest applications on the list will be considered first, taking into account they have the financial ability to buy the land and build a house, that is SCR 1.2 million,» said Barbe. The Minister for Lands and Housing, Billy Rangasamy said, «We want to make sure that people who have been on the list for so many years, in some cases more than 20 years are finally considered.» He added that someone does not need to have SCR1.2 million ($83,000) outright, they just need to be able to prove that they can get a loan around that amount. This also applies to people who wish to purchase land from the Land Bank next to their parent's land. In their case, they must prove financial ability up to SCR500,000 ($34,000). The criteria for financial ability remains at SCR1.2 million because it covers both the sale of the land and the construction of the house. Apart from these revisions, Barbe added that they are also exploring the possibility of creating a framework that allows people with the ability to contribute towards the infrastructure components to be able to do so, to reduce the amount of time they have to wait on the list.

Team Seychelles won two gold medals, one silver, and three bronze medals on the first day of the 2024 Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA ) Games for Zone 7, taking place in the island nation from May 6 to 11 for athletes under 18 years of age. Both medals came in swimming from Angelina Smythe and Thierry Payet, who dominated their races to take first place.   Smythe gave Seychelles its first gold medal of the games in the 400m freestyle race for girls, which she won in 4 minutes 53.34 seconds. In second place with a silver medal was Mauritian Chloe Ah Chip in 4 minutes 55.97seconds followed by another Mauritian, Alysson Yene Teck, in 5 minutes 00.47 seconds.   «I am really and happy with my performance today. I just want to keep trying my best and we'll see what happens,» Smythe told reporters. Thierry Payet dominated the boys' 400m freestyle, winning gold in 4 minutes 21.06 seconds. Mauritius took silver with Matteo Tin Wan Yuen in 4 minutes 26.31 seconds followed in third place for a bronze medal by Madagascar's Baritiana Andirampenomanana in 4  minutes 29.47 seconds. «I wasn't expecting to win today, because my entry time was the third fastest among the athletes, but training has gone really well, so I anticipated a good result today,» said Payet. Seychelles claimed a silver medal again through the efforts of Angelina Smythe. She finished second in the girls' 100m backstroke event in 1 minute 14.37 seconds behind Malagasy swimmer  Andrianaivo Ony, who took the gold medal in 1 minute 11.32 seconds. Team Seychelles won an additional three bronze medals. Nael Barreau came out third in the girls' 50m breaststroke, and both the girls' and boys 4x100m freestyle relay teams finished third.   After the first day of the ANOCA Games, Madagascar leads the medals standings with a total of 8 medals - 5 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze with Seychelles in second place. Mauritius is third with 10 medals, 1 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze medals.  

In a continuous effort to deal with the large number of stray dogs in the country, Seychelles has sought the assistance of a well-known Swedish zoo and wildlife veterinarian and academic, Dr Therese Hård, and her team. Hård's expertise and experience will be used to conduct a comprehensive analysis on the stray dog population in Seychelles and recommendations and training will be held afterwards. This will help equip the local authorities with the necessary tools to carry out the stray dogs' programme in a humane manner. The team arrived in Seychelles on Tuesday and will be spending a week making site visits and discussions with local authorities. Hård met with the Minister for Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Flavien Joubert, on Tuesday.  She told reporters, «The purpose of our visit is to discuss how to work together and provide training to deal with the feral dog situation in Seychelles.»   Hård added, «We want to be able to work with the latest techniques in long-distance capture, to work on anaesthesia protocols, to meet the needs of animal welfare.» Dr Therese Hård (middle) and a member of her team met with Minister Joubert. (Seychelles Nation) Photo License: CC-BY. While she will be working primarily with the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Hård and her team will also be working closely with non-governmental organisations to build a long-term relationship. The head of the Animal Welfare Unit, Girra Pierre, explained that bringing Dr Hård and her team to Seychelles will help them to be able to implement the stray dog control programme more humanely. The dog control programme started in 2023 after the country's stray dog situation was alarming. Through the Dog Control Programme, the department seeks to prevent unwanted litters, which will directly reduce the stray dog population and save up on the resources of the department and its partners. Dog shelters in the country were operating at capacity and were understaffed. This comes after an uproar last year when the killing of stray dogs sparked outrage among animal rights activists, who felt that the killing of these dogs was not the right way to deal with the situation. According to Pierre, the killing of these dogs will now not happen, but they will instead focus on neutering the dogs, to stop them from breeding and increasing their population. «With this programme, people might not see the population of stray dogs decrease drastically, but over the long term, we will see that it will decrease, as they will not be able to re-populate,» adds Pierre, assuring that killing the dogs is now not an option. She also spoke of their work with the two animal shelters in Seychelles, where through their close collaboration, they can also capture the dogs and use the shelters as a means to give the dogs a home through adoption. After the initial week in the country, Hård will return in the future for further work and training as the programme continues. 

The Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) convene finance ministers and central bank governors to participate in the highest-level decision-making bodies of the two institutions, as well as in various committees and groups that drive the agenda on issues related to the international monetary system and development policy. The 2024 Spring Meetings took place in Washington, D.C., United States from 15 to 20 April. This paper sumarises the main developments and outcomes of the 2024 Spring Meetings, focusing on IMF-related issues. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

Some landlords in Ottawa are raising alarm bells about the city’s housing first program. They say some tenants aren't getting the proper support from housing agencies and damages are piling up.

Canadians routinely wait hours on the phone and in person when dealing with Passport Canada, and it's left some people fed up with the quality of customer service.

You can have more than one friend at a time. You can love multiple family members. What's the difference if you're in a meaningful, consensual romantic relationship with more than one person at once? That's the philosophy behind polyamorous relationships, and a new report says they're on the rise.

Jeremy Skibicki unexpectedly confessed to killing three more women in Winnipeg during a lengthy police interrogation as he was grilled about the discovered remains of Rebecca Contois in 2022.

The federal government has cancelled an Ajax, Ont., woman's Canadian citizenship over an error it said it made more than 30 years ago — forcing her to pay hundreds of dollars in a bid to get it back.

AstraZeneca has withdrawn it Covid vaccine after admitting it can cause blood clots in rare cases Read Full Article at RT.com

‘Russian cake’ was dropped from the menu during Emmanuel Macron’s dinner with Xi Jinping, French media has reported Read Full Article at RT.com

Europe’s largest airline, Ryanair, could help governments deport illegal arrivals, CEO Michael O’Leary has said Read Full Article at RT.com

NATO would oppose to sending its military to Ukraine after Emmanuel Macron refused to rule out the move, Corriere della Sera has reported Read Full Article at RT.com

India’s Congress Party has vowed to roll back several key policies implemented by the Modi government Read Full Article at RT.com

Ghulam Nabi Azad criticized Air India for passenger inconvenience, calling for its shutdown. The airlines apologized for the disruption and the Ministry of Civil Aviation demanded a report on the flight cancellations, stressing compliance with DGCA norms and passenger facility provision.

India contributes $500,000 to UN counter-terrorism trust fund, emphasizing commitment to global fight against terrorism. Support includes countering financing of terrorism and preventing terrorist movement in Africa. Total contribution now at $2.55 million.

Kenya has begun talks to persuade Somalia to drop its African Union Commission candidate, Fawzia Yusuf Adam in support of Raila Odinga.

[UN News] The UN's second Trailblazer award for Women Justice and Corrections Officers has gone to Major Ahlem Bouzi, an officer with the UN's peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).

[New Times] The government plans to spend an estimated Rwf5,690 billion in the fiscal year 2024/2025, an 11.2 per cent increase compared to the Rwf5,116 billion approved for the current fiscal year.

RIYADH: The 25th volunteer training program organized by Saudi aid agency KSrelief recently concluded at Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, Saudi Press Agency reported. The week-long program involved 23 volunteers who assisted more than 900 Syrian refugees. Run in collaboration with the Technical and Vocational Training Corp. and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, the program offered training courses in areas such as tablet and mobile phone maintenance, sewing and embroidery, ceramics, pottery, and carpentry.

The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.

In 2023, India became the world's third-largest solar power generator, surpassing Japan. Solar energy contributed 5.5% globally, with India's production increasing significantly since 2015, highlighting its commitment to renewable energy growth.