Somalia is now eligible to receive debt forgiveness under a special program to help the poorest nations, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund announced Thursday in a joint statement. Facing a debt load that measured $5.3 billion at the end of 2018, the country needs to complete more steps before reducing the debt, but [...]
The Seychelles' president, Danny Faure, has appointed a commission to investigate a complaint from Leader of the Opposition, Wavel Ramkalawan, after Anti-Narcotics Bureau officers searched his luggage at the international airport on Saturday. "The incident will be investigated by Justice Fiona Robinson and a report will be made and presented to the president within 14 days," [...]
China's official death toll from the new coronavirus spiked dramatically on Thursday after authorities changed their counting methods, fuelling concern the epidemic is far worse than being reported. As the figures soared in China, a troubling new front opened abroad as neighbouring Vietnam placed 10,000 people under quarantine after six COVID-19 cases were discovered in [...]
Experts and civil societies from Commonwealth countries from Africa, the Pacific, Caribbean and Indian Ocean region are meeting in Seychelles to discuss law reforms for equality and justice. Britain's colonial past led to many Commonwealth countries having laws that discriminate against women, girls and the LBGT community, an expert said. The forum -- organised by [...]
The Seychelles' remote atoll of Aldabra has been listed as an Important Marine Mammal Area (IMMA) alongside other areas which are key habitats for various threatened species, said the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF). According to SIF, Aldabra was selected because it is an important habitat for the only known remaining population of dugongs in the [...]
Rights groups pushed Wednesday for the swift handover of Sudan's ousted strongman Omar al-Bashir to the International Criminal Court after the country's new authorities pledged to bring him to justice for alleged war crimes in Darfur. Top Sudanese officials said Tuesday that the new rulers had agreed with rebel groups to send Bashir and three [...]
A total of 108 cases has been heard by the Truth, Reconciliation & National Unity Commission in Seychelles to date, with over 200 witnesses having been called, an officer from the Commission said on Wednesday. The Commission's communication and outreach officer, Tannia Labiche, told SNA via email that 425 cases have been registered, among which [...]
The presidential candidate of the Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) party, Wavel Ramkalawan, said that a search carried out on one of his bags at the Seychelles International Airport by the Anti-Narcotics Bureau (ANB) was premeditated, malicious and intended to smear his image. Ramkalawan told a news conference on Wednesday that "for the 25 years that [...]
A joint Nekton expedition in Seychelles’ and Maldives’ waters will for the first time provide information about seamounts — underwater mountains — in the Indian Ocean region. The exploration set to take place next month follows the successful mission in 2019 and will involve 50 international scientists, technicians, media and crew including from the two [...]
The UN health agency on Tuesday announced that "COVID-19" will be the official name of the deadly virus from China, saying the disease represented a "very grave threat" for the world but there was a "realistic chance" of stopping it. "We now have a name for the disease and it's COVID-19," World Health Organization chief [...]
