Day: April 29, 2023

The Prime Minister of the Federal Government of Somalia, H.E Hamza Abdi Barre, who has been out of the country for the past few days, returned on Saturday. The Prime Minister and his delegation were welcomed at the airport by members of the two Houses of Parliament of the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Council of Ministers, officials and various sections of the society. PM Hamza said that he prayed for the people and the country and asked Allah to grant them peace, prosperity, and unity. The Prime Minister indicated that this year will be one in which the people and the government will clear the country of the remnants of the Al-Shabaab terrorists within a short period of time, and the country will take other major achievements including the completion of the debt relief program and the drafting of the interim Constitution and utilizing the resources of our country to help the needy people.

Source: Somali National News Agency

The Honorary Consul General of Seychelles in Bulgaria, Maxim Behar, has displayed his more creative culinary side through the writing of a book on the cuisine, nature and people of Seychelles – a country he has been serving since 2004.

Called “Seychelles Recipes and More about ‘Paradise on Earth'” in Bulgarian, the book holds 25 recipes from Seychellois cuisine, ranging from starters, main dishes to desserts.

Behar, who is the owner and CEO of an award-winning European PR corporation, M3 Communications Group, told SNA that one of the very unique sides of the beautiful country of course is the unique cuisine.

“Being in the public relations business I understand very well that cuisine is very attractive and, alongside this, people will learn many other things about our country. I know Seychelles for almost 20 years and it was always my wish to promote it better to the world,” said Behar.

Talking about what inspired him to write the book, Behar outlined that it was his participation in a reality cooking show on Bulgarian NOVA TV Channel called ‘The Cherry on the Cake’, that sparked the idea.

“In the show, I cooked genuine Seychelles food and the interest was really enormous. Hundreds of people called me with requests for recipes and more details about Seychelles and then I had only one choice to satisfy those requests – to write a book,” said Behar.

Offering a deeper glimpse into his relationship with Seychelles, Behar said that his favourite Seychellois dishes are the Millionaire Salad or Palm Heart salad and Tuna Fish Grilled Steak, two dishes that he regularly cooks at home.

To put together the recipes in the book, Behar received guidance from two people within the culinary scene of Seychelles. One was his close Bulgarian friend, Milen Velikov, who lived in Seychelles for about 15 years and opened a Creole restaurant in the Northern Bulgarian city of Ruse.

“Before the pandemic, he was managing an emblematic restaurant on Mahe, called ‘Oscars’. Luckily, and totally coincidentally, at the time when I was writing a book there was a Seychellois chef – Julio Lesperance – visiting friends in Sofia, and part of the advice also came from him,” said Behar.

Aside from the Seychellois cuisine, the book also tells the story of the island nation’s people and nature.

Behar said that the more people know about the country, which he refers to in the book as ‘Paradise on Earth’, the better for Seychelles’ economy, for the education of its people, and for the cultural exchange and friendship between the nations.

“Seychelles cuisine is not foreign to me. Deeply in my heart and thoughts, I feel Seychelles. My dream is to make the country much more known all over the world. That is why the book will soon be in the English language on Amazon so millions of people all over the world will be able to download it. Making Seychelles better branded reflects not only on tourism, but also on businesses, and investments. Even our national pride is important in this unsecured and difficult world,” said Behar.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

Over 50 large bags, containing suspected packets of illicit drugs, were removed by Seychelles’ military officials and the police from a dhow intercepted in the island nation’s waters.

The Seychelles Coast Guard escorted the dhow and its seven crew members aboard to its base at Ile Du Port arriving at around 1p.m. on Saturday.

“During the Coast Guard routine patrol, the dhow was spotted southeast of Mahe, and the Coast Guard vessel, Zoroaster, was sent to their location. They had to use force to stop the boat whose crew was not cooperating,” said Lieutenant Colonel Archil Mondon, the public relations officer of the Seychelles Defence Forces (SDF) and the commanding officer of the Special Forces Unit.

He explained that while they were boarding the dhow, which had seven crew members, some of them had dumped some bags into the sea. The bags were recovered and transported to the main island of Mahe.

The operation to inspect and remove the suspected drugs from the boat took place in the presence of President Wavel Ramkalawan, along with other senior members of the SDF and the Seychelles Police.

Ramkalawan has congratulated the Seychelles security services including the SDF, the police and intelligence services as well as all other key partners involved in the recent anti-narcotics operation during which the largest amount of drugs was seized.

“This is a reflection of the enormity of the challenge our country is facing vis-a-vis the drug scourge, and the government with all its stakeholders and partners remains determined to pursue this fight for the protection of our people, especially the youth of Seychelles. We will not give up in this fight and I once again call on everyone to join in this fight. Congratulations for a job well done!” he said.

The Commissioner of Police, Ted Barbe, said that the SDF and the police worked closely together in such operations. The police then take over the investigation once the boat is brought ashore.

“There are no Seychellois aboard the boat and we are yet to ascertain the crews’ nationality, although we know that a lot of Iranians tend to frequent our waters,” said Commissioner Barbe.

He added that at the moment, they cannot confirm what type of drugs are in the bags, although they suspect it to be illicit drugs. This will be known once the relevant tests are done.

Source: Seychelles News Agency