Port Louis - Pope Francis on Monday urged Mauritius, a prosperous magnet for tourists and a global tax haven, to shun an "idolatrous economic model" that excludes the youth and the poor and damages the environment.

Port Louis - Thousands of pilgrims in Mauritius marched Saturday to the shrine of a venerated Catholic missionary where Pope Francis will arrive next week for the first papal visit to the Indian Ocean island in 30 years.

Port Louis - Reggae music, whose chill, lilting grooves won international fame thanks to artists like Bob Marley, on Thursday secured a coveted spot on the United Nations' list of global cultural treasures.

Port Louis - Reggae music, whose calm, lilting grooves found international fame thanks to artists like Bob Marley, on Thursday won a spot on the United Nations' list of global cultural treasures.

Port Louis - Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, who has been embroiled in a financial scandal, resigned on Saturday, her lawyer said, just days after she refused to stand down.

Port Louis - The island nation of Mauritius celebrated its 50th year of independence Monday with fireworks and entertainment, just days after a financial scandal forced its president to announce plans to resign.

Port Louis - Mauritian President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim is to resign after becoming embroiled in a financial scandal, Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth announced on Friday.

Port Louis - Former Mauritian prime minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam was freed on bail on Saturday, officials said, the day after his arrest sparked angry demonstrations from supporters in the Indian Ocean island nation.

Port Louis - Police in Mauritius arrested former prime minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam on Friday, media reports said, sparking angry demonstrations from supporters in the Indian Ocean island nation.

Sydney - It’s the Holy Grail for the Earth sciences. An ancient micro continent has been found. The Seychelles are believed to be the modern remains of this continent, submerged during the breakup into modern continental land masses.

Underneath the sands of Mauritius, located in the Indian Ocean, lays a secret. Deep beneath the sands lays an ancient continent.

The Associated British Foods (ABF), one of the biggest British multinationals, whose brands include Silver Spoon sugar and Twinnings Tea, has been accused of avoiding to pay its million-dollar tax bill to Zambia, one of the poorest countries in the world.

Hopeman - A British animal lover Karen Garner, spent £3,685 (nearly $6,000) to bring home a stray dog she found while on holiday in the tropical island of Mauritius.

According to various official and unofficial estimates, Indians are accounted among the largest beneficiaries of black money deposited in tax havens off-shore. Apart from Switzerland, there are several other off-shore ill-gotten money destinations.

Despite repeated reports of cruel treatment of primates at some research facilities in the US, wild monkeys are reportedly being transported into US research facilities from abroad, raising questions about the ethical treatment of research animals.

Queen guitarist Brian May and wildlife expert Bill Oddie have teamed up with the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) to add their support to the Stop the Baby Trade campaign.

Antananarivo - BirdLife International announced today, in the 2010 IUCN Red List update for birds, the official extinction of the Alaotra Grebe, a bird endemic to Madagascar no seen for the last 25 years.

Nairobi - The International Monetary Fund has announced that the African economy is recovering much quicker than a lot of other regions of the world and they believe the private sector was a key attributing factor to the recovery.

The International Monetary Fund has announced that it will begin to sell 191.3 tons of gold bullion soon to reduce its dependence on lending revenue.

Earlier this month, the government of India purchasd $7 billion worth of gold bullion and now there have been talks that India may buy more from the International Monetary Fund. When this news report hit, gold hit another benchmark at $1,180.