Category Archives: Seychelles

With turquoise waters comparable to Tahiti and fine sandy beaches to rival the Seychelles Sardinia is a mosaic of so many paradise places. Yet its identity remains hidden to most.

Cloaked in myths and legends, the islands history far predates grand temples and citadels built by the Romans, while a thriving population of centenarians defy science with their diets of red wine and cheese.

Enigmatic and mysterious, Sardinia begs discovery especially at this time of year.

Once the heat has subsided and Italian holidaymakers have gone home, the Mediterranean island is a late summer delight. And now Italy has scrapped a five-day quarantine for vaccinated UK arrivals, requiring only a negative PCR or antigen test taken no more than 48 hours in advance, the last drops of sunshine are within easy reach.

San Teodoros coastline is a swirl of bright colours (Renato Granieri/PA)

With more than 200 beaches to choose from, its hard to look beyond the sea. But inland there are mountains to hike, deep gorges to descend and villages so fiercely independent, theyve evolved micro-cultures of customs, language and food.

Despite their differences, all share a common beauty; dazzling visitors with a trove of precious jewels.

Here are a few of the shimmering delights.

The ruby coral

Tower in Alghero decorated with red coral (Alamy/PA)

Used to make jewellery, red coral has been prized for centuries and underpins the economy of Catalan town Alghero on the northwest coast. Only 25 licences are granted each year to specialised deep sea divers, who use an axe to excavate no more than 2.5kg of the brittle branches.

During the late 1800s, hundreds of vessels arrived for the red gold rush, but now the only boats in Algheros harbour are tourist vessels ferrying visitors to marine caves like Neptunes Grotto, an underground lake decorated with spikey stalactites.

The sapphire waters

Explore the Maddalena archipelago by boat (Renato Granieri/PA)

The water lapping Sardinias shores is reliably clear and clean, providing excellent conditions for swimming, snorkelling and diving. Among the finest beaches are Stintinos La Pelosa on the west coast and 9km-long La Poetto in the south.

But one of the most scenic spots is undoubtedly the Maddalena archipelago, sitting between the Strait of Bonifacio and Corsica. Take a boat trip to explore the protected pink sands of Budelli, coloured by tiny fragments of coral, and look out for wild boars swimming in pine-fringed bays.

The bronze age settlements

Santu Antine, in Torralba, one of Sardinias many ancient nuraghe (Renato Granieri/PA)

More than 7,000 conical watchtowers known as nuraghe have been unearthed across the island, built between the 18th and 15th centuries BCE. Found nowhere else on earth, little is known about the megalithic stone buildings although many are still remarkably well preserved.

The biggest settlement, awarded Unesco World Heritage status, can be found at Su Nuraxi di Barumini in the south. Walk between a geometric labyrinth of dry stone walls, ending up at a magnificent look-out tower.

The rose quartz feathers

Flamingos nest in the salt pans outside Cagliari (Alamy/PA)

A common fixture in exotic settings, flamingos can also be found feeding, flocking and flexing their spindly legs along Sardinias coast. Find them in a lagoon behind La Cinta beach in San Teodoro, south of Olbia on the Costa Smeralda, where new hotel the Baglioni Resort Sardinia (baglionihotels.com) opened in July.

Alternatively, bigger populations can be seen in the Macchiareddu salt pans and ponds outside Sardinias capital city Cagliari at dusk. Although viewable from the road, youll need to park and walk through the Park of Molentargius for a closer look.

The silver skies

The Sardinia Radio Telescope outside Cagliari (Renato Granieri/PA)

Outside towns and cities, a lack of light pollution makes Sardinia an excellent place to study the night sky. An hours drive from Cagliari, the impressive Sardinia Radio Telescope is the largest of its kind in Italy although tours are currently suspended due to Covid.

But you dont need a scientific platform to view constellations. Not far from Alghero, in the northwest, the cliffs of Capo Caccia have become a popular look-out point for observing the Milky Way.

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Discover the shimmering jewels of Italys priceless island Sardinia - The Independent

The small island country of Seychelles is an archipelago of over 100 islands and has a total land area of only 452 sq. km. However, the islands of the country are spread far and wide forming an Exclusive Economic Zone that covers a total area of 1,336,559 sq. km.

The country has two major island groups - the Mah group and the Outer Islands. The former comprises of over 40 islands that with a granitic mountainous topography. The latter has over 70 islands which are flat and coralline but largely uninhabited due to the lack of sufficient freshwater resources. The highest point in the country, the 905 m high Morne Seychellois, is situated on the main and largest island of the country, Mah.

Seychelles has 26 administrative districts. In alphabetical order, these are Anse aux Pins, Anse Boileau, Anse Etoile, Anse Royale, Au Cap, Baie Lazare, Baie Sainte Anne, Beau Vallon, Bel Air, Bel Ombre, Cascade, English River, Glacis, Grand' Anse (on Mahe), Grand' Anse (on Praslin), Inner Islands, Les mamelles, Mont Buxton, Mont Fleuri, Plaisance, Pointe Larue, Port Glaud, Roche Caiman, Saint Louis, Takamaka. The 26th district is the Outer Islands which was recognized as a district in recent years by the country's tourism department.

Three districts English River, Mont Fleuri, and Saint Louis (shown on the map above) together comprise the national capital of Victoria.

An archipelagic island country in the Somali Sea region of the Indian Ocean, Seychelles is located in the Southern and Eastern Hemispheres of the Earth. Itis located around 1,600 km off the eastern coast of Kenya in mainland Africa. It is located to the northeast of Madagascar, another island country of Africa. Other major islands near Seychelles include Comoros and Mauritius to the south, and Maldives to the east.

Regional Maps: Map of Africa

This page was last updated on February 24, 2021

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Seychelles Maps & Facts - World Atlas

It may be time to retire the phrase gentle giant.

Researchers in the Seychelles have filmed a giant tortoise hunting and devouring a tern chick in a single gulp. The scientists involved in the discovery say it is the first time such an act has been caught on camera. Even they are shaken up.

Its totally surprising and rather horrifying, said Justin Gerlach, an island ecologist at Peterhouse, Cambridge in England. The tortoise is deliberately pursuing this bird and kills it, and then eats it. So yeah, its hunting.

Giant tortoises, now found only in the Seychelles and the Galpagos Islands, were believed to be herbivorous. In fact, their vegetarian diets are thought to have shaped their ecosystems, similar to elephants or bison. But in a paper published on Monday in the journal Current Biology, Dr. Gerlach and Anna Zora, a co-author at the Frgate Island Foundation, explain that there have been hints that the hefty reptiles may supplement their diets now and then. Tortoises sometimes consume snail shells and bones from dead birds, goats and even other tortoises. But hunting?

There had been rumors of tortoises stalking seabird chicks, which become helpless after theyve fallen out of their nests. But until the video was captured revealing a scene thats a bit like P.D. Eastmans Are You My Mother? if it had instead been written by Roald Dahl Dr. Gerlach presumed any such observation was a misunderstanding at best.

No ones looked for it, because why would you? Tortoises dont hunt, Dr. Gerlach said. Youre not going to just waste your time looking for a hunting tortoise.

Now he wonders what else we can learn from these creatures, which can live more than 200 years and grow to more than 500 pounds.

Its quite a mystery that they have uncovered here, said James Gibbs, a herpetologist at the State University of New York and the Galpagos Conservancy who was not involved in the research.

When Dr. Gibbs watched the video, he was surprised at how slowly and awkwardly the attack unfolds.

Its a very interesting combination of diligence and incompetence, he said.

Dr. Gibbs has studied the giant tortoises for about 30 years in the Galpagos, where he said tortoises have developed a curious relationship with birds.

The tortoises will rise up and extend all their limbs and tail, and finches will come and groom them of ticks, Dr. Gibbs said. Ive heard over the years that sometimes the tortoises will drop down and flatten the finches and eat them. But those were just anecdotes, and having spent many, many years there, Ive never seen it myself.

But theres no mistaking what is happening in the video from the Seychelles. Indeed, the scientists note that the tortoise shows signs of having hunted seabird chicks before.

For instance, when tortoises eat leaves, grass or fruit, they extend their tongues and draw the food into their mouths. But the tortoise in the video has its tongue retracted and its eyes closed signs that its wary of a certain amount of danger with this food source.

Its behaving in a different way from normal feeding, Dr. Gerlach said. Its not simply collecting food. Its killing to collect food.

According to Dr. Gibbs, that the giant tortoise is female may be an important clue to the shocking behavior. Island systems tend to lack calcium, a critical mineral for building eggshells.

So while the video of a giant tortoise attacking a helpless tern chick may be hard for some people to watch, the act of predation could simply be one way the animals ensure the success of the next generation.

Were used to thinking of them as being not particularly interesting, slow moving and probably quite stupid, Dr. Gerlach said of giant tortoises. But clearly there is so much more to these animals.

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Totally Surprising and Rather Horrifying: Giant Tortoises Eat Baby Birds - The New York Times

(CNN) -- Researchers have captured the moment when a livelong vegetarian broke rank to eat meat -- and what made it all the more "horrifying" was that it was a tortoise.

Scientists captured the moment on video when a Seychelles giant tortoise -- previously thought to be vegetarian -- attacked and ate a tern chick in what they say is the first documentation of deliberate hunting in any wild tortoise species.

"This is completely unexpected behaviour and has never been seen before in wild tortoises," Justin Gerlach, director of studies at Peterhouse, Cambridge and affiliated researcher at the University of Cambridge's Museum of Zoology, said in a statement Monday.

"The giant tortoise pursued the tern chick along a log, finally killing the chick and eating it," Gerlach, who led the study, published Monday in the journal Current Biology, said.

"It was a very slow encounter, with the tortoise moving at its normal, slow walking pace -- the whole interaction took seven minutes and was quite horrifying."

Anna Zora, conservation manager on Frgate Island and co-author of the study, captured the ordeal, which took place in July 2020.

"When I saw the tortoise moving in a strange way I sat and watched, and when I realised what it was doing I started filming," said Zora in the statement.

Gerlach told CNN that the way the tortoise moved towards the chick suggested it was "experienced."

"It's moving very deliberately -- it's not just wandering about, it's looking at this tern, and it's walking straight at it, clearly intending to do something. That suggests to me that it's doing it with intent. It knows what it's doing, it's done this before," he said.

Giant tortoises are the largest herbivores on the Galapagos and Seychelles islands.

Though tortoises are thought to be vegetarian, they have been spotted "opportunistically" eating carrion, as well as bones and snail shells for calcium.

"It's quite common for herbivores to eat a bit of dead animal as a free protein source, essentially. But this is the first video evidence of them deliberately killing in order to eat," he said.

Still, the team can't say for certain how common such behavior is among the tortoises, and plan to study them further.

Giant tortoises are the largest herbivores on the Galapagos and Seychelles islands, and eat up to 11% of the vegetation, researchers said. Gerlach added that the tortoise's behavior was unlikely to significantly affect tern populations.

Experts said that the new hunting behavior was caused by the "unusual" combination of a tree-nesting tern colony and a resident giant tortoise population on the Seychelles' Frgate island, which is home to around 3,000 tortoises.

It's not the first time uncharacteristic lethal attacks between animal species have been seen in the wild -- chimpanzees were observed killing gorillas in the wild for the first time in 2019.

"It's probably not uncommon for animals to surprise our expectations by eating unexpected things that may just be a one off," Gerlach explained.

"We should try and avoid having too many assumptions about what animals are going to do, or what they are doing. And it really shows the value of observation. Just by watching and recording what animals are doing you can find really totally unexpected things, things that we couldn't discover deliberately -- it has to be by chance," he said.

The-CNN-Wire & 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

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Giant tortoise seen attacking and eating baby bird for first time in the wild in 'horrifying' incident - KMOV.com

Bitcoin traded above $50,000 Monday; its total value now exceeds $900 billion, more than all but a handful of companies. Digital currencies called stablecoins grease ever more trading and issuance. Giant crypto exchanges in Asia offer 100-to-1 bets, often serving traders in countries where their products arent legal.

After years of relative inattention, regulators and lawmakers are scrambling to catch upbut it wont be easy. They aim to rein in a rebellious industry that has adopted the tech worlds blueprint for aggressively deploying new products to quickly amass userswhile often leaving regulatory compliance as an afterthought.

Some of the largest crypto firms are under increasing pressure. In recent weeks, Binance, the worlds biggest crypto exchange, was barred from or warned about offering certain crypto investments in the U.K., Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan and Hong Kong. It said Friday that all new users would have to provide an identification document and photo of themselves to verify their identity. BitMEX, another large exchange, paid $100 million to settle a U.S. regulatory investigation related to claims of illegally selling derivatives and lackluster anti-money-laundering compliance.

Yet few industry participants expect the crypto world, emboldened by a surge over the past 18 months in the value of and interest in their products, to suddenly change its ways. Regulators are scrutinizing the industry as never before, but so far coordination appears limited and key jurisdictions are pursuing widely divergent approaches.

This is a land rush," said Preston Byrne, a partner at Anderson Kill P.C. who has advised technology companies, including those focused on crypto. There are those in crypto who believe, rightly or wrongly, that moving fast and breaking things is the right approach. So far, that approach seems to have built some pretty impressively enormous companies."

The flashpoints include investor protection, compliance with rules to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, access to banking and payment infrastructure and tax evasion.

Making the task more difficult: Crypto is a global market, but the U.S., Europe and China have taken different approaches to oversight. U.S. watchdogs have wrung fines from crypto projects that dodged investor-protection rules, while Europe is working on specialized rules that will take time to implement. China has cracked down, but exchanges have set up shop in nearby places that are friendlier.

Hong Kong has been one such haven, but one of the citys fastest-growing crypto entrepreneurs says he would pull up stakes and go elsewhere if he had to.

We would love to work cooperatively on licensing in Hong Kong, so we could have a real formal presence in Hong Kong," said Sam Bankman-Fried, the chief executive of FTX. But that only goes so far: Were going to be excited to be in the [countries] that are excited about crypto."

Here is a look at the state of crypto regulation around the globe:

US

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler has called crypto the Wild West" and said more activity should be subject to government oversight.

In a recent meeting with an industry lobbying group, the Blockchain Association, Mr. Gensler promised tougher discipline if exchanges and other businesses continue to offer assets without complying with the appropriate rules.

You may look at it as regulation by enforcement," Mr. Gensler told the group, according to a summary of the meeting that was seen by The Wall Street Journal. I just call it bringing people into compliance that are over the line."

A spokesman for the association said the group supports smart regulatory guardrails" and engages with regulators to establish clear rules for industry moving forward."

The SECs chairman has also said that new powers might be necessary to prevent transactions, products and platforms from falling between regulatory cracks," as he told Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) in a letter dated Aug. 5.

That step hinges on Congress passing legislation to either expand the SECs powers or create a special regulatory code for crypto. Either change is a long shot in Congress, which has been slow to understand how the industry works.

Regulators including the Federal Reserve are taking a deeper look at stablecoins, crypto assets designed to mimic the value of the U.S. dollar. They make it easier to trade in and out of crypto assets such as bitcoin.

Stablecoins are pegged at $1 and several issuers have previously said their tokens were completely backed by dollar reserves. Tether, the most widely used stablecoin, revealed in early 2019 that its reserves included assets other than cash, including payments tied to loans made to third parties. Tether now says assets that back its value include short-term commercial debt and certificates of deposit.

Coinbase Global Inc. claimed on its website that for another stablecoin, USD Coin, each was backed by one US dollar, which is held in a bank account." Circle Internet Financial, which formed a partnership with Coinbase to develop the coin, disclosed last month that USDC is also backed by commercial paper, corporate bonds and certificates of deposit. By September, the reserves backing USDC will exclusively be cash and short-term U.S. government debt, Coinbase said Sunday.

Regulators including Mr. Gensler say that stablecoins, because they are backed by securities, may qualify as investments that should be regulated.

People have already been hurt and more people will be hurt without those fundamental investor protections," Mr. Gensler said in an interview.

Europe

Rather than subject crypto assets to existing regulations, Europe is taking steps to draft a new rulebook for investors and developers.

Known as the Regulation on Markets in Crypto Assets, or MiCA, the European Commissions plan would subject crypto exchanges to regulation, including standards for policing fraud, ensuring transparency and establishing governance standards. It also would ban the paying of interest on deposits of some kinds of stablecoins and require existing stablecoins to seek authorization to be traded within the European Union.

Some have argued that countries need to prevent stablecoins from becoming entrenched in the broader financial system.

If we wait too long, they become too big to stop. Its about protecting the sovereignty of our countries," said Corrado Passera, CEO of Italian digital bank Illimity Bank SpA and former CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo SpA.

Issuers of most other crypto assets would have to file white papers disclosing the purpose of a digital coin and how it works. National regulators, which would review the papers, could suspend the issuance of a token or require additional information.

Companies providing services such as trading, investment advice and safeguarding assets would need national approval to operate. They would also face regulations regarding information security and governance.

The EUs efforts to regulate crypto assets are consistent with its deeper focus on open banking, said Linda Jeng, a former Federal Reserve regulator and now head of policy at digital-payments software company Transparent Financial Systems.

The proposal still has to be passed by representatives of the member countries and the European Parliament and might not come into force for years.

In the U.K., most crypto regulation has focused on preventing money laundering and terrorist financing. Firms doing business in the U.K. have to register with its Financial Conduct Authority and provide details on their technology systems, how they mitigate and prevent money laundering and other risks.

Some firms have withdrawn applications after realizing how much information they have to provide to regulators and are looking to other countries with fewer restrictions.

The FCA has also nixed the sale of crypto derivatives to retail consumers and more recently said that Binance isnt permitted to conduct any regulated activities in the U.K.

After the FCAs notice, Binancewhich says it operates without a headquartersupdated its terms of use to prohibit U.K. individual investors from trading its derivatives.

Asia

China was the birthplace of some of the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance and Huobi. Other major crypto exchanges, including FTX and BitMEX, are based in or have had employees in nearby Hong Kong.

But the tide has turned. In May, a powerful state regulator in China vowed to crack down on bitcoin mining and trading, and Chinas central bank later ordered its largest banks and payment processors to take an active role in rooting out cryptocurrency-related activities.

They want financial stability and social stability at all costs," Mira Christanto, a research analyst at Messari, said.

While China turned cold on crypto, Hong Kong and Singapore became hot spots. American investors often are able to access these exchanges even though their products are illegal in the U.S. Analysts have linked American users to overseas exchanges including FTX, which says it has tightened procedures to block U.S. users.

Its messy. Each government is taking their own actions here, and it is different from place to place," Mr. Bankman-Fried said.

FTX has grown quickly to become one of the biggest brands in crypto. It paid to have its name on the arena of the National Basketball Associations Miami Heat and its investors include SoftBank Group Corp., Silicon Valley venture-capital firm Sequoia Capital and Third Point, the hedge fund led by billionaire Daniel Loeb.

But like Binance, FTX has in the past offered 100 times leverage on some futures contracts tied to cryptocurrenciesthat is, allowing a user putting $1 down to make a $100 bet. It reduced that ratio in late July, while stressing that the industry views the process as a collaborative one.

Hostility between regulators and crypto entrepreneurs is not going to end well for anyone," Mr. Bankman-Fried said.

BitMEX still offers 100 times leverage on some assets. Most traders opt to use less leverage, BitMEX said.

Registered in the Seychelles, BitMEX has offices around the world. Some employees are based in Hong Kong, where local residents arent allowed to access it. Arthur Hayes, one of BitMEXs founders, once bragged that he incorporated the company in the Seychelles because it cost a coconut" to bribe regulators, according to an indictment returned by a U.S. grand jury last year.

Alexander Hptner, the CEO of the holding group behind BitMEX, said the firm is a different company now" that it is following rules to prevent money laundering.

A little less Lamborghini, perhaps, but with the same long-term ambition," he said in a July statement.

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Cryptocurrencys surge leaves global watchdogs trying to catch up - Livemint

ponant's cruise ship was the last to call in the Seychelles in March 2020 (Ponant)

PublishedAug 15, 2021 12:30 PM by The Maritime Executive

The Seychelles, which was one of the first nations to announce a total ban on cruise ships in 2020, now intends to reopenin time for the lucrative winter 2021 cruise season.Authorities in the Indian Ocean archipelago, reversed their May 2020 decision banning all cruise ships till 2022saying that cruise ships with a maximum of 300 passengers will be permitted starting in mid-November to dock in Port Victoria and cruise in the country's waters.

In May 2020, the Seychelles drew international attention when the government announced that it had decided to ban all cruise ships for two yearsin an effort to control the spread of the coronavirus. The Seychelles now joins a growing number of countries across North America, the Caribbean, and Europe that are easing restrictions and facilitating cruise lines to resume operations. Asia, including China and Australia, however, continue to delay the restart of operations by large cruise ships. The Seychelles explored reopening the cruise ship industry in March 2021, but the plans were delayed due to a surge in COVID-19 cases.

The decision to reopen the Seychelles follows the rollout of an ambitious vaccination campaign that has seen the country become one of the highest vaccinated nations in the world. To facilitate the reopening, the governmentestablisheda COVID-19 company and cruise ship checklist to facilitate the safe re-start of operations. The checklist, which was developed in line with the European Maritime Safety Agency and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control guidelines, outlines the duties and authorities of the agencies in Seychelles, the passenger terminal arrangements at all ports of call, the contingencies in case of a COVID-19 outbreak and generally the coordination between cruises and ports in relation to COVID-19.

This is for cruise ship operators to follow in order that the ships adopt minimum safety measures to be implemented in their operations in Seychelles, Alan Renaud, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine Principal Secretary told the Seychelles News Agency.

Tourism is a significant part of the country's economy, making up the second biggest industry in the Seychelles after commercial fishing. Last year, tourism revenues plunged by 61 percent, a loss of $322 million, with tourist arrivals dropping by 70 percent. Before the onset of the pandemic, the Seychelles welcomed 384,204 visitors in 2019, of which 63,442 came from cruise ships,according to the countrys National Bureau of Statistics. The Port of Victoria received 39 cruise ship calls during the 2019/2020 season, with the last vessel permitted to arrive being Ponant's Le Bougainville in March 2020.

Currently, it is anticipated that theIsland Sky, operated by London-based Noble Caledonia, will open the season with calls to four of Seychelles outer islands of Aldabra, Assumption, Farquhar and Cosmoledo. The 4,200 gross ton cruise ship accommodates just 118 passengers.

Historically, the Seychelles also received larger cruise ships, but the government has differed a decision on opening the port more broadly due to ongoing fears over the potential spread of the virus.

Read more:

Seychelles to Reopen for Cruise Industry in November - The Maritime Executive

For someone more used to being on the road than cooped up at home, it was bittersweet for Zach Griff when he ended up proposing to Jill Golub near the house she grew up in. Bitter because Mr. Griff, a writer for the travel website the Points Guy, had hopes of planning a far-flung adventure where he would propose to Ms. Golub; sweet because that was where they would end up marrying.

Mr. Griff, 27, and Ms. Golub, 26, met in 2013 as students at the University of Pennsylvania. It didnt take long for Mr. Griff, a Boca Raton, Fla., native, to realize he had found a best friend in Ms. Golub of Mamaroneck, N.Y. He asked for her number days after meeting her at a Hillel orientation event, where students of Jewish background build community.

We would hang out all the time, but we were both just friends and dating other people, Ms. Golub said.

We would eat dinner together in the Hillel dining hall almost every night, Mr. Griff said.

Before his love for Ms. Golub took hold, another labor of love grew for Mr. Griff: traveling. If he wasnt with Ms. Golub, he would spend weekends abroad after finding cheap last-minute airfare deals.

The two would not become a couple until their junior year of college when both attended a friends retreat in South Florida.

A spark had flipped on for us during that trip, Mr. Griff said.

We started dating that weekend and never went back, Ms. Golub said.

After graduation, both moved to Manhattan. Ms. Golub is now finishing a law and M.B.A. program at N.Y.U. And right after college, Mr. Griff took the entrance exam for medical school.

I was ready to be a doctor, he said. It runs in the family, so I didnt think there was anything else to do but be a doctor.

After thinking about medical school and a year spent at an investment consulting firm, Mr. Griff came across an Instagram post about the Points Guy website. They were looking for a travel writer Ms. Golub convinced him to apply. He was hired soon after to write about his adventures, review airlines and airplanes, and provide travel advice. The couple didnt see each other much for a while, but they would make it work. Mr. Griff credits the improvement of in-flight Wi-Fi as a boon for their relationship.

In early 2020, the pandemic grounded international travel. The couple retreated to Ms. Golubs childhood home in Mamaroneck, NY, where they quarantined for nearly six months with her siblings and parents.

The time at home accelerated Mr. Griffs plan to propose to Ms. Golub. During the weekend of July 4, 2020, they went kayaking in a pond behind the home, reaching an abandoned gazebo on the other side. Flowers were everywhere there were also drones to document the occasion. When they returned home as an engaged couple, the whole family was waiting.

Zach and I had talked about getting engaged, but he said it would probably be in the fall since it takes so long to plan, Ms. Golub said. I just believed it. How would I know?

Just steps away from where they became engaged, Mr. Griff and Ms. Golub wed Aug. 1, 2021, in front of some 290 guests in the backyard of Ms. Golubs childhood home. They used her grandfathers Kiddush cup for the blessing of the wine ceremony.

Ms. Golubs paternal grandfather, Aharon Golub, was supposed to be the guest of honor at their wedding, but he died the weekend of July 4, 2021. He was his immediate familys only survivor of the Holocaust, fleeing from the Nazis to the forests of Poland, where he spent years in hiding.

He had the most incredibly positive outlook on life, which is amazing given what he endured, Ms. Golub said. He was an enormous supporter of Zach and I, and he had been really looking forward to this day.

For their honeymoon, the couple visited the Amalfi Coast in Italy, Tanzania, and Seychelles Islands.

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Celebrating Their Love at Home - The New York Times

National Liaison Officers (NLOs) and National Liaison Assistants (NLAs) form the primary contact point between Member States and the IAEA Secretariat for the technical cooperation (TC) programme. NLOs play two key roles: help the IAEA to understand their countrys needs and help their country to understand the IAEA. In July, the IAEA organized a three-day induction workshop to build mutual understanding and further enhance the performance and implementation of the programme by National Liaison Offices in Africa.

The virtual workshop, attended by 24 participants from 18 countries, was designed to inform and guide recently designated NLOs and NLAs, and also to support the exchange of views, experiences and ideas among the national representatives and their counterparts.

This important meeting aims at providing you with a comprehensive overview of the roles, responsibilities and processes related to the management of the TC Programme, including the contributions of the peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in your countries, explained Shaukat Abdulrazak, IAEA Director of the TC Division for Africa. Abdulrazak underscored the need for commitment, leadership and strong coordination mechanisms across all aspects of the TC programme and highlighted emerging challenges facing the region that could be addressed through the IAEA-supported application of nuclear technologies. He also stressed the importance of planning, accountability and ownership of the programme by Member States.

The workshop included a review of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, the African Unions Agenda 2063, the formulation of Country Programme Frameworks, as well as presentations on finance, capacity building and programme procurement. With IAEA experts, the National Liaison personnel explored applications of nuclear science and technology in energy, food and agriculture, human health, physical and chemical sciences, as well as the work of the Agencys Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT). The legal frameworks and international instruments that ensure the safety and impact of those applications were discussed. The workshops final day focused on issues affecting the TC Programme, including ethics, awareness raising and communication, knowledge management and promoting the participation of women and young professionals.

The NLO for Senegal, Coumba Thiandoume, and NLA for Seychelles, Octavia Rose, shared their experiences, as established collaborators in the region. One of their recommendations was to establish a national steering committee with major stakeholders to discuss issues of common interest, to agree on priorities and to ensure monitoring and communication at the national level.

The workshop was attended by officers and assistants from Algeria, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Libya, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan and the United Republic of Tanzania.

As you embark on this journey, I would like to assure you that you are not alone. The principles underpinning our joint effort are shared responsibility and cooperation, Abdulrazak said. While these principles emphasize the idea of working as partners, I would like to remind you early on that the ownership of the TC programme resides with Member States. The IAEA is here to support you.

Original post:

Virtual Induction: IAEA Experts Brief 24 Newly Appointed African National Liaison Officers and Assistants | IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency

A trip to the Seychelles Islands is incomplete without sampling the local cuisine. They are sharing some of the must-try Creole dishes visitors should tick off their list during their next holiday.

Turquoise waters, pearly white beaches and emerald rainforests arent the only riches the Seychelles islands have to offer. With a heritage as opulent as its surroundings, its no surprise that the Seychelles Creole cuisine captivates the taste buds of travelers from all corners of the globe.

Boasting a bold assortment of flavors, passed down from their ancestors, Creole cuisine is renowned for its fusion of herbs and spices, reflecting the communitys diverse heritage in each dish.

Creole cuisine largely encompasses lush spices and flavors such as chili, turmeric, masala, ginger, garlic, products of Indian and Chinese immigrants who added their twist to the French and English dishes introduced by the colonizers. For those wishing to indulge their sweet tooth, the islands also offer dishes containing soft hints of vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and citronella.

When exploring paradise, Seychelles suggests visitors take their palate on a gastronomical voyage of discovery with some of these tantalizing dishes.

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Savoring the flavors of the Seychelles - eTurboNews | Trends | Travel News

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he world's most vaccinated country is still struggling with a huge Covid case rate.

However, its seven day case rate remains 1,624 per 100,000.

For comparison, the UK's seven day case rate is 23.2 as of May 19.

This means that the Seychelles remains on the UKs red list.

The island's economy relies heavily on tourism. In 2019, nearly 400,00 people visited the island, four times more than its population of 97,625.

Despite the current high case rate, the island had been largely spared the ravages of the pandemic, with just 35 deaths recorded. The current high case rate has been attributed to people letting their guard down over Easter, according to the country's tourism board.

Around 33 per cent of those infected in the Seychelles have been fully vaccinated. The island is using the AstraZeneca vaccine, the Chinese-made Sinopharm, as well as the Russian Sputnik V.

Around 80 per cent of those hospitalised had not been vaccinated at all

While Covid vaccines dramatically decreases mortality rate, it is less effective against contracting Covid.

Indeed, around 80 per cent of those hospitalised had not been vaccinated at all, and the majority had underlying health conditions.

Murray Collins, Director of Blue Safari Seychelles, slammed media scaremongering for damaging the island's economy.

The spike in positive Covid-19 cases in the Seychelles are from those people who have not been vaccinated or those with comorbidities, he told Telegraph Travel.

The majority of news sources are simply focusing on the increase in the numbers and not the bigger picture. Given the small size of the population in the Seychelles, any increase in numbers will be reported as per capita, which proportionally produces a far higher figure compared to a country with a higher population, such as the UK. This results in a distorted overall percentage, which led to the UK government keeping the Seychelles on the red list and is nothing short of catastrophic.

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Worlds most vaccinated country still struggles with high Covid case rate - Evening Standard