A high-speed rail line linking Canada’s two largest cities, Montreal and Toronto, has been the stuff of dreams — and political campaigns — for decades. But will it actually happen any time soon? And what could it look like if it does?

The six-team Professional Women's Hockey League is launching its expansion process with plans to add two franchises for the start of the 2025-26 season, a league executive announced Tuesday.

The Crown’s request to stay 12 charges against former Hamilton police officer Craig Ruthowsky, who's serving a 13-year prison sentence for corruption, was granted by an Ontario Superior Court justice on Tuesday. 

This week, the Seychelles' delegation at the 16th Conference of Parties under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16) in Cali, Colombia, will mainly examine the commitments made at the previous COP, when the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) was signed. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Flavien Joubert, Seychelles' Minister for Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, said, «Unfortunately, we were unable to submit our commitments and targets and review NBSAP (National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plan) in time, but we are doing our utmost to have it ready by at least the end of the year. During COP16, we intend on facilitating even more engagements for Seychelles, especially regarding finance.» The second week of the Conference is the high-level segment, which includes heads of state and ministers. Joubert arrived at the conference during the weekend and will now participate in the high-level discussions and decide whether to sign off on the document at the end of the proceedings. Apart from the main plenary and working groups, the minister also attended side events, the most recent one about forging coral reef resilience in which he explained the importance of Seychelles building more connections for collaboration. «We will continue to look for partners willing to work with us on different subjects. Here we are working with the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR), and there are also other stakeholders present. We need to explore new opportunities, to ensure progress for the country. Today, everything is more complex. We will first focus on aspects which have more economic importance for Seychelles,» he said. Joubert further shared his expectations for the second week of COP16 and his thoughts about what needs to be done. «For this week, I think it is important that we establish how countries who have not submitted their targets will do so. Many countries still have not done this and we think that a good baseline is important. We also need a better definition regarding the financial resources that will accompany the targets and where they will come from. Are the commitments from other countries sufficient?» he asked. Joubert also had more bilateral meetings and said, «There are several key partners that we are targeting; these are key actors that we know have the capabilities to help us with our projects, therefore we must build upon the relationship we have with them.» Joubert said that finance was a key component of Seychelles' position and it also included local Seychellois actors who noted certain concerns to him. «There are quite a few concerns from local organisations, namely NGOs who conduct different kinds of research. This is mainly linked with access to financial resources. So, this is another point that I will be inquiring about here at the COP to clarify the situation with these organisations from Seychelles. They've said that they've been told that there is a lot of resources available, however, they feel that it is complicated to access such funding,» he shared. At the moment, Seychelles is being represented by 13 people at the COP16, a group comprising of government representatives and several non-governmental organisations (NGOs). «We have quite an interesting delegation here in Colombia, there is quite a number of Seychellois representatives here. I am interested in seeing how each person will do their part as they each have a component they are following. We do not want to just attend a conference. We also want to go back to Seychelles with concrete solutions and outcomes for the challenges we are facing. This is important for me,» he said.    This story was produced as part of the 2024 CBD COP16 Fellowship organised by the Internews' Earth Journalism Network. 

Kolkata residents unite against government plans to end the city’s iconic trams, noting that the world’s cities have revived their own Read Full Article at RT.com

Polish President Andrzej Duda claims Salome Zourabichvili admitted she saw ‘no evidence’ of Russian interference in parliamentary election Read Full Article at RT.com

A fire has broken out at a British nuclear submarine shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, with two people injured, officials say Read Full Article at RT.com

US President Joe Biden has commented on the possible deployment of North Korean soldiers in the Ukraine conflict Read Full Article at RT.com

Latvia could be expelled from the European Space Agency for not paying membership fees, space industry NGOs have warned Read Full Article at RT.com

SINGAPORE — Singapore's longest serving central banker, Ravi Menon, will head a new non-profit to drive fintech innovation and growth globally, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said on Wednesday (Oct 30). Menon, who led the central bank for 12 years until 2023 and is a strong proponent of financial technology, will chair the Global Finance and Technology Network, the MAS said. He sees the non-profit — with around 40 staff currently — as a way to drive innovation for the common good «to create economic value, to expand economic opportunities for people, to create more resilient and robust financial systems», Menon said. A key role of the network will be advisory services provided to governments and organisations, building on Singapore's reputation as a financial hub. The network could help governments adapt their fintech needs to local conditions and connect governments and regulators to multilateral agencies such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and partners in the private sector, he said.

This paper provides an overview of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s lending to Ukraine, particularly focusing on the IMF response to the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since February 2022, given the challenging macroeconomic circumstances. If further analyses the key elements of the IMF’ Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme for Ukraine, including the evolution of core assumptions, risks, fiscal sustainability and conditionality. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

Harry Styles and Dua Lipa have topped Heat Magazine's Annual 30 Under 30 Rich List, with their eye-popping net worths putting them miles ahead of their Hollywood counterparts.

Channing Tatum and Zoë Kravitz shocked fans with reports on Tuesday that they had broken up and ended their engagement after dating for three years.

The Deputy Prime Minister suggested four-day weeks, which the previous government described as 'part-time work for full-time pay', could improve productivity in local government.

The Kylie Cosmetics founder, 27, admitted in a vlog on TikTok that she loves the baking show and even confessed to crying while catching up on Caramel Week's episodes.

Joe Biden's camp is desperately trying to explain away his outburst Tuesday where he called Donald Trump supporters 'garbage.'

Réunis en Conseil d'administration extraordinaire ce mardi 29 octobre 2024, les administrateurs de l'Agence Nationale de l'Urbanisme, des Travaux Topographiques et du Cadastre ont décidé de revoir à la baisse le budget 2024 de l'Agence. . Ainsi, sous la coordination du Président du Conseil d'administration, Léon Paul Mvouba Okori, le projet de budget général rectificatif 2024 a été arrêté en équilibre en recettes et en dépenses à 5 637 941 260 fcfa contre un budget initial de 9 007 826 (...) - ECONOMIE / SUJET_ECRIT_MAISON

Wang Yi noted that China-Russia cooperation possesses its «own historical logic and internal drivers»

Earlier, German prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian diving instructor who might be involved in the Nord Stream sabotage

According to the top Russian diplomat, nations in the Global South and East recognize that «a sovereign and strong Russia is essential for establishing a just, multipolar world order»

«The collective West, led by the United States, has increased tenfold its efforts to systematically deter Russia, to unleash a full-scale hybrid war against our country, to inflict a so-called strategic defeat on it,» Sergey Lavrov noted

Robert Fico emphasized that he has consistently paid tribute to the bravery of Soviet soldiers, particularly during celebrations of the Slovak National Uprising and the 80th anniversary of the Red Army’s Carpathian-Dukla offensive earlier this year

Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale has underscored the pivotal role of agriculture in generating foreign exchange for Malawi, stating that the government is committed to supporting agricultural activities nationwide to achieve the country’s Vision 2063. Speaking at the Nkondezi Cooperative in Nkhata-Bay on Monday, where 400 households are engaged in a rice production scheme, Kawale […] The post Sowing the seeds of prosperity: Kawale declares agriculture key to foreign exchange boom! appeared first on Malawi Nyasa Times - News from Malawi about Malawi.

Every four years, due to election impasse, the Somali People have to deal with the specter of political violence and civil strife instead of celebrating the results of peaceful, free, and fair election affirming the legitimacy of the authority of the federal Government. The last one-year election (2021-2022) jeopardized the viability of the Somali State. Nevertheless, the general public felt relief when new parliamentarians took the oath to sacrifice their personal interests and serve the interests of the Somali people with honesty, integrity, and impartiality, an oath betrayed.

Mogadishu (HOL) — Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud reaffirmed his government’s commitment to dialogue with Puntland and Jubbaland state leaders to resolve ongoing political divisions.

Maria Zakharova stressed that «the illustrative action was aimed at unambiguously demonstrating the country’s readiness to use its repressive machinery at any moment in order to shut down access to the information that it finds inconvenient»

The MOEX index accelerated its growth and amounted to 2,615.22 points, while the RTS index amounted to 846.49 points

«A powerful scientific complex will be located on board the vessel for research even in the harshest conditions, including studies of the ocean floor, atmosphere and space,» Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev said

The data, collected in the affected areas, are compared against background indicators to obtain information about the ecosystems conditions in areas around Norilsk Nickel's industrial assets and to see possible deviations from the «normal rates»

The gold price climbed to $2,800.4 per troy ounce