Soldiers erected sandbag flood barriers in a city near China's largest freshwater lake after the heaviest rainfall in nearly six decades drenched the swollen Yangtze River basin. The vast Yangtze drainage area has been lashed by torrential rains since last month, leaving 141 people dead or missing and forcing the evacuation of millions more across [...]
Seychelles will this year see the construction of a UNESCO Global Category II Institute for Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD). The announcement was made by President Danny Faure in his State of the Nation Address in February. A first for the region, the centre is expected to be funded through a grant of over $1 [...]
Zindzi Mandela, the youngest daughter of South Africa's first black president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela died on Monday at the aged of 59, her family and President Cyril Ramaphosa announced. Daughter to Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, she was South Africa's ambassador to Denmark at the time of her death, which coincided with the anniversary [...]
An increase in the size and number of fish caught in traps was observed in an area around the main harbour of Praslin, Seychelles' second-most populated island, following a six-month voluntary fisheries closure. The project, an initiative of the Praslin Fishing Association, started on November 1 last year and ended May 1. Its aim was [...]
Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina on Sunday said two lawmakers -- one member of the senate and one deputy -- had died after becoming infected with coronavirus. Eleven other deputies and 14 senators had also tested positive for the virus, Rajoelina said. The Indian Ocean island on July 5 placed its capital Antananarivo under a fresh [...]
Work has started in Seychelles on a new consumer protection bill for the financial sector. The process, now in the public consultative stage, is being undertaken by the Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS) and the Financial Services Authority (FSA). According to CBS, the consumer protection framework is aimed at promoting international principles such as [...]
South Africa re-imposed a nationwide curfew on Sunday while Spain's Catalonia region forced hundreds of thousands of residents back into lockdown as coronavirus cases accelerated in many parts of the world. Since the start of July nearly 2.5 million new infections have been reported, a record level since the first outbreak of the disease in [...]
Mali's embattled president announced the dissolution of the constitutional court in an attempt to calm the major civil unrest gripping the vulnerable African country, as more opposition leaders were arrested. The court has been at the centre of controversy since it overturned provisional results for a parliamentary poll earlier this year, triggering protests in several [...]
The Save Our Seas Foundation is funding a project seeking to establish if cooler ocean water that might flush coral reefs surrounding one of Seychelles outer islands can reduce the severity of coral bleaching. Bleaching of coral, a phenomenon where coral turns white or colours fade because of an increase in sea temperature, has escalated [...]
The World Health Organization has urged countries grappling with coronavirus to step up control measures, saying it is still possible to rein it in, as some nations clamp fresh restrictions on citizens. With case numbers worldwide more than doubling in the past six weeks, Uzbekistan on Friday returned to lockdown and Hong Kong said schools [...]
