Donald Trump was being “playful” when he praised a Montana congressman who assaulted a Guardian reporter, said a Republican senator whose new book sets out to “heal” America’s glaring political divide.

In Missoula, Montana on Thursday, Trump discussed Greg Gianforte’s attack on Ben Jacobs, which happened in May 2017 when Jacobs asked the then candidate a question about healthcare. To laughter, the president mimed a “body slam” and said Gianforte was “my guy”. The attack broke Jacobs’ glasses and injured his elbow. On Sunday, Ben Sasse of Nebraska appeared on CNN’s State of the Union. “I got to admit I don’t follow the rallies,” said the conservative critic of Trump with rumoured White House ambitions who nonetheless usually votes with the president. “But I think the first amendment is the beating heart of the American experiment. So we need to have a president who celebrates the first amendment and not pretends that beating up a reporter is OK.(theguardian)…[+]

Me­te­o­rol­o­gist Seigo­nie Mo­hammed says cit­i­zens should pre­pare for river­ine flood­ing to­day. “The is­sue is that we have a lot of fea­tures at play right now that are bring­ing out the flood­ing,” she ex­plained. “It’s river­ine flood­ing as op­posed to typ­i­cal flash or street flood­ing. “River­ine flood­ing means that the riv­er has reached to the point where it over­spills its banks and that will lead to wide­spread flood­ing.

“It’s the ma­jor rivers right now that have crest­ed their banks, which means that small­er trib­u­taries more than like­ly, es­pe­cial­ly with the ad­di­tion­al rain­fall, will lead to fur­ther over­spills in the small­er ar­eas as op­posed to just the Ca­roni Riv­er be­ing over­topped. “What we’re go­ing to see over the next sev­er­al days be­cause of the red alert ad­vi­so­ry, is river­ine flood­ing that goes in­to Oc­to­ber 26 even though the ad­verse weath­er alert ends on Oc­to­ber 23.”(Trinidad Guardian)…[+]

Tired of overflowing bins, potholes and exploding buses, Rome’s long-suffering residents are planning a protest in an effort to save their city from further decay. The aim is to send a message to the city’s administration, which since June 2016 has been led by the Five Star Movement, that enough is enough.

“We want to restart from here and tell those who have been governing Rome for two and a half years that we citizens see and understand everything and we’re not at all happy,” Emma Amiconi, a spokeswoman for a group of six women who are organising the demonstration, told Corriere della Sera. “Citizens want to live in a city that [guarantees] essential services so that we have a minimum of decorum.”

A Facebook campaign has attracted more than 15,000 members and a mass sit-in is planned for 27 October in front of the city hall. A video has been created that juxtaposes Rome’s celebrated architectural features, such at the Trevi fountain, with its many woes, including images of wild boars rummaging through uncollected rubbish.(theguardian)…[+]

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says 2018 is poised to be another excellent year for Jamaica’s cruise ship sector, with vessels from the world’s largest cruise companies expected to call at the island’s main ports. Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian cruise lines have all committed to having some of their biggest ships calling at Falmouth, Ocho Rios and Montego Bay, solidifying Jamaica as a first-choice cruise destination.

A total of 1.92 million cruise passengers visited the island last year, up 11 per cent from 1.65 million in 2016. In addition, spending per visitor increased to US$91.67, from US$90.24. “We did very well in 2017, and there’s every reason to believe that 2018 will be another banner year for the cruise-shipping sector,” Bartlett said in a recent interview with JIS News.

“When you look at Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian, you are looking at the companies that control close to 80 per cent of the cruise market space,” he pointed out. Bartlett said that Jamaica has all the ingredients to dominate the global cruise-shipping market and should do very well throughout the season.(JAMAICA OBSERVER)…[+]