Parliament approved halving the tobacco tariff from MVR 8 (US$ 0.52) to MVR 4 per cigarette, with opposition MDP members also voting in favour and none against. The change is expected to bring the price of a pack of cigarettes down from over MVR 230 to around MVR 130, closer to the pre-2024 price of about MVR 100 before the import duty was doubled.
The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's ruling that new evidence submitted against former President Yameen in the Aarah island corruption case should be set aside. A unanimous three-judge bench found the prosecution failed to properly argue for its admission. Additional evidence included military attendance records and cabinet committee minutes the state had sought to use to disprove defence witness testimony. The Supreme Court's stay order on the Criminal Court proceedings is now lifted.
The Criminal Court sentenced Marvin Eswai Vargas to 25 years in prison and his lover, IGMH nurse Haleemah Lamha Abdurrahman, to 15 years for the premeditated October 2021 murder of Marvin's wife, Filipino IGMH nurse Mary Grace Oñed Pineda, who was strangled and beaten to death. Lamha, who kept the couple's child at her home during the killing and helped stage it as a suicide, was also found to have smuggled controlled medication from IGMH to Marvin. Both sentences were enhanced by the court citing the callous nature of the killing and attempts to conceal it.
Plastic nurdles, small pre-production plastic pellets used in manufacturing, have been found washing up on beaches in the northern Maldives, with the Environmental Regulatory Authority conducting surveys and urging islands to report sightings. ERA said the pellets, which persist in the ocean and travel with currents, are believed to have originated from two shipwrecks: the MV X-Press Pearl, which sank off Colombo in May 2021 spilling around 1,680 metric tonnes of nurdles, and the MSC Elsa 3, which sank off Kerala in October last year leaking around 22 tonnes. Surveys have so far found items on beaches in Haa Alif Atoll, with northern and eastern islands considered most at risk.
The Employment Tribunal ordered MTCC to reinstate former Senior General Manager Shifau Ali and pay him MVR 342,000 in compensation equivalent to six months' salary plus MVR 25,000 in legal costs, ruling that his June 2025 dismissal over alleged embezzlement in the awarding of staff housing tower contracts lacked both substantive and procedural fairness. MTCC had claimed Shifau and others caused MVR 39.2 million in losses; the ACC referred the matter to the PG for prosecution, with allegations also extending to CEO Hassan Shah.
State Pharma began operating the pharmacy network previously run by STO. The state-owned company, established last September amid widespread complaints about shortages of medicines for serious illnesses, said initial service disruptions are possible and that a 24-hour hotline is available on 1505.
Heritage Minister Heena Waleed told parliament the government spent MVR 4.1 million on last year's 60th Independence Day celebrations, all in Malé, with no events held in the atolls.
The Indian Coast Guard rescued a Maldivian cargo vessel, MV SITTHA, that was taking on water in compartments off Tuticorin, India, after it departed the Maldives. A Coast Guard vessel boarded the ship, patched the leaks and pumped out water, before directing it to Tuticorin port for full repairs.
Mohamed Firzul Abdulla Haleel, previously Undersecretary for Public Policy at the President's Office and PNC spokesperson, was appointed Managing Director of Hajj Corporation, filling the vacancy left by Mohamed Shakeel's appointment to the Elections Commission.
Police rescued a Chinese tourist who had drifted about a mile from a resort while snorkelling, spotted by the crew of Police Launch 54 while travelling from Malé to Vaanee in Dhaalu Atoll. The tourist was unharmed and returned to the resort.
Parliament assigned newly elected MDP MP Abdulla Sodiq of Hithadhoo North to the environment and decentralisation committees in a 66-0 vote, ending a weeks-long delay caused by disagreement between PNC and MDP over his committee placement that had prompted MDP members to stage a floor protest last week. The former Addu mayor's election last month brought MDP's parliamentary membership to 13, entitling the party to two additional committee seats.
