🇲🇺 Safe City eyes an AI upgrade as privacy law lags behind

Safe City eyes an AI upgrade as privacy law lags behind

The government is weighing whether to plug artificial intelligence into Safe City so the camera network could flag traffic offences on its own, with no officer watching each feed. That shift, from cameras that record to cameras that decide, is what unsettles lawyer Me Assadullah Durbarry, who says the Data Protection Act 2017 was never written for machines that judge behaviour in real time.

Durbarry's first question is not the technology but the goal. Road safety, he notes, does not rest on drivers alone, since the roads, the signage, the lighting and the flow of traffic all decide whether people crash. Point a smarter camera at the driver and you still ignore the pothole.

His deeper worry is the moment the system gets it wrong. Who answers when an algorithm books you, and what stops footage collected for road safety from serving something else entirely? A law exists. Clear rules on how the data is stored, shared and challenged, he says, do not yet.

A camera that can judge a driver can, with one software update, be told to judge much more.

IBA orders Top FM to sanction Habib Mosaheb over remarks on air

The Independent Broadcasting Authority, the state body that regulates radio and television, has asked Top FM to take disciplinary action against presenter Habib Mosaheb over comments on his programme Kozé do Mo Pep on 10 May.

Answering a caller who complained that transport ministry officials did their work poorly, Mosaheb urged drivers to campaign against those he judged incompetent. The move lands awkwardly. During the campaign, figures in the governing Alliance du Changement had attacked the IBA as partial and pledged to let private radio and its listeners speak freely.

Sugar tax rise leaves local food makers bracing for cuts

From 1 October the excise on sugar content climbs from 12 to 15 sous per gram and widens to cover more products. Manufacturers say the timing stings. It piles on to dearer raw materials, energy and freight.

At Les Vergers de Labourdonnais, processing chief Réaz Gunga warns the extra cost will either eat margins or reach shelf prices. Tax the sugar at the point of purchase instead, he argues, and every user pays the same, rather than the makers carrying it alone.

Asbestos still lurks as the demolition crews move in

As demolition sites multiply around the island, asbestos remains a quiet, scattered hazard, warns trade unionist Reeaz Chuttoo. The fibres work slowly and out of sight, and old buildings coming down can push them back into air that people breathe without ever knowing.

Nine in ten fail the Extended Programme, figures show

Figures tabled in the National Assembly show more than 90% of Extended Programme pupils failing the National Certificate of Education in some years. Built as a second chance for children who struggled early, the stream now leaves many where it found them, and raises hard questions about whether it was ever set up to succeed.

Shorts

Saint-Joseph students march against bullying – Pupils and staff walked the streets to say no child should dread the schoolyard.

FCC arrests a second CEB technician – The graft probe into the power utility widens with another employee held.

Qawwali master Idris Lallmahomed dies – The devotional music great died on Saturday, leaving a real hush over the scene.

Port Louis residents cry foul at city hall – A letter to the FCC alleges irregularities at capital's municipal council.

STC tightens the rules on rice imports – New terms govern an 8,000 tonne long grain supply due from September.

Rs 10.7 million

The road signs contract handed to BN Safety cleared two rivals' appeals at the review body, which waved the award through while faulting the process for transparency.

40 years

of the Nuits d'Afrique festival, which returns for a 40th edition of African music first staged by promoter Lamine Touré and Suzanne Rousseau.

72 people

have fallen ill with Legionnaires' disease in an Upper East Side outbreak that killed two, officials say new cases are now easing.

Tunisia bakes as the mercury nears 50°C

A fierce heatwave has driven temperatures in Tunisia close to 50 degrees Celsius, breaking records across several regions, local media report. The numbers are brutal. Power and water demand has spiked, and outdoor work turns near impossible in the hottest hours.

For an island that lets the sea breeze do its cooling, it is a preview of how savage a North African summer can be.

Sierra Leone women take the wheel to get by

In Sierra Leone, more women are driving the kekeh, the little three wheel taxi, to earn a living and bridge gaps in public transport.

CAR premier warns gunmen after a border raid

Central African PM Félix Moloua travelled to Birao to warn armed groups after a deadly attack near the Sudan border last month.

US marshals arrest the Tate brothers in Miami

US Marshals arrested Andrew and Tristan Tate in Miami, the divisive online influencers Britain wants extradited on charges of rape, human trafficking and sexual exploitation stretching across several countries. The brothers, who hold dual American and British nationality, have denied any wrongdoing for years.

It is the first time an arrest has put them in American custody, rather than under travel limits abroad.

Mbappé sets a World Cup scoring record as England beat France

England beat France 6-4 in the playoff for third, a wild ten goal tie in which Kylian Mbappé reached an all-time World Cup record of 22 goals.

Britain's next premier drops the digital ID plan

Britain's incoming PM Andy Burnham will scrap the planned digital ID scheme on taking office Monday, moving the money toward the cost of living.

How a Sunday stroll became a curry institution

What do you do when you open an Indian restaurant knowing nothing about Indian food? If you are Atma Bumma, you bluff, then learn fast. 25 years ago he could not have told you what a tandoor was.

A Sunday walk at Caudan Waterfront, a chat with friends, and the idea stuck. The bluff outlasted the doubt. Namaste became a name people book a table at.

🙏 Merci, à demain! 👋

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