A proposed law to create a new media regulator with sweeping punitive powers could set back press freedom by 20 years, veteran editors warned at a press briefing organised by the Maldives Journalists Association as part of the union's lobbying efforts to scuttle what has been dubbed the "Media Control Bill."
Gulper shark fishery will be reauthorised in November, President Muizzu announced in Kulhudhuffushi, partially lifting a ban imposed in 2010. The president "confirmed that the fishery would be reinstated under a renewed management strategy to ensure sustainability and regulatory compliance."
MTCC was contracted to reclaim 22 hectares of land and develop an airport in Haa Dhaal Makunudhoo with a 1,800-metre runway, which President Muizzu called a "strategic necessity" for the geographically isolated island in the northernmost atoll. During his ongoing tour of Haa Dhaal atoll, a foundation stone was laid for a new passenger terminal at the Kulhudhuffushi airport and an agreement was signed to expand the island's commercial port with a new bonded warehouse zone.
A 30-year-old man who went missing after a boat ran aground on a reef near Kaafu Thulusdhoo was found dead by a search party from the island. The other five passengers were safely rescued at sea. The deceased was identified as Ahmed Shiham from Baa Kudarikilu.
The Food and Drug Authority ordered the recall of the Dr Pepper soft drink from the Maldives market, banning the sale of the American-made beverage after an alert from the European regulatory agency over unsafe levels of benzoic acid.
The Elections Commission decided to dissolve former vice president Adeeb's Maldives Third-Way Democrats after the party failed to reach the minimum threshold of 3,000 members.
Former planning minister Hamdhoon Hameed was appointed as an advisor at the finance ministry at ministerial rank.
