Tourism pioneer Mohamed Umar Manik passed away at the age of 78 while receiving treatment at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore. The founder of Universal Resorts and chairman of the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry died on Saturday morning and was laid to rest in Singapore. A funeral prayer in absentia was also held at the Islamic Centre in Malé.
Leaked emails between former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein showed that Epstein scheduled a meeting with a former Maldivian president in 2014.
Reporters Without Borders joined a growing list of international organisations calling on the government to “immediately withdraw” the controversial media regulation bill, which the press freedom group warned would encourage censorship by a commission under the direct influence of the executive branch.
Majority Leader MP Ibrahim Falah defended his widely-condemned call for journalists to be impaled. In his native Raa atoll, the Dhivehi term is used figuratively to refer to placing misbehaving people on higher ground, the MP for Inguraidhoo contended, after police announced that it was seeking the Prosecutor General’s advice on investigating a complaint filed by the Maldives Journalists Association. Falah mocked the news saying that if he were to be jailed for his comments, past presidents and lawmakers from MDP, and “most of all journalists” whom he accused of “advocating to introduce other religions to Maldives” should also join him, referring to constitutional provisions granting MPs immunity for statements made in parliament that are “not contrary to any tenet of Islam”.
A 28-year-old Maldivian man named Abdul Bathin Mohamed Musthafa was arrested by Malaysian authorities. Bathin is under investigation in the Maldives in connection with a domestic violence case, the Maldives police confirmed.
Police investigators decided to conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death of a 21-year-old man in a resort in Baa atoll on August 23.
A total of 116 new police officers completed their basic training and received certificates at a ceremony held in Dhaalu Vaanee.
The Maldives Democratic Party invited expressions of interest from those wishing to contest in next year’s local council elections.
President Muizzu departed to China on an official trip at the invitation of President Xi Jinping to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit.
President Muizzu announced that a National Engineers Award will be introduced next year. The announcement was made as he marked the first National Engineers Day on August 30, coinciding with the seventh anniversary of the Malé-Hulhulé bridge.
