The number of people in France living beyond 110 years is growing fast, the national demographic studies institute said Wednesday, with women dominating the supercentenarian contest. The phenomenon was unheard of in France of until the late 1980s, but in 2022 the authorities recorded 39 cases of people dying aged 110 or older, the INED institute said in a report. Centenarians, meanwhile, have seen a "spectacular" rise in numbers, INED said, growing from around 1,000 in 1970 to 8,000 in 2000 and 31,000 at the start of this year. On current trends, 200,000 people in France will be 100 or older b ..read more

The European Union on Wednesday backed a United Nations demand for an independent probe into the reported discovery of mass graves at two Gaza hospitals destroyed in Israeli sieges. "This is something that forces us to call for an independent investigation of all the suspicions and all the circumstances, because indeed it creates the impression that there might have been violations of international human rights committed," EU spokesman Peter Stano said. "That's why it's important to have independent investigation and to ensure accountability." The UN rights office said Tuesday international in ..read more

The Greenpeace ship, the Rainbow Warrior, arrived in Port Victoria in Seychelles after a week-long expedition with a team of scientists and students from the University of Seychelles exploring the seagrass meadows around Owen Bank in the western rim of the Mahe Plateau. In a press communique on Saturday, the global environmentalist campaign network, Greenpeace, said that the seagrass meadows in this region remain largely undocumented so the Rainbow Warrior is supporting the team from Seychelles to verify their extent and document the diverse marine life within this vital ecosyst ..read more

The United States has begun discussions with Niger on withdrawing the more than 1,000 American personnel in the military-ruled country, which has been a key base for regional counter-terrorism operations, officials said Monday. Niger's government -- a military junta that ousted the country's president last year -- said in March that it was ending a military cooperation agreement with Washington, which agreed to remove its troops last week and said it would send a delegation to Niamey within days. "We can confirm the beginning of discussions between the US and Niger for the orderly withdrawal o ..read more

Maritime security, climate change, and the Blue Economy as well as a special focus on gender equality are the areas that Australia and Seychelles will continue working on, said the newly accredited Australian high commissioner. Kate Chamley presented her credentials to President Wavel Ramkalawan at State House on Tuesday. "I'm very passionate about gender equality so while I will take forward all the cooperations in the areas that I've mentioned, the elevation of women and girls in society is a topic that is important to me. To work with women and girls in Seychelles and other countries I ..read more

Seychellois boxer Joshua Cousin has claimed a gold medal at the first-ever Mandela African Boxing Cup, after beating his opponent in the final on Sunday. Cousin, who competed in the men's 71-75kg category, went up against Ethiopia's Neka Mitiku in the final and won the bout after the referee stopped the count. To reach the final, Cousin had to defeat three boxers. In the round of 16 stage, he grabbed victory over Nkosinathi Dvuba of Eswatini and eliminated Jon William in the quarter-final.   In the semi-final, the Seychellois boxer got a walkover over David Tshama from the Democratic ..read more

A national strategy for intellectual property (IP) is currently being developed for Seychelles and once completed it is expected to guide all application of the law and policies regarding intellectual property going forward, said a top official on Monday. The principal secretary for trade, Francis Lebon, made the statement at the opening of a three-day workshop to get the feedback of different stakeholders done jointly with the Department of Trade and experts from the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO). "We want to ensure that Seychelles has an IP strate ..read more

Israel's war in Gaza has from the start been a "war on the right to health" and has "obliterated" the Palestinian territory's health system, a UN expert said on Monday. Tlaleng Mofokeng, the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to health, accused Israel of treating human rights as an "a la carte menu". Just days into the war that has been raging in Gaza since Hamas's unprecedented attacks inside Israel on October 7, "the medical infrastructure was irreparably damaged", she told reporters in Geneva. Amid the unrelenting Israeli bombardment of Gaza, healthcare providers had for months ..read more

Seychelles' fisheries officials held discussions with high-level government officials of the fisheries sector from Tanzania, Kenya, Zanzibar, Madagascar, Comores and Mauritius in an online meeting to discuss draft proposals for the upcoming Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) meeting.  The South West Indian Ocean representatives of the sector gathered at L'Escale Resort and Spa on Friday to prepare a common position to present at the next session of IOTC, due to be held next month in Bangkok, Thailand. The Minister for Fisheries and the Blue Economy, Jean-Francois Ferrari, told ..read more

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