🇲🇺 Survey ships head back out to hunt for oil under Mauritian waters

Survey ships head back out to hunt for oil under Mauritian waters

Cabinet signed off on Friday on a deal with the French firm Viridien to run a sweeping seismic survey across the Joint Management Area, the 396,000 sq km stretch of seabed that Mauritius and the Seychelles administer together. A specialist ship will crisscross the zone, firing sound waves at ocean floor and reading the echoes to map the rock layers far below.

This is not a rig. It is not a payday. Gathering geology is the first real step of any oil and gas hunt: the data tells you whether the formations under the seabed are the kind that might trap oil. No wells are planned yet. None may ever be.

Mauritius has wondered out loud before about oil beneath its waters. Now it is spending real money to look. What the survey settles is narrow but useful, whether the next question, the far more expensive one, is even worth asking.

Rs 500,000 reward brings four forward in the Koo Yam Too killing

A Rs 500,000 police reward has drawn four people forward over the killing of Jonathan Koo Yam Too, found shot in the chest at Midlands on 11 June, aged 40. The reward went up on 8 July, and the tips are only landing now. Detectives recorded three of their statements; the fourth did not hold up.

PM Ramgoolam told Parliament on Tuesday, answering a Private Notice Question from Opposition leader Joe Lesjongard, that detectives have now questioned 21 people and that a team of foreign investigators is assisting them. The case remains open.

Police told to step in after death threats to reporters at the FCC

Journalists covering the Financial Crimes Commission were insulted, provoked and even threatened with death outside its offices on Monday night, as investigators questioned the former Prime Minister inside over the Mercantile and Maritime oil contract.

Housing Minister Shakeel Mohamed called the scene extremely serious and reminded the police of their duty to act under Standing Orders. The New Democrats condemned the intimidation and demanded a swift, impartial inquiry.

Rodrigues water board feud lands in the Supreme Court

A boardroom fight at the Rodrigues Public Utilities Corporation is now court case. Chairman Claude Wong So has filed civil action against fellow director Christopher Bègue, with a first hearing due in September, after Bègue's push to unseat Wong So stalled as inadmissible before it ever reached the island's Regional Assembly.

Central bank puts price stability first with a 4% inflation goal

The Bank of Mauritius is holding a cautious line. The message is patience. In its June report it set a 4% inflation target and made clear it will guard price stability over chasing short-term growth, even as global pressures build. For households, the bet is simple: steadier prices beat a faster boom.

Shorts

Rights body wants teeth on abuse law – Human Rights commissioners want real prevention in the new Domestic Abuse Bill, not just a broader definition.

More time to file company taxes – The Mauritius Revenue Authority pushed the corporate tax filing deadline to 31 August, easing pressure on firms.

Prison van carrying Veeren overturns – A van taking detainee Peroomal Veeren for treatment flipped at Rose-Belle, hurting him lightly and wrecking three cars.

Fun Park shut after safety breaches – Tribeca Mall's Fun Park suspended its rides after regulators served a notice over several safety breaches.

Suspended officers may lose full pay – Government is weighing whether police officers under suspension should keep drawing their full salaries.

More than 20

drownings across the island's lagoons and rivers this year, the National Coast Guard counts, most of them tied to a careless moment near the water.

26 weeks

of maternity leave now come guaranteed on full pay, with another 26 offered as an option. A full year on paper, half of it a promise.

100 kg

of cannabis bound for Mauritius surfaced during a weekend raid on Réunion, where police held two suspects. The island stays a favourite drop for the trade.

Guinea clears a colonel over the 2009 stadium massacre

A court in Guinea has acquitted a police colonel charged over the 2009 stadium massacre, when security forces killed scores of pro-democracy protesters in Conakry. Seven other defendants were sentenced, from a few years to life.

Three military suspects remain on the run. For survivors who waited more than fifteen years, the verdict reads as half a reckoning.

Chad moves to quit the ICC

Chad says it will leave the International Criminal Court, calling the tribunal uneven and too fixed on Africa.

Congo tests shots as Ebola nears a record

With DR Congo's outbreak among its worst yet, scientists are trialling vaccines against Ebola's rare Bundibugyo strain.

A magnitude 7.1 quake rocks southern Japan

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Kyushu in southern Japan on Tuesday afternoon, setting off tsunami warnings along the coast and violent shaking across Kumamoto. Rescuers fear deaths after a shopping mall partly collapsed in Kashima.

Japan knows this drill well, the long wait now is for the toll once the rubble comes away.

Pakistan's monsoon floods kill 109

Since late June, floods have killed at least 109 people across Pakistan, and forecasters warn of yet more rain over battered ground.

China accuses the US of 'AI hegemonism'

What does a tech cold war sound like? Beijing calls it 'AI hegemonism' and threatens countermeasures after US threats to sanction its firms.

Cocoa estates built on forced labour join the heritage list

UNESCO, the UN's cultural arm, has added the old plantation estates of São Tomé and Príncipe, the roças, to its World Heritage list. Grand houses, chapels and hospitals still stand at their core.

The honour salutes the architecture and, pointedly, the thousands shipped there under Portuguese rule to work it. Heritage here is not just the buildings, but the hands forced to raise them.

🙏 Merci, à demain! 👋

Enjoying 4minit?
❤️ Share 4minit with someone who'd enjoy it
📲 Follow us on Facebook and Instagram
🤝 Get in touch to sponsor us

Feedback | Unsubscribe