Hangzhou-based CoolFly staged the first demonstration flights of a manned electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in the Maldives, drawing crowds to the channel area in Hulhumalé Phase I on Friday and Saturday. The demonstrations of the Chinese company’s single-seat Dream ST were held together with the Chinese embassy and the economic development ministry, which called eVTOL aircraft “the future of aviation”. It could carry medical samples, urgent medicines, vaccines and emergency supplies between islands, monitor the environment and infrastructure and, with design changes, transport patients, the ministry said.
Heavy rain flooded about 85 per cent of homes in Gaafu Alif Kolamaafushi, leaving residents of 25 houses with nowhere to stay. Water rose to two feet in some homes, causing heavy losses, deputy council president Shahamath Haneef told Adhadhu. Although the MNDF had pumped water from the streets, many homes were still flooded on Saturday and some were without power, the National Disaster Management Authority said. The NDMA also said a tornado struck Shaviyani Lhaimagu, damaging the roofs of four houses and several warehouses and injuring a man hit by a falling sheet of tin. The Maldives Meteorological Service forecast widespread rain with occasional heavy showers and thunderstorms across the country until Wednesday after the southwest monsoon became active, warning that some islands could see torrential rain and localised flooding.
Police said they were investigating a video circulating on social media that appears to show a same-sex wedding ceremony at a Maldivian resort, describing such acts as illegal. Police urged resorts, guesthouses and other tourist establishments not to allow acts contrary to Islam, Maldivian law and social norms, and warned of legal action against those responsible.
The family and welfare ministry urged the media and the public not to share information that could harm children’s dignity, saying it had noticed children’s personal details being disclosed on various media platforms. Local media reported the appeal in connection with the case against former foreign minister Abdulla Shahid, saying some details about the child had been shared on news and social media. The law bars publishing the name, address, school, photo or any other information that could directly or indirectly identify child victims, child suspects or other children in need of protection. Shahid, who was remanded for 30 days on suspicion of sexually abusing a minor, has denied the allegation.
Foundation work began on 182 of the 364 flats that BML’s affordable home leasing company is building in Hulhumalé Phase 1 with Amin Construction, under the government’s “Housing for All” scheme. Construction is under way on 3,260 of the 4,000 units planned in Malé City, which are due to be completed by mid-2028.
The Maldives ranked 28th of 56 Commonwealth countries for young people’s readiness to use AI, according to the Ayre Index, launched at the Commonwealth summit in Antigua and Barbuda. The Maldives scored 44.9 out of 100, below the study’s benchmark of 53. The report found electricity and 4G coverage to be universal. But it noted that Dhivehi is poorly served by AI tools. Applying IMF scenarios, it put the “illustrative economic opportunity” from AI at US$112 million in added GDP after 10 years under a moderate scenario.
MACL agreed to pay MVR1.76 billion (US$114 million) to take over land reclamation contracts that HDC had awarded to Capital Marine and Civil Construction (CMC) at Hulhumalé Phase 3, Thilafushi and Giraavaru Falhu, Adhadhu reported, citing audited accounts. Under a deed of novation signed in October 2025, a newly created MACL subsidiary took over CMC’s obligations. MACL’s 2025 accounts show MVR323.8 million paid by the end of the year, with the remaining MVR1.43 billion due this year. Under the original 2023 agreements, CMC was to be paid in land and development rights. It now receives cash and continues the work as a subcontractor, while the airport company’s subsidiary is entitled to the land. The arrangement had not been made public. In July 2025, Infrastructure Minister Dr Abdulla Muththalib said the government was trying to cancel the contracts without compensating CMC, claiming it had been paid US$35 million for US$20 million of work at Giraavaru. MACL’s borrowings rose by MVR3.2 billion last year, to MVR16.6 billion.
The Manhattan Grand Hotel in Hulhumalé opened on Saturday night at a ceremony featuring fireworks, completing a city hotel that the State Trading Organisation began developing in 2008. The 162-room five-star hotel, which local media described as the largest to open in the Greater Malé area, is run by World of Business Pvt Ltd, with 50 per cent of the investment from UAE-based Deep Seafood Company. STO’s project, which cost about MVR115 million, stalled for more than a decade, and repeated attempts to sell it failed. Last year, STO handed the property to HDC in exchange for land in Hulhumalé Phase 2, in a deal valued at US$20 million. Under its agreement with World of Business, HDC is to receive US$11 million for the property and MVR 14.4 million a year in rent.
