Donald Trump was the target of an apparent assassination attempt Sunday in Florida, the FBI said, with the Republican presidential candidate's campaign and law enforcement reporting he was safe and unharmed. The US Secret Service confirmed one or more of its agents «opened fire on a gunman» located near the boundary of Trump's golf course, and that an «AK-47 style rifle» with a scope was recovered along with a GoPro video camera. Amid the confrontation with the Secret Service, the suspect bolted out of the shrubbery he had been hiding in and escaped in a black car. A witness helped police identify the vehicle and authorities tracked it down. «We have somebody in custody right now that is a potential suspect,» Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told a news conference. Trump had been golfing at his course in West Palm Beach, Florida, not far from his Mar-a-Lago residence, when the would-be shooter was spotted in bushes one hole ahead of the former president, Bradshaw said. «President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity,» his campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement, while Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris expressed relief her political rival was out of danger. Trump himself said in a website fundraising message: «Fear not! I am safe and well, and no one was hurt. Thank God!» The unnerving incident appears to mark the second time in as many months that Trump has been the target of an assassination attempt. The former president was wounded in the ear on July 13 as he addressed an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. - Unsure if shot taken - Authorities who addressed Sunday's news conference did not confirm whether a gunman actually fired a weapon in the direction of the former president, but said that shots were fired by the Secret Service. «We are not sure right now if the individual was able to take a shot at our agents,» said Rafael Barros, of the Secret Service. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it is «investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump.» Officials praised the quick action of the Secret Service, an agency that has been under intense scrutiny since its apparent failure to detect and stop a gunman from shooting at Trump in Pennsylvania. Sheriff Bradshaw said Secret Service personnel in Trump's protective detail spotted «this rifle barrel sticking out of the fence and immediately engaged that individual, at which time the individual took off.» He estimated the suspect was set up 300 to 500 yards (275 to 455 meters) away, but «with a rifle and a scope like that, that's not a long distance.» Sheriff William Snyder of neighboring Martin County said on CNN that the potential suspect who was stopped and detained by law enforcement had «a relatively calm, flat affect. He was not displaying a lot of emotions.» - 'Relieved' - Law enforcement was launching a sweeping investigation but as of Sunday afternoon there was no indication of the shooter's motive. The incident came amid heightened tensions in the knife-edge presidential race, and concern for the safety of both candidates. «There is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country,» President Joe Biden said in a statement. «I have directed my team to continue to ensure that Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former president's continued safety.» Vice President Harris took to social media to say «I am glad he is safe.» Several Trump supporters and members of his inner circle, including his running mate J.D. Vance, offered their support and gratitude that tragedy was avoided. «I'm glad President Trump is safe,» Vance said on X. «I spoke to him before the news was public and he was, amazingly, in good spirits.» The Secret Service, tasked with protecting presidents, former presidents and other dignitaries, has faced criticism since the Pennsylvania shooting. Kimberly Cheatle, the head of the agency, resigned amid the ensuing scrutiny, and at least five agents were placed on administrative leave. Representative Elise Stefanik, the fourth-ranking US House Republican, thanked law enforcement for their actions Sunday but raised questions about the latest incident. «We must ask ourselves how an assassin was allowed to get this close to President Trump again,» she said in a statement. «There continues to be a lack of answers for the horrific assassination attempt in Pennsylvania and we expect there to be a clear explanation of what happened today in Florida.» © Agence France-Presse

Global warming. Disappearing plant and animal species. Fertile land turning to desert. Plastic in the oceans, on land, and the air we breathe. These urgent environmental challenges will be in the spotlight over the next few months as the United Nations hosts four major sessions to address key threats to the planet. - Biodiversity - First up is a «Conference of the Parties» -- a COP -- dedicated to biodiversity being held in Cali, Colombia, from October 21 to November 1. These are called every two years to debate how the world can cooperate to better protect the rich variety of plant and animal life in the natural world. The COP16 isn't expected to break new ground but is more a stocktake of progress since the last summit secured historic assurances for biodiversity. In 2022 in Montreal, nations agreed to place 30 percent of the planet under environmental protection by 2030 in a landmark pact aimed at arresting biodiversity loss and restoring ecosystems to health. In Cali, countries will put forward national strategies to meet this global objective, and observers hope Colombia as host will provide a model for others to follow. WWF has commended the leadership shown so far by Colombia, which hosts close to 10 percent of Earth's biodiversity, including countless bird, butterfly, and orchid species. - Climate - The world's most important conference on climate change is this year being hosted by Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic heavily dependent on oil and gas exports, from November 11 to 22. While the last summit in Dubai in 2023 delivered a historic commitment to transition the world away from fossil fuels, supporting poorer countries with climate change will top this year's agenda. The summit, known as COP29, is expected to land a new agreement on «climate finance»: money from rich nations most responsible for global warming to developing countries vulnerable to climate change. There isn't an agreed figure yet, or even consensus on where the money should come from, who should receive it, and what form it could take. But developing countries are pushing for much more than the $100 billion pledged in 2009. This was only reached for the first time in full in 2022. «COP29 offers an opportunity to unlock more climate investments from a wider range of public and private sources and to improve the quality of this finance,» said the World Resources Institute, a US think tank. The result of the US election, just six days before COP29 begins, could throw a last-minute curveball into the final negotiations, which have proved divisive so far. It also remains to be seen how many world leaders travel to Baku, the capital on the Caspian Sea, with some expected to focus their energy on COP30 in Brazil next year. - Desertification - The least high profile of the three COPs, this session in Saudi Arabia addressing the loss of fertile land to desert is nonetheless critical. Climate variation like droughts and human activities like overgrazing can result in desertification, a process mainly in dry areas where land degrades and becomes unproductive. Experts hope the COP16 on desertification, scheduled to take place in Riyadh from December 2 to 13, can act as a turning point in addressing this problem. «Discussions will focus on ways to restore 1.5 billion hectares of land by 2030, as well as putting in place agreements to manage the droughts that are already affecting many regions of the globe,» said Arona Diedhiou from the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development. - Plastic - In 2022, some 175 nations agreed to fast-track negotiations toward a world-first treaty on plastic pollution, and the final session gets underway on November 25 in South Korea. The treaty aims to marshal an international response to the plastic trash choking the environment, from oceans and rivers to mountains and sea ice. Some nations want the treaty to restrict how much plastic can be made while others -- particularly oil and gas producing countries that provide the raw materials to make plastic -- want a focus on recycling. Hellen Kahaso Dena, head of Greenpeace's Pan-African Plastics Project, hopes that countries «will agree on a treaty that prioritises reducing plastic production». «There is no time to waste with approaches that will not solve the problem,» the activist told AFP. © Agence France-Presse

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Seychelles' credit rating at BB- with positive outlook, which is supported by relatively high income levels, strong World Bank governance indicators and support from multilateral creditors.   According to the Ratings released on Friday, these strengths are balanced by the economy's small size and high concentration in the tourism sector, heightening vulnerability to external shocks. The Ratings state that Seychelles' tourism sector, which directly accounts for up to 25 percent of its economy and 40 percent of current account receipts, has stagnated this year, with visitor arrival growth flat in the first eight months year-on-year. The authorities expect arrivals to reach 95 percent of 2019 levels by 2025, down from previous projections. «This is due to weakness in some source economies, mainly in Western Europe, strong competition from other high-end tourist destinations, and inadequate growth of flight routes to Seychelles. Tourism receipts are set to decline 13 percent year-on-year in 2024, albeit to still higher than pre-pandemic levels, reflecting stagnant arrivals and a shift away from higher-spending tourists mainly from the Gulf countries and Russia, and grow only marginally in 2025,» said Fitch Ratings. On economic growth, Fitch expects Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 3 percent in 2024, and 4 percent in 2025, with some positive impact from the 2025 Beach Football World Cup and pre-presidential and parliamentary election spending. Potential growth is estimated at around 3.5 percent supported by a solid pipeline of investment in hotel projects of over $700 million due to come online in 2024-25. This will boost room capacity in the country by 6.4 percent.   Additionally, the Information Communication and Technology (ICT) sector has posted strong growth in recent years, but meaningful diversification prospects for the economy appear limited.  Fitch said, «Seychelles continues to have strong performance against benchmarks of the IMF's Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) programmes, which collectively total $102 million, 4.7 percent of 2023 GDP, worth of funding over three years to 2026, of which 32 percent has already been disbursed. Seychelles met all but one of the quantitative performance benchmarks under the EFF's latest review and has started incorporating climate-related reform requirements in its budgetary process. Fitch views as credit positive the technical assistance that Seychelles has access to from the IMF, World Bank and other multilateral lenders in improving budgetary management and ingraining climate risk mitigation in its budget execution. However, Seychelles is heavily exposed to risks from climate change, with impacts already being felt primarily through the rising intensity and frequency of storms and flooding that are rendering some coastal infrastructure unusable. »In the short term, Seychelles' tourism industry faces constraints in expansion due to the saturation of coastal infrastructure, which effectively acts as a cap on potential growth. The IMF estimates Seychelles to have a funding requirement of about $670 million, 31.2 percent of 2023 GDP, for climate change mitigation by 2030, equivalent to 5 percent of GDP annually, but the country spends only 0.9 percent of GDP a year," said Fitch Ratings. 

An email to campaign staff urges vigiliance about security as golf course episode raises new concerns.

A suspect is in custody as the FBI investigates Sunday’s incident at former president Donald Trump’s golf course as a potential assassination attempt.

SINGAPORE — French bulldog Wangcai started life with a slew of chronic health issues. First-time dog owners Jackie See and Judyvein Cheng bought the male dog as a four-month-old puppy in 2018 for $4,800 from a local backyard breeder. Soon the married couple discovered Wangcai had mites, stomach issues, a yeast infection and rashes. «As first-time pet owners, we felt anxious and helpless. We kept going to the vet to find out what was wrong and constantly switched from premium kibbles to a hypoallergenic diet from the clinic. We spent between $2,000 and $3,000 (on the vet visits and food), but his condition did not improve,» Cheng, an event organiser, told The Straits Times. Wangcai was also given cytopoint, an antibody used to treat atopic dermatitis, a chronic condition he was diagnosed with which causes dry, itchy and inflamed skin, but his condition worsened. «He was scratching more and that led to some open sores and bleeding every day. He also developed hives, redness in his groin, 'armpit' area and between his toes, rashes on his belly, fur loss and scabs and dandruff-like flakes,» Cheng said.

LYON, France — A nosy handyman tests your professionalism. Attendees of a wedding party create a ruckus in the hotel lobby. A distraught guest crumbles in panic after losing her passport. These were the nightmare scenarios that Rachel Yu, 19, had to handle as a competitor in the hotel reception skill area of the 47th WorldSkills Competition in Lyon, France, being held from Sept 10 to 15. Unlike other participants from Singapore who learnt about this competition when they enrolled in the Institute of Technical Education or a polytechnic, Yu found out about it while still in secondary school. She was introduced to the competition, dubbed the «Olympics of vocational skills», when she was in Secondary 4 at Marsiling Secondary School, during a visit to Republic Polytechnic (RP) for its open house. A lecturer there piqued her interest when he spoke about an RP student who represented Singapore in the hotel skill area when the competition was held in Switzerland. «At that time, I had not taken my O levels yet. But I told myself that I was going to get into RP, get into the School of Hospitality and be a WorldSkills competitor.»

SINGAPORE — A senior employee with the Housing Board and the director of a construction company who were accused of corruption have each been granted a discharge amounting to an acquittal. This means that Tan Siam Chua, 61, an HDB senior estate manager, and Liong Ah Chye, 62, the director of Liong Construction, cannot be charged again with the same offence. On Sept 16, the day the trials for both men were slated to start, the prosecution applied to withdraw the charges against them. Deputy Public Prosecutor Eunice Chew did not elaborate on this in court. The Straits Times has contacted the Attorney-General's Chambers and HDB for more information. In September 2023, Tan was handed one charge of abetting corrupt transactions with agents. Liong was charged with one count of corrupt transactions with agents. He was accused of giving a false quotation from his company, through one of his employees, to an HDB senior estate manager, upon instigation from Tan. Speaking to The Straits Times after the hearing, Tan said: «I'm happy my name has been cleared. It is a relief for me and my family.»

Le Centre d'études et de recherche en géosciences politiques et prospective ( CERGEP) et Freie Universitât Berlin ont présenté, le 11 septembre dernier, des données de l'étude DLEDA réalisée en juin 2024 auprès des députés de la transition gabonaise. Il était question de lors des données de l'étude DLEDA réalisée en juin 2024, de présenter le fonctionnement de l'Assemblée nationale de la transition au Gabon. Ladite étude a été présentée par le Centre d'études et de recherche en (...) - SOCIETE / SUJET_ECRIT_MAISON

Samedi 14 septembre 2024 à de Libreville, la société civile gabonaise a été reçue par l'Union Africaine ( UA). Au menu des échanges, recueillir les attentes des Gabonais, l'avis de la société civile et les recommandations à ce stade du processus de la transition. Une délégation du Conseil de Paix et Sécurité de l'Union Africaine a échangé avec les organisations de la société civile et des plateformes associatives gabonaises. Cette rencontre a vu la participation de l'Ong Malachie, l'Ong (...) - SOCIETE / SUJET_ECRIT_MAISON

Le 11 septembre 2024, le Ministre de l'Enseignement Supérieur, de la Recherche Scientifique et de l'Innovation Technologique, Pr Hervé Ndoume Essingone, a reçu en audience l'ambassadrice des États-Unis au Gabon, S.E. Vernelle T. Fitzpatrick. Lors de cette rencontre, la présentation de la vision du Gouvernement gabonais en matière de recherche scientifique a été un des points clés abordés. S.E. Fitzpatrick a réaffirmé le soutien des États-Unis à la recherche scientifique au Gabon, (...) - COOPERATION / SUJET_ECRIT_MAISON

Le départ de la 7eme édition de la Air Tahiti va"a race a été donné hier au parc Vairai. Au menu 27 km entre Papeete et Punaauia. L’événement a réuni une cinquantaine d’équipes, beaucoup moins qu'en 2023. Mais cette année le niveau est plus élevé grâce notamment à la 1ère participation à cette course de Shell Va’a. Chez les dames, Ihilani a encore fait la différence.

Rencontre avec une ancienne infirmière, devenue journaliste et photographe. Elle prépare une exposition avec un objectif : changer le regard des gens sur les personnes sans abri. Depuis près d'un an;, Doris Ramseyer discute avec eux et partage leur quotidien. A travers ses clichés, elle expose leur fragilité, leur détresse, mais aussi leur détermination ou leur grand coeur.

The mother of a teenager who was sent sexual messages by fallen BBC star Huw Edwards says he caused 'immense pain and suffering' and should be locked up.

The American billionaire responded to a subscriber's comment on X «Why do they want to kill Donald Trump?»

Sirens are on

According to the news outlet, overnight, Israeli troops raided the al-Masayef neighborhood in the city of Ramallah in the central West Bank

On September 18-20, Choe Son Hui will attend the fourth Eurasian Women’s Forum and BRICS Women’s Forum in St. Petersburg

Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan confirmed Nayab Singh Saini as BJP's chief ministerial candidate for Haryana, showing confidence in winning a third consecutive term. This announcement follows senior leader Anil Vij's statement about staking a claim for the CM post based on his seniority and public demand, though he admitted that the party will decide.

Presley Shekinah, a 13-year-old student from Chennai, achieved a new world record by crafting a 600-square-foot portrait of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with 800 kg of millets. This artwork was completed in an uninterrupted 12-hour session and has been acknowledged by the Unico World Record under the student achievement category.

According to the news outlet, he promoted «the idea of having former Afghanistan troopers fight for Ukraine in Russia»

US President have directed his team to continue to ensure that Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure, the White House press service said

The embattled enclave’s Health Ministry said that over the past 24 hours, 24 people have been killed and 57 wounded in the Gaza Strip

Having eliminated Ukrainian troops and military hardware, the crews returned safely to their home base

The representatives from member states will discuss a range of issues, including nuclear security in Ukraine

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has vented his displeasure with American singer Taylor Swift after she endorsed his rival Read Full Article at RT.com

New images reveal the backpack, GoPro camera and AK-47 style rifle that a gunman left behind when fleeing the scene where he was attempting to assassinate Donald Trump.

The man named as the suspect in a possible assassination attempt near Donald Trump's Florida golf club, was calm and emotionless when he was arrested Sunday.

As thousands of first-year undergraduates arrive in halls across the ­country this week, a Mail investigation has ­uncovered serious abuses of the higher education system.

One told an undercover Mail reporter, posing as an applicant with no wish to study, she could get a place on a £9,250-a-year course and that most people who get this money 'will never pay it back'.

The son of Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect in a possible assassination attempt near Donald Trump's Florida golf club, expressed disbelief over the allegations against his father.

The Calgary police paid tribute to a trio of Calgarians who saved the life of Lanny McDonald at the airport in February, 2024.

A person from Greater Sudbury died and two other individuals were transported to hospital after a five-vehicle crash near Port Dover, Ont., late Saturday afternoon.