Several media outlets, including Dhauru, were not invited to President Muizzu's press conference. Invitations were sent selectively by direct message rather than through the official media WhatsApp group used for such announcements. When questioned, Muizzu said he is not responsible for deciding who gets invited, calling it an administrative matter, and declined to address whether the selective invitations were fair.
The Maldives Journalists Association condemned the exclusion of media outlets from the president's press conference, calling it an obstacle to press freedom and public access to information. The MJA said it received complaints from several widely-read professional outlets that were excluded.
Muizzu announced the dissolution of Fenaka Corporation, transferring its island utility services to STELCO, and the dissolution of the Road Development Corporation, with its work moving to MTCC. Maintaining parallel state companies doing the same work drives up expenditure, he said, citing an auditor general's report exposing corruption under the previous administration as a key reason Fenaka cannot be sustainably reformed. Fenaka currently employs over 8,000 staff and has 161 active ACC investigations with MVR21.4 million (US$1.3 million) ordered to be recovered. He also said AgroNat will become a subsidiary of MIFCO, which will run the new local market where fishermen and farmers can sell produce.
The government will end universal Aasandha health insurance coverage for people earning more than MVR60,000 a month, requiring higher earners to make co-payments and premiums, Muizzu announced. The change, recommended by international financial institutions, is expected to save MVR287 million annually. The government sees no reason to provide free healthcare to wealthy individuals and income taxpayers, he said.
Other announcements made by the president at Monday's press conference include a commitment to develop 10 resorts through a state-owned enterprise within 36 months, with 10 islands designated, and to distribute a significant share of their profits equally among all Maldivians annually in foreign currency. He said housing will be secured for the majority of citizens by about mid-2028, through loans and financial assistance as well as flats, and that no previous administration completed housing projects within its term. He said cabinet approved the launch of a national respect initiative on Sunday, to run on every inhabited island, and complained that opposition parties had discouraged their members from taking part. He also announced boards displaying Islamic reminders and dhikr along the main roads of every inhabited island, to mark 900 years since the Maldives embraced Islam.
The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation signed a five-year framework agreement to mobilise up to US$1.5 billion in trade financing for the Maldives between 2026 and 2031. The agreement covers financing for imports of essential and strategic commodities, mainly through state-owned enterprises, and lines of financing to local banks for SMEs and the private sector. It follows the first framework agreement, signed in 2019 and concluded in 2024, under which ITFC approved US$1.7 billion. The corporation, part of the Islamic Development Bank group, has approved more than US$3.3 billion for the Maldives since 2008, mostly for petroleum, staple food, medicine and construction materials, and has run a revolving trade finance facility for STO since 2017.
Muizzu dismissed Hassaan Waheed, a relative who had served as deputy ambassador to the UAE and held a foreign ministry post, after documents circulating on social media showed that Ayatana Hospitalities, a company in which Hassaan holds shares, was leased three islands in Thaa atoll with Indian businessmen. The islands were leased for US$864,000. Asked at Monday's press conference whether it was true, Muizzu said he learnt of it from media reports, asked Hassaan, and was told it was a company in which he holds shares. "It's not a matter that concerns me," he said, but added that it was not acceptable for someone holding a government post to do such a thing and that Hassaan had been dismissed.
In a post that he later deleted, Ahmed Siddeeq, a state minister for homeland security, publicly criticised the Indian government on X, sharing a video appearing to show an Indian police officer beating a restrained man and questioning how countries that condone such treatment can speak of justice.
Police went to former President Yameen's house twice on Monday evening to serve a summons for questioning in an investigation, Adhadhu reported. Sources told it Yameen did not accept the summons. Police said they would look into it and gave no response. It follows Home Minister Ali Ihusaan saying on Sunday that he had asked police to establish what Yameen knows, after Yameen told a PNF rally that the ministry buildings were set alight and that police know the person who did it is close to Muizzu.
HDC Chairman Ahmed Shaheer and CFO Ahmed Saamih were removed from their posts on Thursday, Dhauru reported. The PCB removed Shaheer, and HDC posted its thanks to him on X; Saamih's removal was decided at an HDC board meeting and has not been announced. Sources told Dhauru both were removed for not doing as some senior figures wanted, and that they had been insisting things be done by the rules. HDC has not commented. The PCB told some outlets Shaheer was removed to be transferred to another company.
Police warned of scams offering daily and monthly apartment rentals in Hulhumalé through social media. They said fake accounts including the TikTok account "Hulhumale Daily Rent Apartment" and the number 7217905 are being used, advertising apartments with photographs and videos stolen from other listings at unrealistically low rents, pressing people to pay advances of between MVR2,550 and MVR10,000 immediately by claiming other customers are interested, sending stolen ID cards and forged documents to build trust, and cutting off contact once the money arrives. Police said the holders of the accounts receiving the money are not involved.
Within one day of HDC opening requests for safety installations, 497 flats applied for window locks or grilles on balconies and windows, following two incidents in which children fell from high-rise buildings in Hulhumalé Phase 2. HDC is prioritising homes with children with ADHD, depression, or other mental health conditions, and will fully enclose balconies under its CSR programme for the most serious cases, the company told the media.
BML set a Guinness World Record for the most people snorkelling simultaneously at a single venue, with 314 participants at Niva Kurumba Maldives. The bank said the attempt was an awareness initiative on reef protection.
