More than 500 foreign guests attended the inauguration of 64-year-old Lai Ching-te, including representatives from 12 countries that recognize Taiwan as a separate state

PM Modi defends BJP's stance on minorities, cites Constitution's no reservations on religion. He highlights Congress's appeasement politics and commitment to 'sabka saath sabka vikas' ideology.

Delhi is facing an uncomfortable Monday with heatwave conditions expected to continue, reaching up to 45°C. The minimum temperature in the morning was 29.2°C, three degrees above average. The IMD reported 43% relative humidity at 8:30 am and forecasted partly cloudy skies, strong winds, and severe heatwave conditions throughout the day.

Hydroponics as a cleaner way to practice agriculture and recycling tyres found in nature are among the business pitches that clinched the top prizes in the Seychelles' circular economy and a boot camp and pitch competition. Twenty-two participants who attended the training camp at the Savoy Resort and Spa on Mahe were also taught how to make a successful pitch, giving them the chance to win between $15,000 to $20,000 under the Challenge Fund. The fund is a financing programme developed by the Joint Sustainable Development Goals Fund. The project, launched in March, is being implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), International Labour Organisation (ILO), International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Barry Nourrice, an agriculture and environment consultant, told SNA that the plan he presented is for a hydroponics farm and is one of the nine proposals to receive the grant. Hydroponics is the method of growing plants in a nutrient solution rather than soil in a system where the roots grow into a liquid solution fortified with all the essential nutrients for healthy plants. «As with circular economy one of the things that businesses must be able to manage is the waste they produce, I believe this system will help keep farming sustainable,» he explained. Nourrice added that since farmers were unable to retrieve nutrients they add into the soil, hydroponics is a way to help them continually «re-use what they have put in the water. Seychelles generates an average amount of 80,000 tonnes of waste annually and the primary landfill at Providence is expected to reach full capacity by 2025. Faced with a scarcity of land, the country will need to adopt a sustainable solid waste management system. With this in mind, another grant winner, Andy Julie, said that he will be setting up a business to tackle the number of old tires found in nature. »It is an eyesore at the moment and while driving by, I realised that the tyres could be turned into something that people can use in their everyday lives," he said. Julie said he has done extensive research to help him present a solid project.

France has announced major police action to unblock a critical road amid unrest in New Caledonia Read Full Article at RT.com

Iranian state media have confirmed that President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash in the northwest of the country Read Full Article at RT.com

Dhusamareb (HOL) – A meeting between Federal and Regional State Ministers of Internal Security and police command has commenced in Dhusamareb town on Sunday to discuss security issues amid ATMIS troops withdrawal continues.

Bosaso (HOL) - Five men allegedly working with the al-Shabab militant group appeared before a Puntland military court in Bosaso on Monday.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has raised the prospect he will leave the club when his contract expires at the end of next season.

[The Conversation Africa] The power of international law lies in its potential to offer alternatives to force and violence. The ideal is that states submit their grievances to a court rather than duke them out on a battlefield, or carry them out against civilians.

[DW] DRC armed forces say they have thwarted an attempted coup involving Congolese and foreign fighters. A shootout was previously reported in the capital, Kinshasa.

Jamaica’s Spectrum Management Authority (SMA) underscored its leadership in the field of spectrum management by hosting the inaugural Caribbean Spectrum Management Conference in partnership with Forum Global. The groundbreaking event took place at...

Four of Jamaica’s internationally recognised stand-outs in the areas of advocacy, law, finance and diplomacy are to be inducted into the 2024 St George’s College Hall of Fame during a banquet set for August 31 at the S Hotel in New Kingston. They...

The professional basketball dreams and aspirations of former national under-17 representative, 24-year-old Marco-Miche Downer, who had reportedly been eligible for the 2024 NBA draft next month, will not be realised after he was found dead in...

C’est un métier dont on parle peu : homme assistant. Il joue pourtant un rôle essentiel dans les concours canins. Un métier qui passionne Ruarii Mataoa, le seul Polynésien dans le Pacifique à être diplômé de niveau 2.

The yuan exchange rate increased by 0.05 kopecks to 12.572 rubles

Iranian Vice President for Executive Affairs Mohsen Mansouri confirmed reports about the death of Iran’s leader

According to the report, Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber will become interim president of the Islamic republic

A survey of more than 1 million federal employees reflects the low morale of many workers.

SINGAPORE — A director-general at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) who gave false information to a public servant over the use of diplomatic bags was sentenced to a week in jail on May 20. In April, Gilbert Oh Hin Kwan, 45, admitted that he had lied to Ong Eng Chuan, then MFA deputy secretary (management), on Jan 19, 2023. Oh's two cheating charges linked to the use of the diplomatic bag service were considered during sentencing. A diplomatic bag is used for sending official correspondence and items to and from the ministry and its overseas offices, such as embassies or consulates. It is sealed and protected by diplomatic immunity and cannot be opened, searched or seized by Customs officials. In her judgment, District Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz said: «The serious potential consequences to the integrity of the public service and the MFA domestically — in so far as its internal investigative process was undermined — and internationally, justify a custodial sentence as a starting point.»

A woman failed to look both ways before crossing a busy road with a child, endangering their lives and angering netizens. Dashcam camera footage from the incident, which supposedly took place on Friday (May 17) morning, was posted to Facebook Group SG Road Vigilante the next day. The 22-second video shows a woman and a school uniform-clad child, presumably hers, crossing a congested two-lane road in Taman Jurong without the former checking for incoming traffic. The car recording the footage has its view of the pair blocked by a lorry on left lane, causing the driver to jam the brakes only when they become visible at the last second. This startles the woman, who gives the driver of the recording car a long stare after she and the child rush to stand on the road divider. 'Still can stare at the car' Some netizens were angered by the woman's «careless» behaviour and questioned how she could endanger her own child. One Facebook user commented: «What kind of parent is this?» Another comment read: «[She was] putting her child on the side of danger. If the car couldn't stop in time, the child would get hit first.»

For over two hours, the only thing this driver might have smelled was probably the petrol fumes from the other vehicles waiting in line.  Driver Aaron Ng, who was stuck in heavy traffic heading back to Singapore from Johor Bahru (JB) last Sunday (May 19), shared on Facebook that his queue was taking longer than «165 minutes». «Haven't even smelled JB customs after two hours,» he commented on a Facebook post about the congestion. Motorists who were entering Singapore from JB over the weekend had to wait close to three hours following a step-up in security measures at Singapore's two land checkpoints, 8world reported on Sunday (May 19). This is due to last Friday's attack at a police station on the outskirts of JB that led to two officers being killed and another injured. The lone attacker was later shot dead at the scene. In a Facebook post last Saturday night, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) alerted travellers to the enhanced security measures.

[Business Day Africa] President William Ruto has issued a directive to the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) to slash its management fee, reigniting a contentious debate in the wake of an ongoing legal dispute.

[The Conversation Africa] The power of international law lies in its potential to offer alternatives to force and violence. The ideal is that states submit their grievances to a court rather than duke them out on a battlefield, or carry them out against civilians.

[DW] DRC armed forces say they have thwarted an attempted coup involving Congolese and foreign fighters. A shootout was previously reported in the capital, Kinshasa.

[RFI] The US troop withdrawal from Niger, at the demand of the West African nation's military rulers, has begun and will be over by September 15 «at the latest», a joint statement said Sunday.

[Capital FM] Nairobi -- The Kenyan government has confirmed plans to deploy police officers to Haiti despite a petition filed in court against the move.

[GhanaToday] On Sunday, 19th May 2024, several vehicles of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's convoy were involved in a fatal accident along the Bunso-Akyem Asafo stretch of the Accra-Kumasi Highway.

PM Modi conducted a roadshow in Puri, Odisha, on Monday morning, accompanied by BJP candidate Sambit Patra. Patra, who was defeated in the 2019 election by Pinaki Mishra of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), is running again this year, facing off against Congress' Jaya Narayan Patnayak and BJD's Arup Patnaik. The event drew large crowds of BJP supporters, who lined the route and gathered on terraces.

Five Bangladeshi nationals arrested in Khowai district, Tripura for entering Indian territory without valid travel document. They sneaked in at Ashrambari and were detained while heading to Santirbazar.