Sri Lankan voters cast their ballots Wednesday for a new parliament as the ruling Rajapaksa brothers seek a fresh mandate to cement their grip on power. The election had been postponed twice due to the coronavirus epidemic, but voting finally got under way at 7:00 am (0130 GMT) with strict hygiene measures in place to [...]
Seychelles has only one active case of COVID-19 left among the 109 seafarers who tested positive, a top health official said on Tuesday. The Public Health Commissioner, Jude Gedeon, told a press conference that the vessels of the Spanish fishing fleet operating in the Seychelles' waters have been gradually released. The remaining seafarer still in [...]
The coronavirus pandemic is worsening the humanitarian situation in the world's deadliest conflicts and threatens to unleash economic devastation that will intensify violence, United Nations diplomats and experts warn. COVID-19 is hampering aid programs, diverting the attention and resources of major powers battling the deadly virus at home, and cutting remittances to already fragile, war-weary [...]
Seychelles’ Maia Luxury Resort & Spa will as of September operate under new management as Anantara Maia Seychelles Villas, and the resort's general manager said Monday that there are "exciting" times ahead. A communique last week said that “Anantara Maia Seychelles Villas will represent the luxury brand’s launch in the archipelago, complementing its existing collection [...]
The Vatican on Monday said former pope Benedict XVI was not in especially bad health after his biographer told a German newspaper he was "extremely frail". Pope emeritus Benedict's health "is no cause for particular concern, especially regarding a 93-year-old person getting over the most acute phase of a painful illness," the Vatican press office [...]
Gainful Occupation Permits (GOPs) of foreign workers in Seychelles currently out of the country have been revoked with immediate effect and companies that need the employees back have to go through a new process, said a top government official on Monday. "Employers have to address a letter to the Principal Secretary of employment and have [...]
Hundreds of elephants that died mysteriously in Botswana's famed Okavango Delta probably succumbed to natural toxins, the wildlife department said Friday. The landlocked southern African country has the world's largest elephant population, estimated to be around 130,000. Around 300 of them have been found dying since March. Authorities have so far ruled out anthrax, as [...]
The government of Seychelles has completed and allocated 14 housing projects under the 24-24-24 project -- 24 houses in 24 districts in 24 months -- launched in 2017, said a government official. The ambitious government-funded housing project was announced by President Danny Faure in his 2017 State of the Nation address to alleviate the housing [...]
A UN-backed tribunal will give its verdict Friday on the 2005 murder of former Lebanese premier Rafic Hariri, but questions will remain over a long and costly trial whose suspects remain at large. Four alleged members of the Shiite Muslim fundamentalist group Hezbollah are on trial in absentia at the court in the Netherlands over [...]
The UN health agency warned that the coronavirus pandemic would be lengthy and could lead to "response fatigue", as the case count in South Africa topped half a million. Six months after the World Health Organization declared a global emergency, the novel coronavirus has killed more than 680,000 people and infected more than 17.5 million, [...]
