The final segment of the Thilamalé bridge’s Villimalé–Gulhifalhu span was put in place, joining the two islands, Infrastructure Minister Dr Abdulla Muththalib announced, thanking India for its support. The Malé–Villimalé span was joined in August, leaving the link from Gulhifalhu to Thilafushi. The US$500 million Greater Malé Connectivity Project, built by India’s Afcons and funded by a US$100 million Indian grant and a US$400 million line of credit, is now due for completion by the end of 2027. The Malé–Gulhifalhu section had been scheduled to finish in March 2026, and the whole bridge by September 2026.
People earning more than MVR60,000 (US$3,890) a month will have to pay 15 per cent of the cost of treatment at private hospitals and clinics under the Aasandha health insurance scheme from January, the health ministry announced. The co-payment does not apply at government hospitals. Doctors, medical technicians, pilots, aviation technicians, engineers and technical staff in science-based fields are exempt. The change is part of reforms to Aasandha that President Muizzu announced in September, when he said full coverage for the richest and poorest alike was not the best approach. He said the reforms would save the state MVR287 million a year.
Religious NGO Jamiyyathu Salaf denied an Adhadhu report that it had endorsed allowing followers of other religions to settle in the Maldives under certain conditions, calling the story “categorically false.” The report was based on a statement Salaf issued on the Rasmalé project. Salaf said it had only urged that every development project uphold the Maldives’ 100 per cent Islamic identity. Its president, Abdulla bin Janab, called the report “propaganda.” Adhadhu stood by its story. It noted that Salaf’s original statement described Rasmalé as a project where large numbers of foreigners of different religions and cultures would live long-term. The statement urged the current and future governments to frame agreements and laws that would shut out advocacy for religious freedom and protect the country’s Islamic identity. Adhadhu said that amounted to conditional support.
Ahmed Fairish, who was arrested after a neighbour’s hunger strike drew attention to complaints that he had harassed residents and passers-by in Henveiru, escaped from the National Drug Agency’s rehabilitation centre in Himmafushi. Police said he had been transferred there for treatment under police supervision. Fairish, 43, was remanded for 15 days on 19 October on charges of threatening behaviour, property damage, assault and obstructing police, all of which he denied. The remand period ends on Monday. His arrest came after resident Mohamed Saeed staged a 35-hour hunger strike outside the Henveiru police station, saying repeated complaints to police and other authorities over the past year and a half had gone unanswered.
Former Vice President Faisal Naseem, who is contesting the MDP’s presidential primary, called on the government to disclose the full details of the Eagle Hills Rasmalé deal. His campaign accused the government of pursuing a "secret agenda" instead of acting transparently. It also accused the government of using a parliament under its full control to obstruct opposition parties and independent journalists trying to bring the deal’s details to light. The statement called the project a threat to the religious unity and social harmony of a “100 per cent Muslim country,” and warned that pushing ahead despite public opposition could cause irreparable financial and social harm. The MDP’s national council is due to meet on Sunday to decide the party’s position on the deal, amid divisions within the party.
The Maldives Journalists Association issued an advisory urging newsrooms to clearly label paid advertorials and keep them separate from news, citing concerns over some outlets’ coverage of the Eagle Hills Rasmalé project. Unlabelled sponsored content had blurred the line between journalism and public relations, the MJA said, damaging public trust and “unjustly” exposing working journalists to public anger and potential risks. It also urged outlets to present all sides of controversial national issues through in-depth, research-based reporting. The advisory follows the MJA’s request to police on Wednesday to protect journalists threatened online after an Eagle Hills-organised media tour of Dubai.
Ruling party candidates won both seats elected to the Local Government Authority’s board, defeating MDP rivals, according to provisional results. Faafu Nilandhoo council president Ali Ahmed won the seat chosen by island councils with 314 votes to 227 for the MDP’s Ali Zaafir. Mariyam Zeena, president of the Shaviyani Funadhoo women’s development committee, won the seat chosen by WDCs with 93 votes to 67 for the MDP’s Mariyam Neena.
A court ordered a 20-year-old man held until the end of his trial in a case involving the alleged sexual abuse of a 22-year-old woman and several children on an island under the Upper South Police jurisdiction. Police said Ahmed Nooh Niyaz would be held pending trial, while the remand of Mohamed Mishal Ahmed Zuhair, 20, was extended by 30 days. Najumulla Hassan, 35, was remanded for 45 days, and the detention of Mohamed Solih Ahmed, 26, and Ahmed Saanij Sodhiq, 32, was extended by five days. Nine people have been arrested in total. The case was first reported as the sexual assault of a woman, but the investigation uncovered suspected sexual abuse and exploitation of children.
The ashes of Italian marine biologist Monica Montefalcone and her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, who died in May while diving in the Devana Kandu cave in Vaavu Atoll, were scattered at sea off Capo Mannu in Sardinia, the Unione Sarda newspaper reported. Montefalcone, a university professor who led marine conservation projects, had spent her childhood summers in nearby Mandriola and wished to rest in the sea there. Family and friends set out by dinghy early on Wednesday, after waiting out the period required under regional regulations. “Now the sea they loved will cradle and protect them forever,” her husband Carlo Sommacal said.
Former President Nasheed released 80ge Kureekolhu (“The early 80s”), a collection of five short stories, at a ceremony at Dhonmanik restaurant on Saturday night. Nasheed said he wrote the stories in 1994, after he was moved from jail to house arrest. They date from the late 1980s and early 1990s, he said, and the “early 80s” in the title was a change that crept in at the second proof. He also said he had sent a publisher an English-language book about his life from 1989 to 2008. A journalist and author before entering politics, Nasheed has written several books, including Dhagandu Dhahanaa and Dhe Radhun.
