DR Congo's government has begun a process of disarming a rebel movement active in the restive province of Ituri for two decades, eight months after a peace agreement was signed. The accord between the government and the Front for Patriotic Resistance in Ituri (FRPI), signed in the presence of the United Nations, provided for a [...]
Ivory Coast president Alassane Ouattara was reelected to a contested third term, electoral authorities said Tuesday, after a vote marred by deadly unrest and a boycott by the opposition who promised to set up a rival "transitional" government. The standoff pitches francophone West Africa's top economy deeper into a crisis that erupted in August when [...]
A new four-week coronavirus lockdown in England will be extended if it fails to reduce infection rates, the government said Sunday, as it faced criticism over the abrupt decision to shut down again. The second national lockdown, hastily announced late Saturday following warnings hospitals could be overwhelmed within weeks, is set to come into force [...]
Seychelles is the new home for the Fisheries Transparency Initiative after the signing of a headquarters agreement. The principal secretary for the Blue Economy, Kenneth Racombo, said that for Seychelles, hosting the International Secretariat for the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI) "is an achievement for Seychelles towards promoting transparency and good governance." FiTI is a global multi-stakeholder partnership [...]
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara urged opponents to give up a campaign of civil disobedience during Saturday's election when he is seeking a contested third term that critics reject as unconstitutional. At least 30 people have been killed in pre-election clashes since August, stoking fears of a return to the violence that left 3,000 dead [...]
The Seychelles Heritage Foundation has introduced entrance fees and other charges for commercial activities taking place at Venn's Town in order to collect funds to better maintain the historical site. The Mission Ruins of Venn's Town -- named after a church missionary Henry Vence, who set up the commune -- is located in the hills [...]
Rescuers dug through heavy blocks of concrete with their bare hands Saturday in a desperate search for survivors from a powerful earthquake that levelled buildings across Greece and Turkey, killing at least 26 people. The quake struck late Friday afternoon, causing a mini-tsunami on the Aegean island of Samos and a sea surge that turned [...]
In normal times, the Seychelles islands would now be celebrating their Creole identity through the nation's annual Creole Festival. Due to COVID-19, this year there is no festival for the first time since 1985, when the festival was first launched. During the festivities, Seychellois proudly celebrate their way of life and culture through music, [...]
Lockdowns in Seychelles' main tourism markets are expected to result in major negative consequences for the country's economy, said a top government official on Friday. The governor of the Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS), Caroline Abel, told a press conference that new restrictions being imposed in some of the island nation's main tourism markets such [...]
Qatar said on Friday that those responsible for invasive gynaecological searches of passengers at Doha airport had been referred for prosecution over the "violations" following widespread outrage. Women on 10 Qatar Airways flights out of Doha were subject to the examinations as authorities searched for the mother of a newborn baby found abandoned in an [...]
