Seychelles celebrated Chinese Language Day through a cultural event with the participation of students from the Chinese language programme of the Seychelles Tourism Academy (STA) on Wednesday. Held in the presence of staff, students of the STA, and the Confucius Institute at the University of Seychelles (UniSey), the event featured various activities, such as the singing of Chinese songs, a Taiji demonstration, calligraphy and Chinese dances, among others. The event was organised by the Chinese Embassy in Seychelles, along with the STA and the Confucius Institute, to commemorate the Chinese La ..read more

Seychelles' authorities are offering a reward of SCR 100,000 ($7,425) to anyone having credible information on the recent suspected gas attacks and pledge to investigate the incidents. The Minister for Internal Affairs, Errol Fonseka, made the statement when answering an urgent question by Wallace Cosgrow, a proportionate member of the United Seychelles party in the National Assembly. Since Monday, April 8, an unknown substance in gaseous form has affected people in contact with it at several primary and secondary schools and the staff of the judiciary, also closing down the parliament. Fonsek ..read more

Witnesses at a US Senate hearing on Boeing drew a disturbing picture Wednesday of an aviation giant that blows off safety questions and sidelines critics as it chases faster production and bigger profits. "The attitude from Boeing from the highest level is just to push the defective parts, regardless of what it is," Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour told lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Salehpour, who has worked at Boeing for 17 of his 40 years in aerospace, said he became a whistleblower after he was punished for raising safety questions about the top-selling 787 Dreamliner and 777. He testified that h ..read more

French authorities on Wednesday evicted hundreds of migrants from a squat in a southern suburb of Paris with just 100 days to go until the Olympics, encouraging them to board buses to other parts of France. Charities have accused the authorities of seeking to clear homeless people from the French capital to make it look better for the Games from July 26 to August 11. The abandoned office building in Vitry-sur-Seine had been home to up to 450 migrants, most of them documented but awaiting social housing, according to non-governmental organisations who visited to help them. Several had left the ..read more

Climate mitigation will play a big role in the strategic plan of the Islands Development Company (IDC) and it is crucial to put adequate measures in place sooner rather than later if Seychelles wants to preserve its islands, said a top official in a press conference. The IDC chief executive, Glenny Savy, described the erosion on the outer islands as very severe and that "It's becoming extremely concerning, almost all of the islands are being affected by erosion. We are hoping that these reef balls work; if they do, we'll have to accelerate the project to other islands." IDC has ..read more

The torch relay for the Paris 2024 Olympics set off Tuesday from Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Games, after the flame was lit in a ritual inspired by antiquity and marked by messages of hope amid multiple global crises. "The Olympic flame that we are lighting today symbolises this hope for a better future," said International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach. Owing to cloudy weather, Greek actresses in the role of ancient priestesses used a flame lit in a rehearsal Monday in the 2,600-year-old Temple of Hera, near the stadium where the Olympics were born in 776 BC. Ca ..read more

Seychelles Meteorological Authority (SMA) will be better equipped to record and monitor rainfall and weather conditions during the next rainy season, with assistance from India to develop its early warning systems, according to a top official. The SMA's chief executive Vincent Amelie told SNA that the upgrade in its system will be finalised once an agreement is signed next month, as part of a national partnership resulting from bilateral cooperation between the two countries. Amelie visited India earlier this month and had the chance to visit various meteorological ser ..read more

Developing a freshwater biodiversity information system for long-term conservation and management in Seychelles is a first-of-its-kind project currently being implemented by a not-for-profit organisation Gaea Seychelles on the islands of Mahe, Praslin and Silhouette. The three-year project also aims to assess the healthiness of freshwater sources and monitor alterations and changes of the islands' rivers. Elvina Henriette, founding member of Gaea Seychelles, told SNA that even though the island nation has available freshwater, no information is available about them.  "There has been ..read more

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged allies on Monday to show the same "unity" towards Ukraine as Israel, which said it repelled an Iranian attack over the weekend with Western support. Ukraine has in recent months grown increasingly frustrated at delays in Western aid, including air defences it says are urgently needed to repel deadly Russian attacks. In a post on Telegram, Zelensky thanked allies who had responded to Ukraine's call for more air defences but said: "The intensity of Russian attacks requires greater unity". "By defending Israel, the free world has demonstrated that such ..read more

With European markets remaining robust and emerging interest from Asia, Seychelles continues to attract travellers seeking extraordinary experiences in an idyllic setting, according to a top tourism official. The statement was made by Bernadette Willemin, director for marketing of the Tourism Seychelles, the marketing arm of the Department of Tourism. According to the latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NSB) on April 10, 105,457 visitors disembarked in Seychelles compared to 98,619 in 2023 year-to-date, showing a 7 percent increase.    Willemin said, "We are please ..read more