Hitting out at the INDIA alliance for not announcing its PM candidate, home minister Amit Shah on Thursday said «the country needs a strong PM, not one on yearly-basis». The home minister was addressing an election rally in Bihar's Madhubani. The home minister also hit out at the alliance leaders for its recent remarks on Pakistan.

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Union of India to deport 17 foreigners languishing in a Assam detention centre, noting there is no offence registered against them. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan noted a report submitted by the State Legal Services Authority which stated that there are 17 declared foreigners detained in the detention centre in Assam. «We are of the view that Union of India must take immediate steps for deporting these 17 foreigners as there is no offence registered against them,» the bench said.

NIA attaches properties of Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist Sartaj Ahmed Mantoo in Kashmir under UA (P) Act, 1967, arrested in 2020 with arms, facing trial for terror activities, linked to JeM led by Maulana Masood Azhar, part of NIA crackdown in Jammu and Kashmir.

Omar Bin Omran vanished during the decade-long Algerian civil war of 1998, leading his family to assume that he was killed in the conflict.

Robbie Williams has sold his Los Angeles mansion for £51.6 million ($65M) - making a handsome £12.3million in just over two years.

Tthe Love Island host, 29, greeted King Charles, 75, and Queen Camilla , 76, and reminisced about her previous work - and awkward faux pas - with the monarch's charity, the Prince's Trust.

Latest updates as schools across Devon close after hundreds of residents were struck down by a mystery illness caused by contaminated water.

South West Water (SWW) yesterday urged people to boil their tap water after hundreds fell ill with diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach pains amid a parasite outbreak in contaminated taps.

Born just seven years after Singapore gained independence, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong witnessed the country's rapid growth from third to first world. The 51-year-old was born in 1972, when Singapore «was a young nation» with «not much to our name». But that did not stop the pioneer generation, which included his parents, from «believing in new possibilities» and working hard to improve their lives, said PM Wong in a 11-minute video aired on CNA on Wednesday (May 15) — the same day he was sworn in as prime minister.  He recounted that his father came to Singapore from Malaysia as a young man looking for a job, while his mother completed her secondary school education and became a school teacher. From a student at Haig Boys' Primary School to being the fourth prime minister of Singapore, PM Wong described his journey as «a story of possibilities». «If you asked me 30 years ago, if I had envisaged all this, my answer would be no,» he said.

Georges Robert is the new Ombudsman of Seychelles and was sworn in on Thursday with his family present in a ceremony at State House.   This followed the recommendations from the Constitutional Appointees Authority (CAA). He succeeds Nichole Tirant-Ghérardi. «I am truly honoured and humbled to have been appointed the fifth Ombudsman of Seychelles,  and I am ready to work for the people of Seychelles to bring the office to the level that it was envisaged since its creation in 1993,» said Robert. The new ombudsman obtained admission as a lawyer of the Supreme Court of Queensland Australia in June 2011 and after he relocated to Seychelles, obtained Admission as an Attorney at Law of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Seychelles in June 2014. His previous work experience includes solicitor at Carter Capner Law Firm in Australia from 2011 to 2012 and state counsel at the Attorney General's Chambers from 2012 to 2014. He was also an attorney-at-law in the Chambers of Francis Chang-Sam - 2014-2015, magistrate at the Judiciary of Seychelles from 2015-2017, and attorney- at-law, Office of George E Robert from January to December 2019. Before he was appointed Ombudsman, Robert served as the legal director at the Seychelles Human Rights Commission since December 2019 to date. He has 13 years of experience as an attorney-at-law. He succeeds Nicole Tirant-Gherardi, who served as Ombudsman for the past seven years and has now been appointed as the new vice-chairperson of the Seychelles Human Rights Commission. Tirant Gherardi is the new vice-chairperson of the Seychelles Human Rights Commission. (Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY.   Tirant Gherardi was sworn in as the new vice-chairperson of the Commission during the same ceremony along with three other members of the commission. The three new commissioners are Roger Toussaint, Barbare Corolus Andre and Elna Etienne Kumar. The commissioners of the Information Commission were also presented with their instruments, and Mumtaz Hasan was re-appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner with Peter Lalande and Egbert Rosalie appointed as new commissioners on the Commissioners. In his address, the President of Seychelles, Wavel Ramkalawan, asked all those who have taken up these new roles, to perform with the utmost respect. He asked them to ensure that all their decisions remain unbiased and to not allow politics to affect their judgements. He also spoke on the lack of understanding of the roles of the Ombudsman, the Human Rights Commission, and the Information Commission and urged them to undertake an education campaign, so that people can better appreciate why they are very important for the country.

DOVER, Delaware: Prime Minister Andrew Holness was on Friday conferred with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by the Delaware State University, a privately governed, state-assisted, historically black land-grant research university in Dover,...

The Victim Services Branch (VSB) in the Social Justice Division of the Ministry of Justice remains well positioned to respond to cases of sexual abuse involving minors. Director of the VSB, Dionne-Dawn Binns, says the branch is alerted to cases of...

A historical event unfolded at Hampton School recently with the consecration and unveiling of a commemorative plaque. The plaque stands as a testament to the invaluable contributions of enslaved Africans, whose forced labour played a pivotal role...

FROM MONDAY, May 20 to Thursday, May 23, the Caribbean Travel Marketplace, a showpiece of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourist Association (CHTA), will convene at the Montego Bay Conference Centre in St James. It is the premier event for connecting...

Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke says economic resilience has got to be the key economic priority for Caribbean countries. This, he said, is especially true given the open economies and narrow economic bases of small island developing states (SIDS...

Top stories from the Russian press on Thursday, May 16th

Moscow and Beijing also intend to promote universal human values and «the healthy development of all aspects of the international human rights agenda»

According to Sin Hong Chol, «the Zelensky puppet clique committed hundreds of unethical atrocities of killing innocent inhabitants by striking civilian objects»

The Chinese leader added that Beijing «is ready to play its constructive role»

Half of the Russians surveyed say that their attitude to China has changed for the better over the past ten years

The liberal congressman has raced to the political middle in a key battleground where moderates have a huge influence. Will it work?

Most children would get their parents to choose a co-curricular activity (CCA) with them, and it was no different for Greendale Primary School student, Alicia Tan. Except her parents told her to pick Girls' Brigade, a CCA that she was not interested in. Although she had her reservations, an after-school excursion with them changed the 12 year-old's perception of the club. «We visited the old folks home and when I saw their happy faces, it made me happy,» she said. Sweet tokens of friendship Despite having zero background in baking or cooking, Tan and 120 young girls from Girls' Brigade Singapore (GBS) volunteered for the opportunity to bake cookies for a noble cause at this year's launch of the Friend in Deed project.

Russia and China will establish a joint film fund to promote each other’s cinema, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund has said   Read Full Article at RT.com

The statutory instrument (SI) 40 of 2024 for the customs management regulations for the importation of goods in Seychelles through post or courier valued lower than SCR1,500 is to formalise existing practices, said a top official on Wednesday. The principal secretary for Trade, Francis Lebon, made the statement in a press conference on Wednesday, after members of the public expressed confusion upon learning of the SI. Lebon stressed that this SI only affects commercial goods, stating that the similar allowance for personal goods provided for by SI 82, remains at SCR3000 ($218). The SI affects only the importation of commercial goods valued lower than R1500 ($108) and these goods are exempted from customs declaration through a bill of entry and payment of customs duty. Lebon said this has been in practice since 2013 but the government decided to make it formal.   «This decision was made after seeing that there were instances where the value of the commercial goods imported was lower than what it costs to declare them,» said Lebon. He gave the example of goods that could cost $5, but the bill of entry and taxes will cost more than the $5. «Now that this has been formalised, every Customs Officer, present and future will have to abide by it, as it will be part of the normal practices,» added Lebon.

Hundreds of couples from all over Russia have flocked to Moscow for the first nationwide wedding festival Read Full Article at RT.com

You might want to hold your cup tightly when you order a cold beverage from a coffee shop drinks stall. Drop or spill it and you might have to pay extra to get another cup. But is it fair for coffee shops to impose a charge for replacing spilled ice? A diner who feels it's not took to Facebook to share her encounter with a drinks stall employee at a coffee shop near Pioneer MRT station, which is an outlet of the Kimly chain. In a post on Facebook group Complaint Singapore on Tuesday (May 14), user Mandy Lim wrote that her friend had bought two canned drinks from the stall for $1.90 each. Lim's friend accidentally knocked over one of the cups filled with ice. This allegedly led to him being «viciously scolded» by an employee, who asked if he was aware of a sign which stated that there is a 50-cent charge to replace the ice. According to a photo posted by Lim, the handwritten sign in Chinese read: «If you spill the ice and want another cup of ice, we will charge you 50 cents.»

The swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, which was broadcast on Wednesday (May 15) evening, drew many eyeballs. But there was one person who quite nearly stole the limelight from the newly-minted PM. His wife, Loo Tze Lui. Shortly after the ceremony, social media exploded with comments on Loo's appearance at the event, with many praising her good looks and grace. «Respectfully, jaw is on the floor,» wrote one TikTok user, while others seemed enamoured by her star quality. «She looks like a Korean actress,» one commenter remarked. Several commenters also said that she looked like a «humble», «kind and compassionate» person. Some netizens were flummoxed however, that Loo had walked ahead of Wong as they entered the ceremonial grounds at the Istana.

A Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officer has died after fighting a fire on board a marine vessel anchored in the southwest, according to a press release on Thursday (May 16). SCDF was alerted to the fire at 12.15am. Firefighters from West Coast Marine Fire Station boarded the vessel after noticing smoke billowing from the engine room. A Rota Commander, paired with another firefighter, attempted to put out the blaze inside the smoke-logged room. While the firefighter sprayed a water jet towards the source of the fire, the Rota Commander went around the room with a thermal imager to look for other hot spots in the area. A support team of firefighters then entered and found the Rota Commander lying at the bottom of the staircase, about 4m down from the engine room. The regular officer was conscious but appeared unwell, so he was immediately evacuated. He later lost consciousness and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was performed on him. He was later evacuated to Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal and conveyed to the National University Hospital.

Russia and China have also created a fast neutron-based experimental unit and the construction of a new demonstrative fast reactor is underway, the president noted

During the drills, the crews of combat ships accomplished a set of combat training exercises to detect, identify and strike targets simulating small-size naval and aerial targets, it specified

Since the Sino-Russian relations entered into a new era their level has been constantly rising, the content of friendship has been enriched, while the idea of friendship has been established in people’s mind for a full due

The Russian leader stressed that he welcomes the active expansion of the presence of Chinese car makers and appliance producers on the Russian market

The Chinese leader reiterated that over the past years he has met with Putin at least 40 time

In addition, 23 drone control centers were destroyed and 34 drones shot down or disabled