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

Testimony continues Friday in Donald Trump’s trial on allegations of business fraud related to hush money payments.

«I don’t think that anyone in Finland would venture to impose any restrictions,» Alexander Shenzheryuk-Zhidkov noted

The international arbitration, brokered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, made its ruling a decade after the case started in 2014

The official yuan rate was ticked up by two kopecks to 12.6972 rubles

It is reported that the German side argued at a meeting at the Foreign Ministry that alleged "attacks by 'Russian state hackers' on Germany in cyberspace are unacceptable, condemnable and can have consequences

Deposit interest rates are monitored by the regulator in Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank, Rosbank, Alfa-Bank, Bank FC Otkritie, Promsvyazbank, Tinkoff Bank, the Russian Agricultural Bank, and Sovcombank

Maria Zakharova also said Chisinau is setting up a legislation to rewrite history and strengthening «double standards regarding mercenaries»

Maria Zakharova emphasized that all Western projects similar to Ukraine «ended the same way»

The duty on the export of barley and corn will be zero, the Ministry of Agriculture said

The presidents «noted the close coordination of law enforcement agencies and security services in combating terrorism, extremism and manifestations of transnational organized crime, as well as the importance of further strengthening their cooperation»

Seychelles has gone down three places on the World Press Freedom Index going from 34th to place in 2023 to 37th in 2024 published by the Reporters Without Borders (RWB), a Paris-based non-governmental organisation. The ranking is released every year to coincide with World Press Freedom Day on May 3, a date that celebrates the fundamental principles of press freedom around the world. The ranking is based on five indicators - political, economic, legislative, social and security. The political indicator has fallen the most, registering a global average fall of 7.6 points. In 2022, the island nation was ranked 13th out of 180 countries and was the highest ranking in Sub-Saharan Africa - a ranking it lost last year when it fell 21 places on the index. The chairman of the Association of Media Practitioners in Seychelles (AMPS), Rassin Vannier, told reporters on Friday morning that the AMPS plans «to hold consultative meetings with the authorities to stop a further decline.» Vannier was speaking at a half-day seminar AMPS held in collaboration with the French Embassy in Seychelles at L'Escale Resort and Spa to mark World Press Freedom Day. The seminar was organised jointly by AMPS and the French Embassy in Seychelles. (Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY «What is important for the Association is to establish what has us continually going down in the rankings. Once we have determined the causes, we will approach the authorities concerned to see how we can find solutions for the problems so that we can go back up in the RWB ranking released annually,» he added. Reporters Without Borders defines press freedom as «the ability of journalists as individuals and collectives to select, produce, and disseminate news in the public interest independent of political, economic, legal, and social interference and in the absence of threats to their physical and mental safety.» Vannier said, «It is important that we have a dialogue and come up with a solution together.» The World Press Freedom Index compares the level of freedom enjoyed by journalists and media in 180 countries and territories.  Vannier added that with the «harassment of our journalists, something we see every day, there is a dialogue that needs to take place between the authorities and the profession.» At the seminar which took place on Friday, Vannier said, «As elections are coming up next year, and we have had some issues when working with the Commission in the 2020 elections, we felt it would be beneficial for both parties to have a dialogue now.» Representatives from the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), TeleSesel, Seychelles Nation, Today in Seychelles and The People were among the media houses present. Also present, was the chief elections officer, Manuella Amesbury and her team that made presentations on the role and mandate of the Electoral Commission of Seychelles (ECS). It was also a chance for the journalists in attendance to voice their concerns on reporting on the election process as well as receive clarifications about issues concerning ECS. 

The International Olympic Committee Executive Board convened for a meeting at the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, on March 19-20 and following the opening day it decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in the Parade of Athletes and also exclude them from the 2024 Olympics overall medal standings

According to Maria Zakharova, ahead of Victory Day celebrations in Russia, «the Kiev regime and its Western patrons are plotting new terror attacks on Russian soil,» while aiming for the news to «reverberate in the media and have a propaganda effect»

The EU countries expected a new proposal from Belgium, but it never came, the newspaper says

According to Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin, preliminary conclusions indicate that the Belarusian air defense forces are ready to perform their duties

In recent days, Maria Zakharova continued, Ukrainian forces «have been seen using several US-made ATACMS long-range missiles, which were secretly received a month ago, against Crimea»

Testimony will continue Friday in Donald Trump’s trial on allegations of business fraud related to hush money payments.

Friends say the former aide and Trump have not spoken since she testified to Congress about the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, but the two continue to have affection for each other.

According to Vyacheslav Gladkov, the drone damaged the house’s roof and facade, and broke its windows

Dmitry Peskov also pointed out that the Russian people were fully behind Putin

«Two plants were constructed in Crimea and one in the Taman Peninsula - the Udarnaya, which we will launch in full as early as in this year,» Sergey Chemezov noted

The spacecraft will attempt to perform a soft landing on an area in the South Pole-Aitken basin

Earlier, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East reported that it had found that more than 10,000 women had been killed and another 19,000 injured in Gaza

Malawi Palestine Solidarity Movement (MPSM) has asked the Malawi Government to cut ties with Israel and instead support Palestine people’s right to liberty and Statehood. In a letter dated April 29 2024 addressed to President Lazarus Chakwera and copied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Speaker of Parliament as well as representatives of the […] The post Chakwera told to immediately cut ties with Israel Govt appeared first on Malawi Nyasa Times - News from Malawi about Malawi.

Liberation for Economic Freedom (LEF) party has received a boost following the defection of People’s Party (PP) National Campaign Director, Clement Bundaunda Phiri to the party. Phiri’s defection was announced at a brief function the party organized to welcome him and 20 other long-serving senior officials from the governing Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and Assembly […] The post PP’s Bundaunda Phiri, 20 more MCP members allegedly defects to Prophet Mbewe’s newly LEF party appeared first on Malawi Nyasa Times - News from Malawi about Malawi.

President Lazarus Chakwera has confirmed that awaited Millennium Challenge Compact Account projects are due to start this month. Chakwera made the revelation this morning at Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) in Lilongwe as he was leaving for the USA where he will join 10 other African Heads of State and Government for the 16th United States […] The post Chakwera confirms MCC projects start this month as leaves for US to join 10 other African leaders for US-Africa business summit appeared first on Malawi Nyasa Times - News from Malawi about Malawi.

Information Minister Moses Kunkuyu has described as ‘podium antics’ allegation made by President for the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD) Enock Chihana who claims that MCP and Tonse Alliance government does not want the current MEC Chairman to administer the forthcoming 2025 elections as they plan not to renew his contract. Chihana further alleged that it […] The post Kunkuyu laughs off Chihana’s podium antics alleging that Chakwera won’t renew contract for MEC Chair appeared first on Malawi Nyasa Times - News from Malawi about Malawi.

Without retreat or surrender, firebrand Bon Kalindo has taken a swipe at President Lazarus Chakwera’s administration on a series of governance issue including alleging that the new company providing passport system at Immigration Department, E-Tech Systems, belongs to Chakwera’s son. Speaking during a press briefing held in Lilongwe today, Kalindo said Chakwera has not spoken […] The post Bon Kalindo spills beans: Alleges E-Tech Systems, new passport system supplier, belongs to Chakwera’s son appeared first on Malawi Nyasa Times - News from Malawi about Malawi.

The Court of Appeal has allowed the application made by the Seychelles Human Rights Commission, the Ombudsman and the Bar Association of Seychelles for the recusal of a panel of judges on the Constitutional Court hearing of a controversial case. The three entities lodged a joint petition with the Constitutional Court on September 13, 2022, asking that the constitutionality of the 10th amendment of the Constitution be reviewed. The 10th Amendment to the Constitution empowers the Seychelles Defence Forces (SDF) to carry out internal law enforcement in Seychelles outside the context of a public emergency. The panel hearing the case in the Constitutional Court comprises Chief Justice Rony Govinden and justices Mohan Burhan and Brassel Adeline. The three entities made the application for the recusal of the panel of judges on the Constitutional Court on the grounds that there is evidence indicating that the judiciary was involved in the preparation of the 10th Amendment. Additionally, that one of the judges of the Constitutional Court recently benefitted from a land transfer from the government. The Constitutional Court on January 24, 2023 dismissed the case and the judges ruled that the motion appears to be frivolous and vexatious and an abuse of the process of the court and dismissed it on this basis. The three Justices of Appeal on the case were Janak De Silva from Sri Lanka, Lillian Tibetemwa-Ekirikkubinza from Uganda and Karuna Gunesh-Balaghee from Mauritius. In a unanimous judgement, the Court of Appeal found that the application for the recusal of the judges had been wrongly decided by the Constitutional Court in its decision of January 24, 2023.  In its ruling on Friday, the three judges of the Court of Appeal, said: «The  Constitutional Court was of the view that the Recusal Guidelines applied only for situations where recusal of a presiding Judge or a bench is sought not where the recusal of all current Judges and Justices in the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal is sought. On a plain reading of the Recusal Guidelines, that may well be a sustainable interpretation.» «However, it overlooks the fact that the doctrine of bias which disqualifies a Judge from hearing a case is a particular application of the fundamental human right and freedom recognised in Article 19(7) of the Constitution,» said the Court of Appeal.   Quashing the Constitutional  Court decision, the Court of Appeal directed that the recusal application should be heard anew by a panel of judges who were not in any way involved with the preparation of the 10th  Amendment. The Court of Appeal gave specific directives as to how this panel of judges should be set up to meet the imperatives of impartiality in the circumstances of this case. It also ordered that if it is not possible to set up this panel according to its directives, the Chief Justice should request the President of Seychelles to appoint temporary judges in terms of the Constitution for the purpose of hearing the recusal application. The Court of Appeal also ordered that the judges who dismissed the recusal application must not haveanything further to do with that application. 

Union Organiser for the Southern Region Branch of the Vanuatu National Workers Union (VNWU), Eddie Karie, has taken a bold stand against what he sees as unjust treatment by TIVR Timber company.

Saving money remains a big challenge for seasonal workers when they are employed abroad.

As of April 10 this year, the total contribution of Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Scheme workers to the Vanuatu National Provident Fund (VNPF) amounts to VT93,964,418.