HURRICANE BERYL has barreled across the Caribbean over recent days, leaving in its wake billions of dollars in damage, death and devastation; together with a powerful reminder that small island developing states (SIDS) are living climate change. “...

WESTERN BUREAU: Some of Trelawny’s rural communities have taken a battering from the heavy winds and rain associated with Hurricane Beryl. Residents of Troy lamented the loss of several banana trees and other crops. “There is heavy rain and a lot...

NEW YORK: The Jamaican community in North America is being mobilised and placed on high alert to assist recovery efforts in the island in the wake of Hurricane Beryl. Jamaica felt the brunt of the weather system on Wednesday as its eye passed just...

As the outer bands of Hurricane Beryl lashed St Catherine on Wednesday, some fisherfolk at the Forum Fishing Village were cooking and having a grand time at the Rum Party HQ bar while others relaxed in makeshift cottages. Robert Williamson told The...

Jamaica has discontinued its hurricane warning as Beryl moves away from the island, leaving dozens of communities and farmlands devastated. The Met Service announced a flash-flood watch for the country. It says rising water levels will continue to...

SINGAPORE - Allowing MPs to have a full-time job is a pragmatic arrangement, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said at a dialogue with students on July 2. Responding to a question on why this is permitted, he noted that all political office-holders, such as ministers, also have to balance between their full-time job governing and their duties as MP. «In the same way, just to be pragmatic about it, we recognise that some people have other private sector commitments,» he said. «We let them do it, but we fully expect them to discharge their MP duties well.» There are consequences when MPs fail to do so, he said. Either the party decides not to renew them, or voters do so. «Voters will know if their MP is working hard or not. And voters can decide,» said PM Wong. Here are PM Wong's responses to some questions that students asked. On conflicts of interest The same student also asked if Singapore deems it a conflict of interest if politicians push the agenda of their backers or corporate interests ahead of the state's interest, as is the norm in some countries.

[New Times] Defence attachés accredited to Rwanda were on July 3 hosted today to a security briefing at the Ministry of Defence and Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) Headquarters in Kigali where they received updates on Rwanda's internal and external security situation, as well as RDF's bilateral engagements in Mozambique and the Central African Republic.

[RFI] French prosecutors have ordered an inquiry into allegations that Chad's president embezzled public funds for a shopping spree on luxury clothing from Paris.

[DW] M23 rebels have captured the towns of Kanyabayonga and Kirumba in the eastern DRC. Lack of international pressure and the troubled state of the Congolese military facilitated their success, experts told DW.

[UPDATE: 8.27AM] Regular train services have progressively resumed and free regular and bridging bus services have ceased. SINGAPORE — Services have resumed along the East-West Line (EWL) after a three-hour delay caused by a track fault at Jurong East station on July 4. The delays were a result of a faulty point machine, said train operator SMRT in a Facebook post at 8.18am. «A point machine controls train movements at rail junctions when trains switch tracks. It is crucial for the point machine to be fully functional for the safe operation of trains,» it added. Due to safety reasons, trains travelled at a speed of 5kmh after the fault was detected, said SMRT. «To rectify the fault, our staff went onto the track to investigate the issue.» Free regular bus and bridging bus services, which were available between Clementi and Boon Lay stations at designated bus stops, have now ceased. SMRT first announced the track fault, which occurred at the station at around 5am, at 7.25am.

Singaporeans can look forward to cash payouts and Medisave top-ups in August. About 1.5 million citizens will receive up to $850 in cash as part of the enhanced GST Voucher (GSTV) scheme, said the Ministry of Finance (MOF) in a press release on Thursday (July 4). Those living in homes with annual values of up to $21,000 will get $850, while residents of homes with annual values of more than $21,000, and up to $25,000, will receive $450. If you own more than one property, you are not eligible for the payout. About 650,000 Singaporeans aged 65 and above will also enjoy top-ups of up to $450 to their MediSave accounts. The 2024 GSTV disbursements were first announced by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong during Budget 2023 and will amount to $1.4 billion - around $200 million more than the sum paid out to Singaporeans in 2023, said MOF. You can check your eligibility for the GSTV benefits at govbenefits.gov.sg by logging in with your Singpass. Those who have yet to sign up for the GSTV Scheme will be notified to do so by end-August via the Singpass app, SMS or hardcopy letters.

One woman decided to take matters into her own hands after experiencing two incidents of voyeurism by two different men on the same day.  By using herself as a bait and secretly recording him, she managed to get one of the culprits nabbed. Sharing the June 4 encounter in a TikTok video, the woman said she had first felt «violated» after a man allegedly took upskirt videos of her at Scarlett Supermarket in Nex. He had followed her from one store to another in the mall for half an hour. The woman said that she did not alert the police then due to the lack of evidence. Still, she was determined not to let him get away. At around 5.30pm, she went to the Cold Storage outlet in the same mall to look for him.  But she noticed that another man was allegedly filming her while she was browsing flowers. While she initially walked away, she said that she later «mustered the courage» and decided to use herself as bait to catch the culprit red-handed. In her 40-second clip, the man is seen squatted down and holding a phone with the rear camera facing up. She saw that the phone was in camera mode, she said.

The briefing was organized by Russia’s permanent mission to the United Nations

Twenty-four documents are to be adopted at the summit

At the same time, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi emphasized that Japan will keep an eye on how the Russian-Chinese relations develop

Ballistic missile delivered at the base in the Dnepropetrovsk region

The majority will have the right to form the new government

Pimicikamak Cree Nation in northern Manitoba says ground-penetrating radar has found 150 anomalies at the site of a former residential school, including what are believed to be 59 unmarked graves at a nearby cemetery.

Edward Troup, a former HM Revenue & Customs chief who has been advising shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, said the older generation must 'contribute'.

Despite Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson joining forces to warn against handing Labour a 'supermajority', a YouGov MRP survey of more than 42,000 people gives Sir Keir a majority of 212.

The eleventh hour decision was branded 'sickening' in Liverpool, a Labour stronghold which has shunned the paper since the Hillsborough disaster.

Democratic governors said Wednesday night that they expressed 'concerns' with President Joe Biden at a White House meeting with several of the party's rising stars, but the 81-year-old's heels were dug in.

Starmer has got the big calls woefully wrong. When Boris Johnson unlocked the country after the Covid restrictions in 2021, Sir Keir predicted 100,000 new cases a day.

The Meteorological Service of Jamaica says Hurricane Beryl is about to begin moving away from the island. However, it says a hurricane warning is still in effect as Beryl remains close to the southwestern tip of Jamaica. At 7 p.m. the centre of...

The Jamaica Public Service Company is reporting that more than 400,000 Jamaicans, or about 65 per cent of its customers, are without power.  Director of Corporate Communications, Winsome Callum, says remote restoration of power supply is being...

RIYADH: Prince Turki bin Mohammed bin Fahd, Saudi minister of state and chairman of the board of directors of the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Royal Reserve Development Authority, inaugurated the main building of the authority in Riyadh, the state news agency SPA reported on Wednesday. During his tour of the building, he was briefed on its designs and offices, “which were compatible with environmental considerations and took into account energy efficiency,” SPA said.

RIYADH: As part of an official visit to Turkiye, Saudi Arabia’s minister of defense, Prince Khalid bin Salman, on Wednesday met in Istanbul with the president of the nation’s Defense Industry Agency, Haluk Gorgun, and the heads of leading Turkish companies. They reviewed opportunities for cooperation in the military and defense sectors, in line with the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 plan for national development and diversification, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

RIYADH: The supervisor general of Saudi aid agency KSrelief, Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, on Tuesday visited the cities of Reyhanli and Kirikhan in Turkiye’s Hatay Province to inspect the work of volunteers taking part in the agency’s programs to help people affected by the earthquakes that hit parts of Turkiye and Syria in February last year.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Wildlife Development has launched a comprehensive survey plan to collect basic data on the crown-of-thorns starfish groups in the Red Sea, to be used in managing the outbreak of the organism in a timely manner, and thus protecting the health of coral reefs and biodiversity. The action plan is the culmination of a workshop held by the NCWD in late 2022, during which the threat of crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks on the Red Sea environment was discussed, a Saudi Press Agency report says.

RIYADH: At least 40 entities from the public and private sectors in the Kingdom have signed up with the newly organized Saudi Alliance for Agricultural and Food Technologies, with the aim of coming up with solutions to increase efficiency and abundance in agricultural and food products, and achieve safe and sustainable supply chains.  Deputy Minister Mansour bin Hilal Al-Mushaiti of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA) led the launch on July 3, 2024 in Riyadh, according to a report of the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).