Seychelles

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No Creature Walking the Earth Is Older Than This Tortoise

St. Helena's Jonathan, the oldest giant tortoise ever recorded, is at least 190 years old

(Newser) - A three-day birthday bash may seem excessive, but it's not every day you turn 190. Jonathan the giant tortoise , the oldest known living land animal, will celebrate that milestone this weekend at his home on the South Atlantic island of St. Helena. Believed to have hatched in the Seychelles...

Tortoises Are a Little More Carnivorous Than We Thought

Wild video shows giant tortoise hunting, eating baby bird

(Newser) - Giant tortoises were long believed to be herbivores, but a newly released video features graphic evidence that's not true. The tortoises, who live only in the Seychelles and the Galápagos Islands, apparently even hunt, say the researchers who recorded one such animal in the Seychelles stalking, attacking, and...

Tiny Nation Has World's Worst Heroin Problem

Nearly 10% of Seychelles working population is addicted

(Newser) - Coral reefs, beautiful beaches ... and the world's worst heroin problem. In the Seychelles, nearly 10% of the working population is addicted to the drug, the highest per capita rate of heroin abuse around the globe, the BBC reports. Of the 94,000 people living in the Indian Ocean archipelago—...

Why a World Leader Just Gave Speech Underwater

Seychelles President Danny Faure makes plea to protect oceans from a submersible

(Newser) - In a striking speech delivered from deep below the ocean's surface, the Seychelles president on Sunday made a global plea for stronger protection of the "beating blue heart of our planet." President Danny Faure's call for action, the first live speech from an underwater submersible, came...

Mueller's New Focus Is a Familiar Name

Blackwater founder Erik Prince's meeting with a Russian businessman under scrutiny

(Newser) - Robert Mueller's Russia investigation has a complex new focus: a meeting between Trump ally Erik Prince and a Russian businessman that took place in the archipelago nation of Seychelles just a few days before President Trump's inauguration. The meeting has been previously reported. In fact, Prince—founder of...

$18K Permit Stands Between Man and $130M Treasure

John Cruise-Wilkins isn't giving up his father's quest

(Newser) - It's known as the Holy Grail of pirate treasure—a haul of gold, silver, and jewels worth an estimated $130 million—and John Cruise-Wilkins says he knows where it is. So why is the man not yet swimming in diamonds and rubies? Well, getting to the treasure is not...

Post: Blackwater Founder Met With Russian on Trump's Behalf

Sources say he was trying to set up unofficial communications channel

(Newser) - Is Blackwater founder Erik Prince secretly doing outreach for the Trump administration? According to a Washington Post report that an administration official calls "ridiculous," Prince met a Russian official close to Vladimir Putin in the Seychelles days before Trump took office in an effort to set up a...

Cause of Death Revealed for Sisters Found at African Resort

But their family is still searching for answers

(Newser) - Two American sisters found dead at a $2,000-a-night luxury African resort last week died of acute pulmonary edema, otherwise known as fluid on the lungs, NBC News reports. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune , staff found 37-year-ole Annie Korkki and 42-year-old Robin Korkki dead in their villa at the...

Sisters Found Dead at Luxury Resort and No One Knows Why

Robin and Annie Korkki from Minnesota were found 'unresponsive' in Seychelles villa

(Newser) - Two sisters from Minnesota described by their brother as "experienced foreign travelers" were found dead last week while on vacation in the Seychelles, an archipelago off the east coast of Africa—and no one yet knows why, CBS Minnesota reports. Workers at the Maia Luxury Resort on the island...

2 Deaths Overshadow End of Chess Olympiad

Seychelles player dies during game in final round

(Newser) - A major international chess tournament in northern Norway ended on a grim note, with one player dying in the middle of a game and another found dead in a hotel room, organizers said today. A 67-year-old member of the Seychelles team collapsed and died during the final round yesterday of...

7 Places You've Got to See Before They're Gone

Climate change threatens these natural wonders

(Newser) - Thanks to climate change, some of the planet's greatest natural wonders are in danger, Time notes. Megan Gibson lists 10 that you shouldn't miss before they disappear:
  1. Great Barrier Reef, Australia: It could be gone within a century as ocean temperatures climb and the reef suffers from pollution.
...

Meet the Frog That Listens With Its Mouth

Gardiner's frog has no middle ear or eardrum

(Newser) - They've got no middle ears or eardrums, yet one of the world's smallest frog species still responds to sound—and now, scientists have figured out how. The Gardiner's frog, found in the Republic of Seychelles, picks up noises through its mouth; from there, the sounds head to...

'Lost Continent' Detected Under Indian Ocean

'Mauritia' believed to have sunk millions of years ago

(Newser) - The remains of an ancient continent ripped apart by plate tectonics tens of millions of years ago may lie under the Indian Ocean, researchers say. Scientists who analyzed beach sand on the island of Mauritius found tiny crystals of zirconium silicate that were hundreds of millions of years older than...

Russia's Plan: Open Naval Base Outside of Russia

Russia looks to project more power with first post-Soviet base abroad

(Newser) - Russia is looking to show off its military muscle by establishing its first post-Soviet-era naval base abroad, the country's naval chief told state-run media today. Vice Admiral Viktor Chirkov said the Navy was "working out the issue of creating sites" in Cuba, Vietnam, or the Seychelles, Reuters reports,...

French Boat Towing Stranded Costa Cruise Ship

Costa Allegra due to arrive at Seychelles island

(Newser) - A French fishing boat is towing the Costa Allegra to the Seychelles after the Concordia's sister ship lost power yesterday , officials say. The more than 1,000 people aboard the ship will be evacuated to Descroches island, and then sent to the Seychelles' main island, Mahe. A pair of...

Fire Sets Costa Sister Ship Adrift

No one hurt after engine-room crisis

(Newser) - Another public relations nightmare for operators of the Costa Concordia —though this time, no one was hurt. Concordia sister ship the Costa Allegra suffered a fire in its engine room, prompting the engines to be shut off some 260 miles from the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. Now the...

US Drone Crashes in Seychelles

Unmanned Reaper overshoots runway

(Newser) - Another American spy drone has crashed, but unlike the one in Iran , recovering this one posed no problem for the US military. The unmanned Reaper drone crashed at an airport in the Seychelles after a routine anti-piracy patrol over the Indian Ocean, the AP reports. Officials say the drone developed...

US Expanding African Drone Network

New bases to target Islamic militants, pirates

(Newser) - The Obama administration is creating an expanded network of drone bases in Africa, which officials say will help the US target Islamic militants in Somalia and Yemen. A new drone base is being built in Ethiopia, and the US is already deploying drones over Somalia and Yemen from its base...

Seychelles Shark Kills Honeymooner
Seychelles Shark
Kills Honeymooner
Aug 17, 2011 2:20 AM CDT

Seychelles Shark Kills Honeymooner

Second attack in 2 weeks shakes Indian Ocean nation

(Newser) - A rogue shark is stalking the Seychelles, authorities fear. After nearly 50 years with no fatal shark attacks, two people have been killed in the space of two weeks, the Telegraph reports. A French diver was killed earlier this month, and a 30-year-old British man on his honeymoon died yesterday...

They're Back: William, Kate Return

Couple thanks Seychelles for 'memorable' 10 days

(Newser) - Well, the honeymoon is over: Prince William and bride Kate have landed back in reality—or at least Britain—after a 10-day honeymoon in the Seychelles, reports the BBC. St James Palace confirmed the couple had returned, saying the royals had "thoroughly enjoyed their time together." William and...

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