The landlord of the Horse and Jockey in Tideswell has apologised after an embarrassing blunder saw innocent diners wrongly accused of a £150 'dine and dash' escapade.

Seychelles will be equipped to handle more courier services with a facility set to be constructed to allow for adequate storage and better delivery of parcels in the island nation. The chief executive of the Postal Regulator, Neddy Padayachy, made the announcement in a press conference on Wednesday. Padayachy explained that the new International Mail Processing Centre (IMPC) will be built close to the Seychelles International Airport at Pointe Laure, and will cater for all postal services, including courier services currently being done at the cargo terminal. The system will be piloted this year and is expected to be fully operational by 2025. «The facility will be equipped with automated machines and will be open 24 hours a day,» said Padayachy, who added that this will enable the storage of more parcels at once. He said that in 2023, 400,000 parcels entered Seychelles, a 100 percent increase over the figures from 2022, with the 2024 figures already showing that it will surpass that figure. «Another benefit the new facility will bring is that it will develop e-commerce, by attracting bigger companies, such as Amazon and others, who have expressed interest in coming to Seychelles,» added Padayachy. He said that having these companies operating in Seychelles, will also help local businesses to sell their products to other countries and that Seychelles is well-placed geographically, to become a regional hub, for such companies. The CEO added that as part of the Postal Regulator's strategic plan, there will also be a new national addressing system. This will see every household in the country given a proper unique address, to enable courier services to know exactly where to deliver parcels. «Today, a lot of parcels are not reaching their destination because we do not have a proper addressing system, and, because of this, many companies do not ship their products to Seychelles,» Padayachy explained. The system will soon be presented to the Cabinet of Ministers. It is expected that by next year, everyone will have their very own address. Padayachy explained that with this system, there will also be a remapping of areas around Seychelles. This will not only help couriers but will also help other agencies, such as Public Utilities Corporation (PUC), and Health, Fire and Rescue Services, among others.

The Sustainable Seychelles Certification programme will soon be extended to tour operators and restaurants, a top tourism official said on Wednesday. As part of the implementation process, the Tourism Department met with the representatives of tour operators and restaurants to explain the programme and the necessary criteria. The Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Label (SSTL) was established in 2012 and later rebranded as Sustainable Seychelles Certification, which classified and certified hotel accommodation establishments of all sizes. It is a voluntary certification scheme that recognises and rewards tourism businesses implementing best practices in sustainability within their operations. The principal secretary for Tourism, Sherin Francis, described the programme as a necessary tool to recognise the efforts being made by these establishments in the tourism industry to become more sustainable. «We realise that becoming more sustainable is a journey, and we need to recognise the work being done by these establishments to support and encourage them to continue on this path. In the past there was only the certification, now we have three different tiers of recognition before getting the final certification,» she said. «At present, there are 25 tourism accommodation establishments participating in the programme. However, during this past year, through the addition of the recognition element, we have been able to add about 52 other establishments to the programme. These are establishments that are in the process of transitioning to more sustainable practices, some have already earned the required points and are in the final process before they are certified,» Francis added. She said that for the last decade «our focus was mainly on accommodation establishments, now it is time to enlarge the scope to include other sectors. We will start with tour operators and restaurants.» The programme will be adapted for tour operators and restaurants with relevant criteria in place. Internationally recognised, the Sustainable Seychelles Certificate also holds recognition status by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), which does the third party assessments of establishment. The main aims of the Sustainable Seychelles Certificate is mainstreaming sustainability within the tourism sector to safeguard local natural assets as well as the industry's future growth and prosperity. Tourism is the top contributor to the economy of Seychelles, a group of 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean. Francis said a support group will be created in which people who participated in the programme can share their best practices to those just joining to facilitate the transition into the programme. «At the end of the day, if Seychelles wants to be seen as a sustainable destination, it is not enough for only the accommodation sector to transition, all sectors must be included,» Francis concluded. One of the participants at the meeting, the operations manager at the La Digue Island Lodge, Albina Tissa, described the programme as something very positive. The establishment has already implemented the accommodation component and Tissa said it would transition to the restaurant component as well. «I think it is something very good as we are a very old hotel so to be able to have our clients coming back and for people to have more confident with our services. It is a very good programme and now that we have the criteria, we will be able to work on it easily,» added Tissa.

Ayub Qassim invited Jay, 19, back to his rented holiday cottage after a rave in Tenerife hours before he vanished on June 17.

Tourists were left furious after visiting the infamous Mykonos 'rip-off' restaurant and being charged £690 for just two drinks. 

The United Nations has announced that US$4 million will be made available from the Central Emergency Response Fund to kickstart humanitarian operations in Jamaica, Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the wake of Hurricane...

Thousands of people living in Canada are facing U.S. visa wait times that could run as long as two years. That’s generated many schemes online that claim to help people jump the queue — but in some cases has scammed people out of their money entirely.

Anna Smith would like to start a family. But the 27-year-old graduate student, who currently lives with her partner in Toronto in a 500-square-foot apartment, would also like more space. Like many young Canadians, she's realizing she can't have both.

With a growing number of North American adults using drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy for weight loss, food companies are carefully watching to see how the craze is impacting their bottom line — and cooking up ways to market their products toward people on the medications.

Lacey may look like just another pet chicken on Emily Carrington’s B.C. property. But she has a title her coop mates don’t: Guinness World Record holder.

According to a media report, ISRO Chief S Somnath suggested that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could be a candidate for India's first manned space mission, 'Gaganyan', scheduled for launch in 2025. In response, Jairam Ramesh took to 'X' and wrote, «Before he goes into space, the non-biological Pradhan Mantri should go to Manipur.» The Gaganyaan project is a significant Space mission of India that aims to demonstrate human spaceflight capability by sending a crew of three members into an orbit of 400 km for a 3-day mission and safely returning them to Earth by landing in Indian waters.

The royal, 28, donned a flowy pastel top, adorned with floral prints, for the event in London on Wednesday.

Au Congo Brazzaville se tient la Première conférence Internationale sur la Reforestation et le Reboisement du 2 au 5 Juillet 2024. Nicaise Moulombi, Président Exécutif du ROSCEVAC et Membre du Comité d'orientation de l'Institut de la Francophonie pour le Développement Durable (IFDD) prend part à cette rencontre qui traite de la question de la protection de l'environnement. Le Président Exécutif du ROSCEVAC et Membre du Comité d'orientation de l'Institut de la Francophonie pour le (...) - ENVIRONNEMENT / SUJET_ECRIT_MAISON

Hurricane Beryl has left a trail of devastation across the southern parishes of Manchester and St Elizabeth where infrastructure was severely impacted by the system's strong winds and driving rain. Member of Parliament for Southwest St...

Ornithologists counted birds at rookeries on the Mabel Island, circled five murres, and conducted observations along the route outside the rookeries

The expedition participants collected litter at two 100-meter strips along the island's coastline

[New Times] Rwanda commemorates 30 years of liberation today, a somber milestone marking the end of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. Over a million innocent lives were tragically lost in that horrific ethnic massacre.

Toronto – At least seven peaceful protestors were reportedly killed in Adama – about 100 kilometers southeast of Addis Ababa – on Wednesday as government forces fired live bullets. One of the victims is said to be a pregnant woman, according to local sources.

Jowhar (HOL) - Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, currently in the Middle Shabelle region for the third day, has met with traditional elders and community leaders in the Wargadhi rural area to discuss their role in anti-al-Shabab military operations.

Jigjiga (HOL) - At least three people were killed and others wounded in an inter-clan conflict between two Somali militias in the Wardheer district of the Dollo region in Ethiopia's Somali Regional State.

Zhang Ming expressed his confidence that «the joint efforts of the member states will result in a promising and constructive plan for the modernization and reform of the SCO»

In this regard, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev congratulated his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko

The participants will recap the organization’s work in 2023-2024

[Premium Times] «As I am here, I check my phone regularly and I know the number of guns that are very close to me here. This is just less than one thousand installations. Within us now, there are over 277 guns around here just because an armoury is close to this place.»

[Premium Times] The report noted that Nigeria's economy could gain $35 billion and international trade $80.7 billion by 2030.

[allAfrica]

HURRICANE BERYL has barreled across the Caribbean over recent days, leaving in its wake billions of dollars in damage, death and devastation; together with a powerful reminder that small island developing states (SIDS) are living climate change. “...

WESTERN BUREAU: Some of Trelawny’s rural communities have taken a battering from the heavy winds and rain associated with Hurricane Beryl. Residents of Troy lamented the loss of several banana trees and other crops. “There is heavy rain and a lot...

NEW YORK: The Jamaican community in North America is being mobilised and placed on high alert to assist recovery efforts in the island in the wake of Hurricane Beryl. Jamaica felt the brunt of the weather system on Wednesday as its eye passed just...

As the outer bands of Hurricane Beryl lashed St Catherine on Wednesday, some fisherfolk at the Forum Fishing Village were cooking and having a grand time at the Rum Party HQ bar while others relaxed in makeshift cottages. Robert Williamson told The...