Fear mongering? - Today in Seychelles

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Wednesday 9 December 2015
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n News
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n Those abroad on 18
December can vote on 16
December
(page
2)
SR 10/-
2015 Presidential election
Opposition seal unity agreement
Under the terms of the deal, Patrick Pillay will be third in the hierarchy of an SNP-led government in the event of
victory followed by Ahmed Afif who will occupy the Finance portfolio. Alexia Amesbury and Philippe Boullé will
also be part of an eventual SNP government.
I
n Squash: Pragassen triumphs in UCPS tournament
(page 4)
n
Aviation: Seychelles
asks US for visa facilities
(page 7)
t’s official: the opposition sealed
their unification yesterday under the banner of “Union for
Change” (Linyon Sanzman). This
followed negotiations on Monday
afternoon between the leaders
of the Seychelles National Party
(SNP), Lalyans Seselwa (LS), the
Seychelles Party for Democracy
and Social Justice (SPSD) and
Phillipe Boullé and a meeting yesterday with district representatives
of the parties at BODCO’s offices at
Docklands.
Under the conditions of the
agreement, the SNP leader Wavel
Ramkalawan told TODAY, he will
run for President with running
mate Roger Mancienne and that, in
the event of a victory, Patrick Pillay
will become the number three in
government and act as Designate
Minister while Ahmed Afif will be
fourth in the hierarchy and be given
the portfolio for Finance.
Continued on page 3
Talks have been fruitful, leaders say. Now it’s just a matter of convincing the electorate.
Second round
Fear
mongering?
The opposition have denied accusations made by
the Home Affairs Minister that their supporters
engaged in disorderly conduct on Sunday.
n Species of the week:
Powderblue Surgeonfish
(page 11)
C
The opposition rally on Sunday displeased the Home Affairs Minister.
harles Bastienne made a
statement to the Seychelles
Broadcasting Corporation
on Monday afternoon to warn the
opposition that “the police will not
tolerate any disorderly conduct”
that could endanger people’s lives.
Charles Bastienne made a
number of allegations, accusing
opposition activists of assaulting
police officers on Sunday during
the motorcade organised to celebrate the fact that the 52% of
the electorate voted against Parti
Lepep. Those incidents, he said,
happened in Au Cap, Anse aux
Pins and Anse Boileau.
Continued on page 3
12.85
13.40
12.80
13.30
13.80
14.40
13.80
14.40
19.15
20.20
19.15
20.10
p2
Wednesday 9 December, 2015
2015 Presidential election
Those abroad on 18 December can vote on 16 December
Electoral Commission announces order of Presidential candidates on the ballot paper and order of Party Political Broadcasts.
By PA
T
he draw for the runoff of
the Presidential election
took place on Monday
morning at the Electoral Commission’s headquarters at the
National Library building. Two
parties will contest the second
round: Parti Lepep which won
28 911 votes (47.76%) and the
Seychelles National Party (SNP),
with a total of 21 391 votes
(35.33%).
Representing the two parties
were Simon Gill, liaison officer
for Parti Lepep, and Nicholas
Prea, the secretary general of
the SNP. The draw was done in
the presence of members of the
Electoral Commission and the
local press. The first draw was
to decide the order the names of
the two candidates, James Michel and Wavel Ramkalawan,
will appear on the ballot paper.
It was Mr Gill who had the
honour of commencing proceedings and the draw saw the SNP
being picked first, which means
that Parti Lepep will be second
on the ballot paper. The same
Chairman of the Electoral Commission Hendrick Gappy with
Chief Electoral Officer, Charles Morin.
was done for the Party Political
Broadcasts (PPBs) where each
candidate will have three programmes to try and convince the
electorate that they are the best
person for the job. It was Mr
Prea who did the draw this time
around, picking Parti Lepep,
which means its PPB will be the
first to be aired.
The two parties will each have
a 13-minute programme to introduce their candidate, on Thursday 10 December, a 26-minute
programme on Saturday 12
December and a final 13-minute programme to conclude the
PPBs on Monday 14 December.
Broadcast times will be discussed
and agreed on with SBC.
During the ceremony, the
chairperson of the Electoral
Commissioner, Hendrick Gappy
said the campaign period which
started last Sunday will last until
December 14, and the following
day will mark the cooling off period, meaning that no parties will
be allowed to carry out any campaigning activities.
Elections will be held on 16, 17
and 18 December. Mr Gappy said
he will be meeting up with the
electoral officers in charge of the
polling stations and other stakeholders during the week to work
out the logistics for the runoff.
He also confirmed that all polling stations, including special
voting stations, will remain the
same.
However for the runoff, the
Nichole’s take on …
Serving the “spirit
of democratic engagement”
By N.Tirant
A
s the country prepares itself for a rendezvous with History on 18th December when
it holdst he first-ever second round of presidential elections,it is our collective civic duty to reflect on the “spirit of democratic engagement” that
will see our country rise out of the abyss of fear and
intimidation to step into the light of true democracy.
International observers have spoken. Their preliminary conclusion was that the first round of the
election was “peaceful, generally well conducted
and transparent”.But that was never in doubt! Everyone agrees that even if some queues are long
and move slowly, the voting process is orderly and
very efficiently organized, thanks to the hundreds
of volunteers who work hard and benevolently
each election.
But whilst the observers highly commend us, the
people of Seychelles for the peaceful and orderly
manner in which we exercise our right to vote on
polling day, we must keep in mind that in this second round,our democracy is stepping into neverbefore-explored virgin territory as it continues to
search for that true path to democratic inclusiveness that we promised ourselves on 18 June 1993.
On 18 December 2015 we will have another moment in history when we put our Constitutional
process through the ropes to elect a president for
the next five years. Meanwhile, we must build a
pathway through the next ten days in the spirit of
democratic engagement that a true democracy demands.
We, the people of Seychelles, need to address
the issues related to bribing and threatening that
have become synonymous with elections under
our Third Republic. Every election we see party
activists hanging out in the villages with bags of
money lying in wait for our more gullible and easily influenced citizens, tasked with changing their
minds about who to vote for or prevent them from
voting altogether. Hardly the “spirit of democratic
engagement” that the observers encouraged us to
maintain!
Our elections code of conduct calls for all can-
vassing to stop 24 hours before the polling stations
open; and yet we see party officials and activists
working hard on polling day to lap up the misery of
our less fortunate citizens with offers of incentives
to help break their will. The spirit of democratic
engagement is hardly respected where government
officials use state resources and wealth to ensure
that they can retain their comfort zone on the back
of the ordinary citizen.
It is surely not reflected in the action of a government official, minister or otherwise, coming on
national state-funded television to paint a violent
picture of people whose only ‘sin’ was to celebrate
what they saw as a victory. Without condoning violence, it is evident that if any laws were broken,
then the law should deal with the offenders instead
of labeling the entire movement. Crimes are not
tried in the media but in the courts, or so we are
always reminded.
Democratic engagement is all about engaged citizens participating democratically in their communities, showing respect and appreciation of diversity and divergent views. We should be teaching our
children throughout their lives how to be engaged
and tolerant. Instead we indoctrinate them in the
belief that the air they breathe comes from the liberation struggle of their government and that they
owe it gratitude and allegiance in return.
The spirit of democratic engagement is painfully
lacking when we pull our elderly citizens from the
comfort of their homes to drag them, medication
and all, to the polling stations to show their gratitude and cast votes that will keep the status quo.
The coming days will see our nation put to its
greatest test yet – in terms of tolerance and compassion or the lack of it. Will the politicians in that
time use only political arguments to show that
their programme is the best for the country? Or
will too many resort to the old tactics of promises
and bribes, and when all else fails, threats and intimidation to maintain a status quo that for far too
long has taught our people that their right to vote
is a cheap commodity exchangeable for a gift or
bribe– or worse still for fear of victimization.
And that is certainly not democratic engagement
– neither in form nor in spirit!
Monday’s draw was done in the presence of the media and members of the Electoral Commission.
Electoral Commission has announced that people who will
be travelling abroad on 17 and
18 December will be allowed to
vote. “We have taken this request
into consideration and they will
be allowed to vote on Wednesday
16 December at one of our special voting stations, if they have
their passport and air ticket as
proof ”, explained Mr Gappy.
Mr Gappy also said some issues need to be addressed prior
to the runoff. One of them is
the reluctance of employers to
release their employees on polling day so that they can exercise
their civic duty. He has called on
employers to respect this Constitutional right as he noticed
“a lot of people turned up late to
vote as they had to be on duty on
main polling day”.
He also explained that, since
the runoff is a continuation of
the Presidential election, the voters’ register will remain open for
verification only. “The certified
voters’ register that was presented to all parties will be the same
one used in the second round
and we are just having them reprinted”, said Mr Gappy, adding
that no new names will be added. “If you did not feature on the
certified voters’ register used last
weekend then your name will
not feature in ten days’ time”, he
said.
Concerns were also raised
about the use of invisible and violet ink used and whether it will
be completely removed from voters’ fingers in time for the next
round. Mr Gappy said this and
other modalities will be looked
into and later communicated
to the electorates. He however
confirmed that the voting procedures for the runoff remain the
same as in the first round ,except for the fact that instead of
six candidates there will be only
two.
p3
Wednesday 9 December, 2015
Fear mongering?
Continued from page 2
He stated that while there had
been no serious incidents recorded between Nomination Day on
11 November and the last day of
round one on 5 December, things
took a turn for the worse on Sunday as the opposition celebrated
their victory.
He also spoke on behalf of the
Commissioner of Police, commenting on the fact that no
permission had been given to
the opposition to hold a rally on
Sunday and that speeches were
made during the motorcade despite this. The police, he warned,
would be firm in its attempt to
have the Public Order Bill respected.
These allegations have been
denied by the opposition and a
press conference will be held today to refute them. Meanwhile,
the leader of the Seychelles Na-
tional Party (SNP), Wavel Ramakalawan, told TODAY that he
will be writing to the chairman
of the Electoral Commission,
Hendrick Gappy, to complain
about Mr Bastienne’s interference in the police and the fact
that “he is doing politics”.
“There may have been a couple of isolated incidents but
there was certainly no assault
or violence. Those things happen when people celebrate; one
can’t stop people who have been
waiting 38 years for this from rejoicing. It’s like when the Berlin
wall came down - people need to
rejoice. There was no need to go
on TV to alarm people”, he said.
Mr Ramakalawan added that
Charles Bastienne had no place
going on TV and substituting
himself to the Commissioner of
police. There has in fact been
no independent corroboration
of the accusation of violence on
Sunday but rumours were circulating to the effect that opposition supporters had stormed
into State House, that they had
broken into police stations and
climbed up the clock tower.
It has also been brought to
this newspaper’s attention that
several Ministers were seen on
Sunday, Monday and yesterday,
in different districts distributing
goodies to voters in an attempt to
persuade them to support James
Michel in the next round scheduled for 16, 17 and 18 December.
Other pro-Parti Lepep personalities like Marco Francis
have posted warnings on their
Facebook page, asking the electorate to vote for James Michel
in the second round if they don’t
want to “go back to the days of
empty shelves, forex restriction
and lack of opportunities for all
SEYCHELLES PETROLEUM COMPANY LIMITED
WEEKLY PRICE UPDATE
Seychellois”.
David Savy on the other hand,
has expressed on social media
the need for “people to make an
informed decision” in eight days.
“The SNP have to tell the people
who their shadow cabinet will be
for example. For example what
they will do to ensure Air Seychelles survives once they have
seen off Etihad as no small airline
in this day and age can survive
without a strong partner. There
remain too many unknowns for an
informed decision”, he wrote.
Opposition seal unity agreement
Continued from page 2
“Cabinet positions have also
been offered to Mrs Amesbury
and Mr Boullé and it’s just a
matter of them letting us know
who they want those positions
to go to”, Mr Ramkalawan said.
He also explained that despite the popular wish that Patrick Pillay occupies the post of
Vice President “and as much as
we would have liked Mr Pillay
to be the Vice President, the
process of the election cannot
be changed”.
Indeed, the second round
is part and parcel of the first
round and because Mr Man-
cienne was presented as the
SNP’s Vice Presidential candidate on Nomination Day, this
cannot be altered. “It’s one
election and the rules of the
game cannot unfortunately be
changed midway”, Wavel Ramkalawan explained. He said
that he explained this to district representatives yesterday
“and Mr Pillay endorsed it and
now it’s just a matter of getting
the message across”.
The secretary general of Lalyans Seselwa, Ahmed Afif, confirmed this information to TODAY and added that “we need
to convince non SNP support-
ers as well as Lalyans Seselwa
supporters that they need to
support something that they’re
not used to. We have to convince them that this unification
of parties is viable and that we
have no other option if we really want change. The two main
parties need to work together
and rally behind the banner for
change”, he said.
Mr Afif added that Lalyans
Seselwa “feels that as a group,
we can work really well together. We have a good rapport and
now we’ll have to look at the logistics for getting the message
out”.
SNP leaders as well as those of Lalyans Seselwa say if supporters want change, they have no option
than to work together.
DEFERRED PAYMENT ON IMPORTATION OF GOODS FOR VAT REGISTERED BUSINESSES.
As specified under the VAT Act 2010, VAT on importation is paid at the point of entry on all imports except those goods which are exempted. The Value Added Tax (deferred payment) regulations, 2014 make
provisions for all VAT registered businesses to benefit from deferred payment on goods imported with CIF
value of SCR100, 000 or more. This means that the VAT payable on these goods will not be paid at the
point of entry (at Customs) but reported as Output VAT and Input VAT on VAT returns.
of the specific goods enters the country. An application (form) must be submitted for each importation
goods which meets the deferred payment conditions and/or each time the facility is used. An authorization
letter must be sent to SRC by the VAT registered business giving permission to a Tax Agent to request the
deferred payment on its behalf. It is advisable that the VAT registered business respect the two weeks given
for making a deferred payment application to avoid unnecessary delays when the goods enter the country.
What are the types of goods that qualify for deferred payment?
The deferred payment facility applies to goods excluding trading stock imported by all VAT registered
businesses:
• An Individual item with a CIF value of SR100, 000 or more;
• Goods with a grouped Value of SR100, 000 or more. The goods must be on the same Bill of Entry (BoE)
forming part of a group of goods.
• Construction materials used for construction or major renovation with a CIF individual item value or
group value of SR100, 000 or more.
What documents are required to be submitted with the application?
The VAT registered businesses must ensure that all invoices and the Bill of Entry if applicable at the time
of application must be attached with their form. The invoice and the Bill of Entry must be in the name
of the VAT registered business applying for VAT deferred payment. It is also important to note that upon
submitting the application form the VAT registered business must ensure that all necessary information
are clearly stated to avoid unnecessary delays for processing the documents. Information that is needed is:
• HS code of the good or all goods;
• A specific description of the good or all goods;
• Quantity of the good or all goods;
• CIF value of the good or group of goods;
How to record the transaction on the VAT return form
VAT deferred payment must be reported on the VAT return related to the period during which the importation occurred. Input VAT is immediately offset against Output VAT, giving a neutral effect. The VAT
registered business must report the VAT (deferred) due to Customs as an Output VAT (line1 column A and
B) and the same amount as an input tax (line 5.3 columns A and B) .The total of this operation (Output
–Input) must be zero.
How to apply for deferred payment
VAT registered businesses simply need to fill the request for Deferred Payment Form which is available on
SRC website: www.src.gov.sc a printed copy can also be obtained at any SRC office. On the reverse of the
form there are step by step instructions how to make the application for deferred payment.
What are the conditions for deferred payment?
The VAT registered businesses must meet the following conditions to qualify for deferred payment:
In order to qualify for the deferred payment facility, the following conditions have to be met:
• the business must be VAT-registered (compulsorily or voluntarily)
• the business must be active;
• the business must file VAT returns on a monthly or quarterly basis;
• the goods must be of a value not less than SR 100 000;
• the business must have a good compliance record (exempt of any violation or offences of tax and customs
laws and/or regulations for the past 3 years);
• the VAT registered business has to apply for the deferred payment two weeks prior to the entry of the
goods in the country;
• the business must receive a formal authorization for the facility from the Revenue Commissioner.
When to apply for deferred payment
The VAT registered business must apply to the Revenue Commissioner two weeks before the importation
What are the responsibilities of the VAT registered businesses when making an application for deferred payment?
It is the responsibility of the VAT registered business to comply with the conditions of this facility. It is
therefore important to make a correct declaration and to meet all the requirements as specified above.
It is important to note that the approval for deferred payment is granted based on the information provided by VAT registered business and any material omission or misrepresentation in the application makes
the approval null and void.
For more information
You can contact Seychelles Revenue Commission on 4293747 or email us at vat@src.gov.sc for more information about the Value Added Tax. The VAT Act and its regulations are available on the Seychelles
Revenue Commission website (www.src.gov.sc).
p4
Wednesday 9 December, 2015
Squash
Pragassen triumphs in UCPS tournament
Canale wins Plate competition.
By RR
K
laus Pragassen won the
UCPS knockout squash
tournament with an easy
straight sets victory over his main,
Ridvan Prosper, to claim his fifth
title this season at the Mont Fleuri
squash court on Friday evening.
Pragassen completely dominated the final which attracted a very
large crowd. The match was a bit of
a major disappointment given how
one-sided it was, though the first set
was very tight. Pragassen and Prosper were tied at 9-9 before the former kept his calm to win 11-9. Once
he found his rhythm, Pragassen was
untouchable whilst Prosper looked
out of sorts and made mistake after
mistake to give the second set away
11-3 in five minutes. Pragassen continued to force his opponent to give
away cheap points and he wrapped
up the third set and match 11-7,
registering another victory over his
main rival in the process and lifting
his fifth title in six competitions to
end a very successful year for him,
“It has been a very good year for
me and I would like to thank the
squash association and especially its
chairperson, Natalie Houareau, for
a very exciting season. We have seen
a few youngsters coming through
and I would also like to thank tournament organiser, Michael Landon.
As for today’s final, I started off
slowly but was warmed up by the
second set. I played long shots as
well as some drop shots and I just
waited for my opponent to make
mistakes as I played some long rallies. It was an easy win in the end,”
Pragassen told TODAY Sports.
As for Prosper, he was very disappointed with his showing in this
final as he felt he was not fully fit
which made things difficult for him.
“It was a tough final as my fitness
levels were not good enough and
technically I made lots of mistakes.
I missed some easy shots and I had
to play quicker but was unable to do
so. My opponent also played well
and I would like to congratulate
him,” Prosper explained after yet
another defeat in a final.
Canale wins Plate competition
Frederic Canale won his first title
as he defeated a not fully fit Guillaume Albert in the Plate final which
in fact was a much more entertaining match than the main final as it
was closely fought. Albert who was
being bothered with fever had his
chance in the first set but tennis
coach Canale pounced on his opponent’s mistake to win the first set
11-9. The second set was also tight
but Canale clinched it 12-10.
Albert led 5-1 in the third set
but then lost concentration allowing Canale to claw his way back to
win 11-6 and the match to win his
first title. He described his rival as a
Klaus Pragassen (left) won the UCPS tournament.
Frederick Canale (left) won the plate final defeating Guillaume Albert.
The UCPS tournament participants pose for a souvenir photo with Mr Albert.
fighter and felt he was lucky to win
especially the first two sets. “It was
a good match and I did not play as
well as I did against Klaus Pragassen in the first round. Guillaume
was a bit ill but he fought hard and
it was good to win,” Canale said.
As for Albert, he did not want to
use the excuse of being under the
weather and praised his opponent
for being better than him in this final.
“It was a good final and very
good competition and my opponent has made a lot of progress and
today he was better than me and
deserved to win,” Albert told TODAY Sports.
At the prize-giving ceremony,
the general manager of UCPS,
Gregory Albert, he congratulated
the squash association and expressed his joy at seeing a very
good turn-out for this year ending
tournament.
“Well done to you all. It is the second time that we have sponsored
this competition and we are very
proud to have had 32 players from
various age groups and our support
is part of our corporate social responsibility and we are very proud
to have hosted this competition and
I would like to congratulate all the
winners,” Mr Albert said.
As for the NSC CEO, Giovanna
Rousseau, she spoke of the misconception that squash is a sport for
the rich.
“I would like to change this
misconception of this sport as it
is one where everyone can play
and it does not take much and it
is also anti-stress and it is a very
good work-out. I would also like to
thank the sponsors as well as the
association for their good work and
it is always nice to see the young
ones participating and I would like
to congratulate the winners,” Miss
Rousseau told the audience in a
competition which even saw the
participation of an eight year-old
in the shape of Miko Sugar.
The trophies and a floating cup
as well as cash prizes were presented to the winners by Mr Albert
after which the players and the
squash family joined together for
some light entertainment.
p5
Wednesday 9 December, 2015
Fifa crisis
Sepp Blatter investigated by FBI over
ISL bribes after Havelange letter
T
João Havelange wrote that Blatter knew about $100m scandal
he FBI is investigating the
role of Sepp Blatter in the
$100m ISL scandal after the
suspended Fifa president appeared
to be implicated by his predecessor,
according to a BBC Panorama documentary to be screened on Monday
night. In a letter obtained by the FBI,
and forwarded to Swiss authorities
with a request for help, the former
Fifa president João Havelange appears to say: “Mr Blatter had full
knowledge of all activities,” and was
“always apprised to them”.
The FBI’s request was sent before the dramatic May arrests that
sparked Blatter’s downfall and a fullblown crisis at world football’s gov-
erning body.
In a covering note to the Swiss
authorities the FBI requests information from an earlier Swiss investigation into the ISL scandal, which
involved the payment of $100m in
backhanders by the now defunct
sports marketing company.
The note adds: “Among other
things, the prosecutor is investigating Havelange’s statements implicating Blatter and appearing to
exculpate Havelange’s son-in-law,
[Ricardo] Teixeira, in the ISL matter.”
In the letter from Havelange,
seemingly written after a 2010 court
case in Zug, Switzerland, related to
the affair, he appears to claim that
payments to him were above board.
He writes: “During the period of
time in which I was Fifa president,
Mr Joseph Blatter was the secretary
general, I maintained commercial
relationships with sports marketing
companies which were under my
economic control, and, as a result
of these relationships, I received remuneration, in accordance with Fifa
regulations, and this was the object
of a judicial proceeding settlement in
Switzerland without acknowledgement of any guilt.
“I clarify that all expenses for the
mentioned proceeding, including attorneys, were paid by Fifa. I empha-
FBI began looking into case before Fifa arrests in May 2015.
Golf
Tiger Woods: ‘I could be forced to retire’
T
Woods has had three back operations in the space of 19 months
iger Woods says he has reconciled himself to his golf career possibly being over and
told his children about the mistakes
that led to his divorce in an interview
with Time magazine.
Woods, a 14-time major champion
who has chased the record 18 majors
won by Jack Nicklaus, turns 40 on
December 30 and is out indefinitely
following a third back surgery. He
has not won a major title since the
2008 US Open.
“I’ve had a good run,” Woods said.
“I’ve done a lot more in the game
than I ever thought I could. And to
be in my 30s, and to have done this
much, I never would have foreseen
that.”
In a rare peek into his personal
world published online Thursday,
Woods told Time that, “With all my
heart, I do not want to stop playing
golf.
“It’s not what I want to have happen, and it’s not what I’m planning
on having happen. But if it does, it
does. I’ve reconciled myself to it.
“It’s more important for me to be
with my kids.”
Woods recounted a tale of a nerve
twinge after hitting a chip shot that
left him crumpled on the ground
and unable to move until his daughter, Sam Alexis, found him and went
to get help. Woods had his children,
Sam Alexis and son Charlie, with
ex-wife Elin Nordegren. They were
married from 2004 until 2010,
months after his infidelity with multiple mistresses led to divorce.
She’s one of my best friends. We’re
able to pick up the phone and we
talk to each other all the time. We
both know that the most important
things in our lives are our kids. I wish
I would have known that back then.”
Woods has explained the break-up
as best he can for now to the children.
“I’ve taken the initiative with the kids
and told them up front, ‘Guys, the
reason why we’re not in the same
house, why we don’t live under the
same roof is because Daddy made
some mistakes,’” Woods said. “I just
want them to understand before
they get to Internet age and they log
on to something or have their friends
tell them something.”
Woods said he enjoyed his relationship with US ski star Lindsey
Vonn but her training and competition schedule combined with
his time with children and US golf
events left little time together, so they
broke up last May.
“It’s a relationship that was fantastic, but it just can’t work on that
level,” Woods said. “It was doing an
injustice to both of us.”
Woods said he would rather not
risk more back surgery, having spoken with NFL star quarterback Pey-
ton Manning about his neck surgery
and recovery methods.
“That’s a hard mind-set to go
through. Because I’ve always been a
goal setter,” Woods said.
Woods ‘can’t stand’ TV golf
He won’t watch golf, noting,
“I can’t remember the last time I
watched golf. I can’t stand it.”
Woods isn’t giving up on getting
back to competitive golf levels, however. “I have to get healthy in order to
do it, though,” he said. “I don’t think
I’ll ever be 100 percent healthy, but
as close as you can, that would be
nice. “I will probably play through
a little bit of pain, aches and pains.
But I don’t need another surgery,
period. No more surgeries. Seven
is enough. Four knees, three backs,
that’s enough.”
Asked about his legacy, Woods
said, “The greatest thing that could
happen is to not be remembered,”
saying he already sees kids who attend his learning centers that have
no clue he is a golfer.
“Kids go through it and they don’t
know who I am. They don’t know
what I’ve done.”
Tiger says Elin among ‘best
friends’
“It would be having a more open,
honest relationship with my ex-wife,”
Woods said about what he would
change.
“Having the relationship that
I have now with her is fantastic.
Tiger Woods insists ‘with all my heart’ he does not want his career to
be over but injuries have taken their toll.
sise that Mr Joseph Blatter had full
knowledge of all activities described
above and was always apprised to
them.”
The letter, obtained by the BBC,
has been seen by the Guardian. Blatter’s lawyers failed to respond to a
request for comment when the BBC
contacted them.
It was the same Panorama team,
led by the veteran Fifa investigator Andrew Jennings, that in 2010
revealed the existence of the list of
bribes paid by ISL.
Havelange finally resigned from
his position as the honorary Fifa
president in 2013 after an ethics
committee report confirmed how he
and Teixeira, his former son-in-law,
had taken a series of bribes over an
eight-year period.
At the time, the report found Blatter had been “clumsy” rather than
“criminal” in returning a $1m bribe
meant for Havelange that crossed his
desk.
Blatter insisted he did not know
the money was a bribe. Before 2004,
accepting inducements of that kind
was not illegal under Swiss law.
Teixeira was one of three former
heads of the Brazilian FA named
among an additional 16 people
charged with corruption offences by
the US Department of Justice last
week.
Both US and Swiss prosecutors
continue to probe decades of wrongdoing among Fifa executives. Blatter
is under investigation by the Swiss
over a £1.3m “disloyal payment”
to the suspended Uefa president,
Michel Platini, and speculation continues to surround his status in the
US probe.
The US attorney general, Loret-
ta Lynch, said last week she would
continue to pursue wrongdoers as
she unsealed an updated indictment
that alleged more than $200m had
been received in bribes and kickbacks.
The programme, to be broadcast
on Monday night at 8.30pm, is also
told by the former FA chairman Lord
Triesman that the successful Qatar
2022 bid cost £117m. Gary Lineker,
part of England’s 2018 World Cup
bid team, laments the rotten state of
world football governance.
“It makes me feel nauseous at the
levels of corruption in a sport that
has been a huge part of my life and
is a huge part of many people’s lives
right around the world,” he says.
“And part of me hopes that with
everything being so clearly rotten,
that we can come out and somehow
start again and correct it.”
Premier League
Romelu Lukaku earns point for Everton
R
omelu Lukaku scored his
50th goal for Everton to earn
them a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace at Goodison Park. Palace
led against the run of play when Scott
Dann head home 14 minutes from
time, before Lukaku scored from
close range to ensure Roberto Martinez’s side climbed into the top half.
It was Alan Pardew’s side who created the first chance of the evening
when Yannick Bolasie created space
for the cross, but Tim Howard was
in the right place at the right time
to block a Connor Wickham header
from just a few yards out. Lukaku,
who has been so key to Everton’s
recent impressive run, battled his
way to an opening on the edge of the
box and left the visiting supporters
breathing a sigh of relief when his
low curling effort came back off the
post. A bright start was followed by
a spell of frustration for the Toffees
as Palace dropped deeper to limit
the space on offer to the likes of Ross
Barkley and Gerard Deulofeu, whose
battle with Pape Souare on the wing
took centre stage for long spells.
Palace had looked comfortable at
the back heading into the break, and
after a similar spell in the early stages
of the second half, the visitors almost
struck on the break as Bolasie sprinted into space before seeing Howard
make a fine save with his leg. Everton would soon begin to ask more
questions of the Palace defence, and
they were almost gifted the opening
goal when Wickham headed against
his own crossbar while attempting to
clear a free kick. Wayne Hennessey
came to the rescue just a few moments later with a stunning save to
deny Tom Cleverley, whose half-volley looked destined for the top corner
after the midfielder had been given
the space to reach a loose ball on
the edge of the box. Palace refused
to stray from their game plan and a
break sliced open the hosts, and just
as the chance seemed to have passed
them by, Howard was forced to push
a Jason Puncheon strike behind.
The corner which followed produce
the winner as Dann found the space
to power his header past a helpless
Howard to silence the home supporters. Everton were unfortunate
not to equalise just moments later
as Lukaku brought down a high ball,
before turning to strike the underside
of a crossbar with a half-volley from
the edge of the box. Disappointment
soon turned to delight for Everton
and their Belgian striker, though, as
Lukaku crept in at the back post to
tap in Deulofeu’s cross. Everton were
unable to force the issue as the home
supporters urged them on in the final
minutes, with Kone hitting a deflected effort wide in stoppage time, and
Palace managed the time well to secure the point which takes them up
to seventh.
Wednesday 9 December, 2015
p6
Wednesday 9 December, 2015
p7
Aviation
Seychelles asks US for visa facilities
P.Mawanda
A
n open skies partnership
agreement was signed
on Monday between the
United States and Seychelles at
the ministry of Foreign Affairs
and Transport in Mont Fleuri.
The parties were represented by
the US ambassador to Mauritius
and Seychelles, Shari Villarosa
and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Transport, Joel Morgan.
“The US international aviation
policy is based on enabling full
market competition to expand
worldwide services through
these agreements. Growth in aviation affects the entire economy
and promotes the integration of
the global economy. Our experience is that many other nations
demonstrate that the best way
to develop aviation to its full potential is by allowing operating
decisions to be made by airlines
in the open market place rather
than by government operators.
The US believes an open skies
agreement offers the best environment for developing markets
to attract additional air services,
increase benefits for travelers and shippers in the broader
Seychelles and the US signed an open skies agreement on Monday.
economy. The agreement that
we have signed today is pro-consumer, pro-competition and progrowth. It encompasses not only
passenger air services but also
cargo. International airlines are
important for cargo as they are
for passengers. A nation must
have reliable air links to develop
its trade in high value goods,”
Ms. Villarosa said.
According to the US ambassador, the agreement that was
first initiated in 2012 by the US
and Seychelles governments,
will become functional next year
and will give American and Seychelles based airlines (and not
governments) the power to decide what routes to fly in each
country, the capacity of flights
and fares. In addition, it will enable airlines in either country to
have access to each other’s skies.
Unlike today where people wishing to travel from either country
have to rely on connecting flights
to reach either destination, as of
next year, this could be something of the past for some travelers. US based airlines will be able
to fly from the US to Seychelles
directly.
Mrs Villarosa and Mr Morgan signing the agreement on Monday.
Addressing the delegation that
was present for the signing of the
agreement, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Transport, Joel
Morgan said that “it is an agreement that has everything to do
with the connectivity aspect of
air travel between the two countries. It will facilitate easy movement of people, business and
develop economic opportunities
and exchanges. We are in discussions with a number of American
airlines to discuss a code sharing
agreement so that we can have
joint flights in the future if possible. As far as flying direct to
the US goes, our tourism market
there needs to be built up. Once
the tourism market builds up, it
will become economically viable
for us to fly there, like we’re doing in China today. The minute
we hit the 10,000 tourist mark,
we shall automatically have commercial viability to have a twice
or thrice a week flight to the U.S.
Naturally, it is a very long haul
flight, but it is not impossible.”
In addition to opening up the
skies between the two countries,
Minister Morgan said that the
agreement might also lead to the
removal of the necessity for Seychellois to have to travel to Mauritius to process US visas.
“We are working with our counterparts in America so that in the
future Seychellois can get visas
on arrival in the US or free visas
to enter the country. We already
have 130 countries in the world
where we don’t need visas or are
issued visas at arrival,” Mr. Morgan added.
Once the agreement comes
into effect next year, Seychellois
will have a variety of choices from
which to choose from when travelling to the US. The agreement
is expected to increase the number
of airlines that can operate between
the Seychelles and US route.
A US policy
SOURCE: US EMBASSY
The US has pursued a policy of
open skies civil aviation relationships with their international
partners since 1992 when they
conclude the first ever Open
Skies air service agreement with
the Netherlands.
Open skies agreements between the US and other countries expand international passenger and cargo flights by
eliminating government interference in commercial airline
decisions about routes, capacity
and pricing. This frees carriers to provide more affordable,
convenient and efficient air
service to consumers, promoting increased travel and trade
and spurring high quality job
opportunities and economic
growth.
Throughout the years, the
open skies agreements have
been applied to over 100 agreements. In 2010, the US concluded open skies agreements
with Colombia and Brazil. Today,
over 70 percent of international
departures from the United States
now fly to Open Skies partners.
Wednesday 9 December, 2015
p8
Electoral observer missions
The call for more transparency
The electoral observer mission groups said on Monday that there were issues with the counting of the votes and that the Presidential election should be held over one day for the
sake of transparency. This was during the preliminary report of the missions made public on Monday.
By Sasha-Lee
T
The panel of observer mission leaders during the Q&A (from left to right) Mrs. Mondlane, Mrs. Joiner, Mr. Sevel, Reverend Finca, Mr. Rahman, and Mr. Fezile.
he opacity in the counting and publication of
the results and the way
the Electoral Commission had
handled the situation, was
frowned upon by international
electoral observer missions.
This was at the Avani hotel in
Barbarons on Monday when
electoral observer officers from
the SADC Electoral Observer
Mission (SEOM), SADC –ECF,
SADC-PF, the Commonwealth,
the African Union (AU), and
the Indian Ocean Commission
(IOC) each gave a preliminary
statement on their observations of the election’s first
round.
Observers
recommended
that the public be properly informed of results in a timely
fashion, and that results for
each district be posted outside
their respective polling station.
Commonwealth observer leader Lord Sevele also suggested
that more polling stations be
made available, something
that could speed the process
and avoid delays in closing
and counting of votes, as it occurred in Anse Etoile where
the results only became available at about 4am.
While all observer mission
groups agreed that the elections have so far been conducted in a calm and peaceful
manner with no reported acts
of violence, some irregularities
and recommendations were
brought forth, some of which
could arguably be put in force
as early on as the second round
of the current election. They
also said that they could not
at this point comment on the
fairness of the election.
The main concern all observer mission groups have is with
the voters’ register. AU official
Julia Joiner pointed out that
many individuals in each dis
Wednesday 9 December, 2015
trict were turned away because their name did not appear on the voters list, and that
unfortunately voters are not
handed a “voter’s card” once
they have registered – which
can be a form of identification produced upon voting at a
polling station.
This concern was echoed by
the SADC-PF official Brengo
Fezile who noted that voter
education is lacking in Seychelles. Political parties urge
people to vote and to rely on
the media for valuable information but say that there is
little to no follow up each year
to inform citizens of their right
to vote, the need for registration, and other relevant information.
The SADC-PF shared their
concerns about alcohol abuse
during rallies, something they
said can contribute to violent
behaviour. Other concerns include the use of public funds by
the ruling party for elections,
which the observer groups
deems unfair. They also noted
that voting should take place
in one day and not over three
days, for more transparency.
Mrs. Joiner also noted that
while women were well represented in the voters present at
the polling stations, there was
a lack of women represented in
the leadership of political parties, namely in the party representatives posted at the different polling stations, and within
the Electoral Commission.
Other issues of malpractice
include the use of an opaque
ballot box, which is against
best practices.
p9
The presentation was well-attended,
Following the preliminary
statement, the floor was open
for questions. Perhaps the
most pertinent question came
from a journalist from Le Seychellois Hebdo, who noted
that while the observers said
that everything was conducted
peacefully, there was no mention of whether the election
was conducted fairly and freely. Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs for Mozambique and
head of the observer group for
the SADC-ECF Nyeleti Mond-
lane explained that this issue
will be addressed in the final
report that will be ready after
the second round.
Other questions addressed
the compliance to the recommendations
the
observers
bring forth, and who is responsible to ensure the measures are implemented to improve elections based on these
recommendations. Mr. Sevel
pointed out that while the observers are here to evaluate
proceedings, “it is not our role
to force the adoption of recommendations.”
Nyeleti Mondlane also stated
that “it’s up to your civil society, government, up to everyone to make these decisions.
These decisions are Constitutional, so it is yours to make.”
Other points brought forth
concerned the misconceptions
people in Seychelles had with
regards to the foreign observers.
“The misconception is that
observer mission groups are
here on holidays. They go to
the beach, drive around in
their air conditioned cars,
stay at expensive hotels, and
do not actually care about the
work being done. I suggest
therefore that you get a local number upon arrival,
and allow members of the
public to call you if they see
anything suspicious, so that
you can witness it as well.”
While all six observer mission leaders agreed to the
suggestion, they did point
out that they made their
presence known upon arrival to the press, and that they
can be contacted via the local Electoral Commission.
The observer mission leaders told TODAY that while
they are still figuring out
which members to send
home and deploy again for
round two, they are all committed to being present for
the observation of round
two of the Presidential election.
Wednesday 9 December, 2015
p10
Letter to the Editor
D
ear Editor,
What happened to the
“First Round Knockout”? Mike Tyson was once
the most feared boxers on the
planet and seemed invincible
to boxing fans and opponents
alike… until one day when he
wasn’t. Tyson ran into a journeyman by the name of Buster
Douglas who virtually nobody
gave a chance to win. Tyson had
become complacent and started
believing all of the headlines
saying how great he was. This
happens to politicians over time
as well and is only exacerbated
by all of the “yes men” who feel
it necessary to constantly feed
the ego of their boss rather than
tell them the good, but also the
bad and the ugly.
So the argument could be
made that Tyson was not in top
form that day. However, the biggest reason for the Douglas win
came down to one thing: Douglas promised himself that on
that particular day, against that
particular opponent, he was not
going to be afraid and he was
going to take it to Tyson. Inspired by the death of
his mother
Ding dong – Round 2
just before this match, Douglas
came into the match confident.
He weathered a bevy of flurries from Tyson in Round One
which so many before him had
succumbed to. Then as the fight
wore on it was clear that this
was not a fluke. He pummeled
Tyson until eventually knocking
him out shocking the world.
By this time, Tyson had begun
to be unpopular with the boxing fan base. He was abusing
women, arrogant and simply
not a likeable person. Thus, as
the fight went on, many of the
bandwagon Tyson fans who
had grown to love the spectacle
watching the Tyson first round
knockouts, quickly swung to
support Douglas during the
fight as they saw what was
unfolding. It was inspiring to
watch, especially knowing what
Douglas was fighting through
with the death of his mother
just before the match.
So we just finished Round 1 of
our own boxing match in Seychelles which was really more
like a 2 vs. 2 boxing
match
(Michel/
Faure vs. Ramkalawan/Pillay).
To recap Round 1, the Michel/
Faure tandem, ever the trash
talking champions, entered the
ring confident as ever. They
swung wildly going for the
Round 1 KO they had delivered so many times before and
promised this time as well, but
not on this day. The opponents
were prepared, technically
skilled and brimming with confidence. Pillay must have been
watching some old Mohammed
Ali footage because he was baiting them in with the old “ropea-dope” and even taunting his
opponents which only angered
them more and caused them to
swing more wildly. Then Alexia Amesbury and Ahmed Afif
came flying into the ring out of
nowhere and pulled the champs’
shorts down around their ankles! “That isn’t fair” said the
champs, who had ironically also
bought off all the judges and the
first few rows of fans who they
paid to cheer for them.
Ramkalawan and Pillay then
looked at each other, smiled
and delivered a left hook and a
right cross to each of their opponents rocking them heavily. The judges knew
they had
to score those blows and some
in the front row started to feel
the rising roar from the fans
behind them. Stunned, Michel
and Faure threw a flurry of wild
blows at the end of Round 1 as
they tripped over their shorts
leaving a handful of “supporters” hopeful that they can come
back in Round 2. However, the
audience was clearly swaying in
favor of the challengers at the
end of Round 1. Just like that
day when Buster decided he
was not going to let fear enter
his mind before the fight, which
had been the downfall of so
many of Tyson’s former opponents, Ramkalawan/Pillay and
the rest of the bevy of opposition were fearless against the
defending champions in Round
1.
So here we are in Round 2 as
some expected. Make no mistake; PL and Michel are now
terrified and rightfully so. This
is not in the bag for the challengers (the opposition) however
and they need to think carefully
about the winning combination
to deliver the Round 2 knockout. The defending champions
are staggered, but still dangerous. Here is one take on how to
win Round 2:
There is no question that
Lalyans is the reas o n
we are in a Round 2 due to
their inroads into PL. The Lalyans team also actually pulled
a significant number of votes
that went to SNP in 2011. The
writing on the wall is clear.
No offense to Mr. Mancienne
whatsoever, but surely anyone
with any kind of strategic sense
sees that the opposition needs
a Ramkalawan/Pillay ticket or
at the very least that this would
by far present the best odds for
victory. Here is a winning ticket
for the combined opposition:
President – Wavel Ramkalawan
Vice President – Pat Pillay or
if he is not interested, Ahmed
Afif
Minister of Finance – Ahmed
Afif
Attorney General – Alexia
Amesbury
Supreme Court Justice –
Philippe Boullé (if he would
take the pay cut!)
That should be enough to
secure 50%+ needed for the
united opposition to deliver
the Round 2 knockout. However, while the opposition still
has Michel stunned from that
Round 1 performance, why not
go for one haymaker at the beginning of Round 2? Maybe
getting one or two capable PL
Ministers to defect rather than
riding the sinking ship to the
bottom of the sea while the
captain
tries to dialogue with the
ocean? At the least they can
have fun by reaching out and
speculating with various parties
as PL would be seeing ghosts
from everywhere right now. Did
anyone also see the begrudging
“endorsement” of “Parti Lepep”
(not James Michel) from former
President René at the end of the
last PL PPB? Not a ringing endorsement by any stretch of the
imagination and lends credence
to the long standing rumors
that he is not a big fan of President Michel at present.
ZZ Top
Disclaimer: The opinions and
views expressed in this article
are those of the writer and not
necessarily those of this newspaper.
p11
Wednesday 9 December, 2015
Marine Species
Species of the week:
Powderblue Surgeonfish
In this installment of this weekly feature by WiseOceans, we introduce the Powderblue
Surgeonfish.
“WiseOceans is a marine education and conservation organisation, passionate about
spreading awareness of our seas
and celebrating the wonderful
marine life found here in Seychelles. WiseOceans Marine
Educators at Four Seasons Re-
sort Seychelles teach guests and
staff about coral reefs, helping
everyone to love and look after
the ocean. www.wiseoceans.com”.
Scientific name:
Acanthurus leucosternon
Common name:
Powderblue Surgeonfish
Kreol name:
Sirizyen
Size:
Up to 23cm
Diet:
Grazes on algae
Did you know…?
• Surgeonfish swim with their
pectoral fins (fins on the side of
their body).
• Near the base of the tail is a
spine for use in defence
• Their small mouth has a
slightly pointed beak to help
them reach food in narrow spac-
Powderblue surgeonfish schooling on reef, Maldives March 2008 ©AH
WiseOceans.
es.
• Usually a solitary species, but
in areas with lots of food they
can be observed feeding in large
shoals.
This beautiful fish with its blue
and yellow colouring is easy to
identify in the reef. It is found
in the Indian Ocean and prefers
to dwell on reef flats and shal-
low seas. The powderblue is part
of the Acanthuridae family of
fishes, otherwise known as surgeonfish. Their name is given because of the “surgeon’s scalpel”,
a small spine at the base of the
tail of al surgeonfish, which is
used defensively. Like other
surgeonfish they are quite
territorial and will aggressively defend an area of reef
where they are feeding, particularly against other surgeonfish. They are mainly
solitary, but where food is
plentiful they can sometimes
be found feeding in large
shoals. Like many surgeonfish the powderblue has a
compressed oval body and a
small pointy mouth which it
uses to eat benthic algae and
helps it reach food in gaps
and crevices on the reef. Its
bright colours can be used
to as an indicator of a fish’s
health, based on the intensity of its colouring. However,
its distinctive markings has
made it a target for collection from its natural habitat
for the aquarium trade.
p12
Wednesday 9 December, 2015
Lifeline
Celebrity Profile:
David Blaine (1973–)
Bhutan film director Tshering Wangyel dies at 43
David Blaine is a street magician who has become known for endurance stunts, such as living in a glass box for days.
Source: Biography.com
One of Bhutan’s leading film directors, Tshering Wangyel, has died
in hospital at the age of 43.
The Bhutan Film Association
said Tshering Wangyel had been
shooting his latest movie when he
was taken to hospital last month
with pneumonia. It called his death
a great shock and a huge loss.
Tshering Wangyel made 40 films
blending Bollywood with Buddhist themes and played a key role
in developing the nation’s movie
industry. Yeshi Dorji, executive director of the Bhutan Film Association, told the Agence France-Presse
news agency: “Most of our popular
actors and actresses got their break
because of him - every year he
would make at least a couple of
films, creating so many jobs in the
process.”
Star Wars: “No nostalgia”
for Harrison Ford
Early Life
Magician David Blaine was
born on April 4, 1973, to a single
mother in Brooklyn, New York.
A street performer provided
Blaine’s introduction to magic,
as the curious 4-year-old waited
for a subway train. Magic was
not his only interest, however,
and Blaine went on to attend
the Neighborhood Playhouse
drama school and appeared in
several TV commercials and soap
operas. It was during this time
that his ability to levitate off of
the ground surfaced and, at the
urging of his personal physician,
Blaine underwent a thorough examination.
Street Magic
When Blaine was 21, his mother was stricken with cancer and
passed away in 1994. Though
Star Wars actor Harrison
Ford has said he felt no nostalgia when he returned to the role
of Han Solo for the first time in
more than 30 years.
Ford joins other original cast
members Mark Hamill and
Carrie Fisher in Star Wars: The
Force Awakens, which is released later this month.
Ford said the film will show
how “the relationships between
him and other characters have
developed off-screen”.
And he hinted that fans will
see “new aspects” to Han Solo’s
personality. Ford and director JJ
Abrams spoke to BBC News entertainment correspondent Lizo
Mzimba about the film.
Mixed reviews for School
of Rock musical
Broadway musical School of
Rock, written by Downton Abbey’s Julian Fellowes with music
by Andrew Lloyd Webber, has
opened to mixed reviews.
The show, which was a hit 2003
film starring Jack Black, is about
a wannabe rock star who poses as
a teacher, forming a band with his
students to enter a music contest.
The Guardian said the musical
had “lost its mojo” and was “innocuous”.
The Hollywood Reporter, however, described it as a “crowdpleaser”. “In terms of screen-tostage remakes, this is neither
the most imaginative nor the
most pedestrian of them, falling
somewhere in the respectable
midrange,” it said, praising the
children in the show as “junior dynamos”, adding: “The kids get the
show’s most poignant moments”.
ings hit in 1997. David Blaine:
Magic Man followed two years
later.
Synopsis
David Blaine made a tape of a
magic performance and sent it to
ABC, where the response was tremendous. His first special, David
Blaine: Street Magic, was a ratings hit in 1997. David Blaine:
Magic Man followed two years
later. In 1999, Blaine performed
his first endurance stunt, and in
2000, he followed with “Frozen
in Time” in which he was frozen
into a block of ice for 72 hours.
grief-stricken, he continued to
perform and make a name for
himself at celebrity functions by
doing magic tricks for famous
people, such as Mike Tyson, Al
Pacino and David Geffen.
Blaine made a tape of a performance and sent it to ABC, where
TODAY in History
ShowBiz
Kim Kardashian and Kanye
West welcome baby boy
December 9th is the 343rd day of the year
1981: Policeman Daniel
Faulkner found dead
the response was tremendous
and an interview was soon requested. His first special, David
Blaine: Street Magic was a rat-
Endurance Stunts
In 1999, Blaine performed
his first endurance stunt:
submerging himself in 4,000
pounds of water for over
one week. In 2000, he followed with “Frozen in Time”
in which he was frozen into
a block of ice for 72 hours.
Two years later, he stood on a
100-foot pillar for 35 hours in
“Vertigo.”
Unfortunately, there were
more skeptics than supporters during 2003’s “Above the
Below,” which involved Blaine
living in a glass box suspended by the River Thames in
London for 44 days, without
food. The stunt gained worldwide media coverage, and
thousands gathered at the site
near Tower Bridge to witness
his release.
In New York in 2006, his “human aquarium” stunt involved
submersion in a water-filled
sphere for seven days, receiving air and food through tubes.
In a dramatic finale, he failed
in his attempt to break the
world record for holding breath
under water, while simultaneously escaping heavy chains.
1983: Pacino stars in
Scarface
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have announced the arrival of their second child, a
baby boy.
Source: BBC.com
Philadelphia police officer
Daniel Faulkner is found dead
on the street with Mumia AbuJamal, a well-known activist and
freelance journalist, lying severely wounded nearby. In 1982, AbuJamal was tried for and convicted
of Faulkner’s murder, but because
of the murky circumstances surrounding the incident and a trial
that many believe was unfair, activists have since protested AbuJamal’s imprisonment. Reportedly, Abu-Jamal, a journalist who
had been fired by National Public
Radio for his outspokenness, was
driving a cab at around 4 a.m.,
when he saw his brother engaged
in an altercation with Faulkner on
the street. Evidence used in the
trial suggested that Abu-Jamal
intervened with a gun and then
exchanged shots with Faulkner.
When the trial ended, Abu-Jamal
was sentenced to death for firstdegree murder. Many believed
that although there was a possibility that Abu-Jamal was involved in Faulkner’s death, the
sentence was overly harsh. While
in prison, Abu-Jamal has written
several books and made many
radio appearances advocating an
end to racism. He has also lobbied for a new trial.
The actor Al Pacino stars as a
Cuban refugee who becomes a
Miami crime boss in Scarface,
which opens in theaters on this
day in 1983.
In Scarface, Pacino played Tony
Montana, who arrives in Florida
from Cuba in 1980 and eventually becomes wealthy from his
involvement in the booming cocaine business. Things fall apart
when Tony becomes addicted to
the drug and his world collapses
in violence. Directed by Brian
De Palma from a screenplay by
Oliver Stone, Scarface co-starred
Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Bauer,
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
and Robert Loggia. The film was
loosely based on a 1932 gangster
film of the same name, directed
by Howard Hawks and reportedly inspired in part by the real-life
mobster Al “Scarface” Capone.
Though De Palma’s Scarface received mixed reviews upon its
initial release and was criticized
for its violence, it proved to be
a success at the box-office and
went on to achieve pop-culture
status.
R
Image caption Kim and Kanye with daughter North West in February.
eality TV star Kim confirmed
the news on her website with
a statement that said: “Mother and son are doing well.” The superstar couple’s daughter, North West,
was born in June 2013.
Kim announced she was pregnant
again in an episode of her show
Keeping Up with the Kardashians at
the end of May. There’s no news on
the name yet, but Kim has previously
said South West was not in the running.
“I don’t like South West... North
will always, you know, be better and
be more… she has a better direction,”
Kim said in an interview with National Public Radio in America.
Kim tweeted photos of herself and
her baby bump hours before the
birth.
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Wednesday 9 December, 2015
p13
International
Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift lead Grammy nominations
Taylor Swift left anything but a “Blank Space” in the nominations for the 58th annual Grammy Awards, receiving nods in the Big Three categories -- album, record and song of
the year -- though hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar outdid her for overall nominations.
ment.
The complete list of nominations
-- all 83 categories -- is at Grammy.
com.
T
Kendrick Lamar leads the nominations for the 58th annual Grammy Awards.
aylor Swift left anything but
a “Blank Space” in the nominations for the 58th annual
Grammy Awards, receiving nods
in the Big Three categories -- album, record and song of the year
-- though hip-hop artist Kendrick
Lamar outdid her for overall nominations.
Lamar topped everybody with 11
nominations. Swift earned seven,
as did producer-singer the Weeknd. The nominees for album of the
year are “1989” (Swift), “Beauty Behind the Madness” (the Weeknd),
“To Pimp a Butterfly” (Lamar),
“Sound + Color” (Alabama Shakes)
and “Traveller” (Chris Stapleton).
The nominees for record of the
year are “Blank Space” (Swift),
“Uptown Funk!” (Mark Ronson
featuring Bruno Mars), “Thinking
Out Loud” (Ed Sheeran), “Can’t
Feel My Face” (the Weeknd) and
“Really Love” (D’Angelo and the
Vanguard).
The nominees for song of the
year -- a songwriter’s award -- are
“Thinking Out Loud,” “Blank
Space,” “Alright” (performed by
Lamar), “Girl Crush” (performed
by Little Big Town) and “See You
Again” (performed by Wiz Khalifa
featuring Charlie Puth).
The nominees for best new artist
are Sam Hunt, Meghan Trainor,
James Bay, Tori Kelly and Courtney
Barnett.
The Grammy attention reaffirms
Lamar’s importance in the wake of
what happened two years ago when
his debut, “good kid, m.A.A.d city,”
came out. He was critically praised
then -- and nominated for seven
Grammys -- but came up empty for
awards. Now he’s topped Eminem
as the hip-hop artist with the most
nominations in a single year.
Lamar’s achievement is all the
more impressive because he did
so with ‘To Pimp a Butterfly,’ a rap
album so challenging and musically complex that fans and critics
are still chewing on it nearly nine
months after its release,” the Los
Angeles Times’ Gerrick D. Kennedy wrote.
Recording Academy President/
CEO Neil Portnow praised the diversity of the field. “Artists are pushing boundaries in exciting ways,
making it an exceptionally strong
year for music,” he said in a state-
Taylor Swift’s Blank Space, is competing for song of the year against Alright, by Kendrick Lamar amongst
others.
Newcomers making waves
Indeed, even genres such as rock
and pop, which often lean on old favorites, offered relative newcomers
a taste of Grammy glory. For best
rock performance, the nominees
included Elle King and Wolf Alice
along with Alabama Shakes, Florence + the Machine and Foo Fighters. Best country album nominees
are Sam Hunt (“Montevallo”), Kacey Musgraves (“Pageant Material”)
and Chris Stapleton (“Traveller”)
along with Ashley Monroe (“The
Blade”) and Little Big Town (“Pain
Killer”).
And Seth MacFarlane -- yes, that
Seth MacFarlane, the man who cre-
ated “Family Guy” and “American
Dad!” -- earned a slot in the best
traditional pop vocal album alongside such great American songbook
performers as Tony Bennett and
Bill Charlap, Josh Groban, Barry
Manilow and Bob Dylan. (Yes, that
Bob Dylan.)
But where’s Adele?
Though Lamar, Swift and the
Weeknd led all artists, many in
the Twitterverse wondered about
the absence of the woman who
just sold 4.5 million albums in two
weeks: Adele. Sorry, folks. Adele’s
album didn’t qualify for this year’s
Grammys because the most recent
Grammy year ran from October
2014 to September, and Adele’s album didn’t come out until November. You can bet she’ll be all over the
2017 Grammys.
However, there were some
surprising omissions. Billboard
editor Joe Levy, talking about
the major nominations on CBS,
noted that none of Drake’s 2015
releases made the cut in the top
categories. He also observed
that the cast album for the
Broadway hit “Hamilton,” which
uses a variety of musical genres
in its score, didn’t get an album
of the year nomination.
It was a long shot, Levy added.
“Hamilton” did pick up a nomination for best musical theater
album. Also, don’t weep for
Drake. The hip-hop star picked
up five nominations, including
best rap song (Energy) and best
rap album (If You’re Reading
This It’s Too Late). The Grammys will be held February 15
2017.
Eagles of Death Metal on Paris stage
with U2
US rock band Eagles of Death Metal have appeared on stage in Paris, less than a
month after deadly attacks during their performance in the French capital.
Source: BBC
T
he band took to the stage
to perform at the end of
a U2 concert at the AccorHotels Arena on Monday
evening. “They were robbed
of their stage three weeks ago
and we would like to offer them
ours tonight,” said singer Bono.
Ninety of the 130 people who
died in the 13 November attacks were killed at the concert
at the Bataclan venue. Bono
embraced Eagles of Death
Metal (EODM) singer Jesse
Hughes ahead of an emotional
joint rendition of Patti Smith’s
People Have The Power.
EODM then performed I
Love You All The Time. An
appearance by the Eagles of
Death Metal at the 16,000-capacity arena had been heavily rumoured. One concertgoer, Vera Golloch, told Agence
France-Presse that everyone
wanted to be at Monday’s gig.
“It’s historic and important, it
really is,” she said.
U2 concerts had been slated
for 14 and 15 November but
were rescheduled after the terrorist attacks. The Irish band
Eagles of Death Metal were invited to play during a concert by U2 in
Paris.
instead played at the AccorHotels Arena on Sunday and Monday nights.
At the Sunday gig, Bono said:
“We stand together with the
families of those killed in Paris,” as victims’ names were projected on a huge video screen.
As an encore, Bono wrapped
himself in a tricolour flag and
sang a verse of Belgian singer
Jacques Brel’s Ne me quitte pas
(Don’t Leave Me).
Bono and guitarist The Edge
both have houses in France.
The Edge told CNN: “It seemed
like the target [of the attacks]
was culture and every kind of
expression of the best of humanity - great music, restaurants, French food - everything
that we hold dear.”
Wednesday 9 December, 2015
lution is 02nd December 2015
(c) the Liquidator of the Company is ARNALDO ANTAO of Glacis Mahe Seychelles
Executive fully-furnished aircon 4
bedroom house with 3 bathrooms with/
without adjacent bedsitter, fenced and
electronic gated with sea view near Le
Relax hotel Anse Royale for long term
rental from 03/01/2016. Contact 2510733
or anseroyalehouse@hotmail.com
Character Hillside House. 4 bedrooms,
2 bathrooms. Fabulous View, Beautiful
grounds, fully secured with garage. Viewing recommended. Please call 2719050
Executive fully furnished air-con one
bedroom apartment for rent at Le Rocker,
with garden and car port. SR14, 000.00
Inclusive Tax per month.
Tel: 2711801/2842215.
NOTICE
International Business Companies Act,
1994
Section 92(4) (Cap. 100 A)
RE: Voluntary Dissolution of Tracon Limited
(“the Company”) incorporated in Seychelles
The Company hereby gives notice that:
(a) the Company is in dissolution;
(b) the date of commencement of the dissolution is 26th November 2015
(c) the Liquidator of the Company is ARNALDO ANTAO of Glacis Mahe Seychelles
Dated this 7 December 2015
NOTICE
International Business Companies Act,
1994
Section 92(4) (Cap. 100 A)
Dated this 7 December 2015
NOTICE
International Business Companies Act,
1994
Section 92(4) (Cap. 100 A)
RE: Voluntary Dissolution of bezanoi Limited
(“the Company”) incorporated in Seychelles
The Company hereby gives notice that:
(a) the Company is in dissolution;
(b) the date of commencement of the dissolution is 04th December 2015
(c) the Liquidator of the Company is ARNALDO ANTAO of Glacis Mahe Seychelles
Dated this 7 December 2015
RE: Voluntary Dissolution of Isogonal Corp.
(“the Company”) incorporated in Seychelles
The Company hereby gives notice that:
(a) the Company is in dissolution;
(b) the date of commencement of the disso-
21 Jan – 19 Feb
You will do something so
strange today that even those
who know you well may
wonder if you are losing your
mind. Maybe you are and
maybe you are not but either
way it’s good to keep them
on their toes. Don’t ever be
taken for granted.
23 July – 22 Aug
To some people the current
outlook may seem a bit
glum but you can see the
bright side in even the darkest situation, so make it your
aim to remind them that life
can still be fun. But if they
remain unconvinced don’t
let them bring you down too.
20 Feb – 20 March
If you are the kind of Pisces
who relies too much on your
emotions then you may
stray some way from the
truth today. The more you
see conspiracies round every
corner the more you can be
sure that your imagination is
playing tricks on you.
23 Aug – 23 Sept
Don’t let someone’s selfishness or stupidity get to you
over the next 24 hours.
Things will go right for you
if you stay calm and refuse
to let your lower nature
take control. If you can rise
above petty things, and petty people, you will do okay.
21 March – 20 April
You may do something today
that other people do not approve of but no way will you
change course because of it,
it’s just not your style. If anything you will rather enjoy
being singled out for so much
attention. Besides, all publicity is good publicity.
24Sept–23Oct
Money and status may be
importanttoyoubutnomatter how successful you are the
most important things in life
are your relationships and
what happens today will in
some way or other remind
you of that fact. You are rich
inloveandthat’swhatcounts.
21 April – 21 May
Your daily routine will be interrupted today and you won’t
be too happy about it. Having
said which, does your life really need to be so regimented,
so organized? Probably not.
Maybe you should try to relax
a bit. Workaholics definitely
do not have more fun.
24 Oct – 22 Nov
If you catch yourself wondering what might have
been that is a sure sign you
are unhappy with your lot
and need to make changes.
But don’t change anything
yet. Give it a few days and it
may surprise you how easy
it is to transform your life.
22 May – 21 June
Why is it that everyone but
you seems to have got it
wrong? Why is that no one
can see what you can see?
Whatever the reason may
be all you can do is carry on
with your own way of doing
things. Others are not your
responsibility.
23 Nov – 21 Dec
There are times when it is
smart to keep your thoughts
to yourself and this is one of
them. Even if a family member pesters you for an opinion today you must bite your
tongue and refuse to answer.
If possible, move the conversation in other directions.
22 June – 22 July
22 Dec – 20 Jan
Employers and other important people seem to be rather
demanding at the moment
and what annoys you most is
that they change their minds
every two minutes or so.
Don’t get angry because that
will just make matters worse.
You must stay calm.
There is no point trying to
reason with certain people
because whatever you say
they will disagree with you. It
may annoy you that they are
so stubborn in their views but
if you think about it you will
realize that you too are like
that sometimes.
For sale at Anse La Blague, Praslin a
2 bedroom house, a small shop and a
small hotel. For more info contact Simon
Bistoquet on 2542418
Down
1. Made from the residue of grapes
2. A Freudian stage
3. A connecting point
4. Fragrance
5. Fail to fulfill a promise
6. Lessen in intensity
7. Toadfish
8. Duo
9. Killer
10. A very tall building
11. Vampire
12. Leaves out
13. To the point
21. Spotted
25. Bother persistently
26. Blacken
27. Hawaiian island
28. An embarrassing mistake
29. Precursor
30. Collection of maps
31. Utilizer
34. Nobleman
36. Ray
37. A tribe of Israel
38. Biblical garden
40. As Soon As Possible
45. Not odd
48. Irritated
50. Come forth
51. Superlatives
52. Make a strident sound
53. Increase in salary
54. Twisted and tight
57. Prefix indicating half
58. Operatic solo
59. Not fatty
60. Praise
61. The boundary of a surface
62. Colored cloth
Yesterday’s solution
Across
1. Estate
6. Vipers
10. A small slit
14. Positive electrode
15. A Semitic deity
16. A mound of glacial gravel
17. A radioactive gaseous element
18. Capital of Western Samoa
19. A giant slain by Odin (Norse
mythology)
20. An upper row of windows in
a church
22. Seats oneself
23. G
24. Enclose
26. Morning drink
30. Icelandic monetary units
32. Angelic headgear
33. Meshes
35. Actor Clark _____
39. A Hindu deity
41. Beer
42. Velocity
43. Bumpkins
44. Scarce
46. Cornice
47. What trains run on
49. Animal pest
51. Without warning
54. Precious stone
55. Tribe
56. Directed the flow
63. Principal
64. Queen of the gods (Greek
mythology)
65. Prepared
66. Gaelic
67. Chieftain
68. Judge tentatively
69. Fortune teller
70. Found on old telephones
71. Finished
1. What is the modern-day name of the once colonial nation French Sudan?
2. Beatrix became queen of which European nation in 1980?
Published by TODAY Publishers (Seychelles)
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Fax: +248 4325999
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3. Hircine refers to being like or related to what creature?
4. What is the only ‘big cat’ found wild in the Americas which roars?
5. The Italian word pizza originally referred to a: Pie; Pancake; Tomato; or Cheese?
6. The name of what workwear was derived from the Dongri area in South
Mumbai India?
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Fax: +248 4237 442
7. Which notable leader won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize?
8. Andorra is a small principality located between which two countries?
Editor - Deepa Bhookhun
deepa.bhookhun@today.sc
9. White Burley, Y1, Perique, Brightleaf and Criollo are types of what?
10. What is confit meat cooked and preserved in?
Quick Quiz Answers: 1. Mali (Republic of Mali) 2. The Netherlands (or Holland) 3. Goat
4. Jaguar 5. Pie 6. Dungarees 7. Barack Obama 8. France and Spain 9. Tobacco 10. Fat
KIA Soul - 1600cc - Model 2014 - Mileage 5500km - Owner Leaving - Price negotiable - Call 2613360
How To Play
The objective is to fill the blank squares with the correct numbers
•Every row of 9 must include all digits 1 to 9 in any order
•Every column of 9 must include all digits 1 to 9 in any order
•Every 3 x 3 sub-grid must include all digits 1 to 9 in any order
Fill the other empty cells with numbers between 1 and 9
A number should appear only once on each row, column and 3 x 3 region
Business Development Manager - Veronica Maria
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ISSN: 1659-7265
Wednesday 9 December, 2015
p15