A digest of news and opinion from the Maldives.
The Maldives is tightening its grip on the media and freedom of speech by using the broadcasting regulator to silence and intimidate journalists, a leading NGO has warned, as the government pushes a draft law that could see newspapers and TV stations temporarily shut down or fined. Transparency Maldives, in a statement Monday, condemned the […]
Parliament on Monday approved the ratification of the Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement to reduce the global production and use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The Maldives’ accession was endorsed with 28 votes in favour from the 85-member house. After boycotting debate and voting on a supplementary budget last month, opposition lawmakers resumed […]
Journalist Hawwa Rasheed* was in a near-deserted newsroom compiling headlines for an upcoming bulletin when two rough hands grappled her from behind and grabbed at her breasts. “I was completely numb. Those few minutes felt like years,” Hawwa said while fiddling with her headscarf, trying to cover her chest. She slapped away the invasive hands […]
Raajje TV has paid off an MVR500,000 ($32,467) fine imposed by the broadcasting regulator for airing comments deemed a threat to national security, as a preliminary hearing to appeal an earlier fine began Sunday. The opposition-aligned station was last month penalised for broadcasting remarks from opposition MP Mohamed Musthafa. It was the third fine slapped […]
Teachers in the Maldives must be educated on how to monitor students for extremist ideologies, according to the first strategy document from the National Counter Terror Centre. US-based security and risk management consultancy the Soufan Group says around 200 to 250 Maldivians are known to be fighting in Syria and Iraq, making the island nation […]
The Maldives slipped one position in the World Bank’s ease of doing business report for 2018, ranking 136 out of 190 economies. The only reform enacted during the one-year review period ending on June 1, 2017 was the introduction of an online system for filing and paying taxes. The Maldives fell from 128 to 135 […]
The Maldives continues to be plagued by a centuries-old social problem of secular, atheistic and extremist ideologies, Defence Minister Adam Shareef Umar said Friday night. Speaking at an event to mark the 29th anniversary of Victory Day, Shareef said both secular or irreligious thought and religious extremism pose a threat to Maldivian independence, referring to […]
The finance ministry has loaned MVR46.3 million (US$3 million) to the State Trading Organisation to prop up its subsidiary fisheries company. The debt-ridden Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company was incorporated under the umbrella of the STO group, the largest state-owned enterprise and the country’s primary wholesaler, in October last year. According to the finance ministry, the loan is intended to […]
The imminent destruction of Kulhudhuffushi’s mangroves to make way for an airport and ensuing environmental damage have dominated headlines recently. The airport’s development was a major campaign pledge of President Abdulla Yameen. Following is a timeline of events since the presidential pledge. August 12 2013 – Presidential candidate Yameen pledges to build an airport on […]