Thomas Bach, head of the International Olympic Committee, has said he is ready to venture a dip in the Seine to demonstrate that it is safe for athletes who will swim in its waters during the Paris 2024 Summer Games. Bach told international media he was happy to join French President Emmanuel Macron, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and Olympic Games executive Christophe Dubi for a dip in the river.

NATO`s large-scale Steadfast Defender drills indicate that the alliance is preparing for a "potential conflict" with Russia, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday (4 May). NATO kicked off Steadfast Defender 24 in January. The war games are running through May and include over 90,000 troops from all 32 member states. During the drills, the allies plan to test out a conflict scenario against a "near-peer adversary" in accordance with Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which states that an attack on one ally is considered an attack against the entire NATO and allows for the provision of appropriate assistance.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been put on Russia`s wanted list, according to a Saturday (4 May) entry in the database of the Russian Interior Ministry. "Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, born on January 25, 1978. Wanted under an article of the Criminal Code," the entry said, without specifying the offense. Since the start of Russia`s special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has destroyed 23,648 drones, 509 surface-to-air missile systems, 593 Ukrainian military aircraft, 270 helicopters, 15,891 tanks and other armored vehicles, 1,275 rocket launchers, 9,230 field artillery weapons and mortars, as well as 21,413 tactical vehicles, the defense ministry said on Wednesday.

India is not xenophobic, the country`s foreign minister has insisted, after comments by US President Joe Biden suggesting the South Asian nation and fellow ally Japan were struggling economically because they rejected immigrants. Biden, who is seeking reelection against Republican rival Donald Trump in November, made the remarks at a campaign fundraising event in Washington this week. Foreign minister S. Jaishankar told a media roundtable Friday (3 May) that Biden`s comments did not match India`s reality. "First of all, our economy is not faltering," he said, according to a report of the discussion published Saturday by the Economic Times newspaper.