Three men are missing after the supply boat Friend 4 sank while carrying aggregate and sand from Laamu Atoll, MNDF said. The vessel reported taking on water at 10.37pm on Wednesday and sank while soldiers and police were trying to save it in rough seas. Police identified those missing as the captain, Mohamed Hamdhoon, 35, MNDF Staff Sergeant Ibrahim Ahmed, 39, and police Sergeant Ali Nafiu, 33. The three were pumping out water and those who got out first survived, Mihaaru reported, citing a person with knowledge of the incident. An official told Adhadhu the dhoni was under tow from a passing landing craft and that a wave from the craft is believed to have rolled it over. Eight people were aboard and the other seven, all expatriates, were rescued. The search is continuing by sea and air. Sergeant Nafiu, of Fulooniyage in Noonu Manadhoo, joined the police in 2012. He is married to a woman from Gaafu Alif Villigili and has two children. The soldier is also reportedly married to a woman from the same island and has three children.
The central bank announced new monetary policy measures aimed at reducing excess rufiyaa liquidity. In a press statement shared with the media, the MMA said its board had approved an increase in the Minimum Reserve Requirement of banks from 10.5 per cent to 11 per cent. The board also decided to review the MRR every three months in 2027, with a plan to gradually raise it to 13 per cent by December 2027. It also increased the Open Market Operations policy rate by 10 basis points. According to the MMA, MVR2.7 billion (US$175 million) in excess rufiyaa liquidity has been absorbed from the banking system since the mopping up effort was reintroduced in July 2025. As a result, short-term excess liquidity has fallen from MVR6.5 billion to MVR3.7 billion.
The tourism ministry opened bidding for resort development on 15 islands and lagoons. Three are designated for halal tourism: a 200-hectare lagoon plot on the Makunudhoo reef in Haa Dhaalu, 8.18 hectares at Fonagaadhoo in Laamu and 8.38 hectares at Dhonhera in Addu, with an adjacent 0.85-hectare island. Operators must run them under Islamic principles for 50 years, barring pork and alcohol, serving halal-certified food, providing separate wellness facilities for men and women and building two mosques, one for staff and one for guests. Ten of the sites are lagoons in the northern atolls, each 200 hectares. Nalandhoo in Shaviyani and Farumuli in Noonu are being offered as individual islands. The latter carries the highest lease acquisition cost at US$2.25 million. All 15 may be developed through reclamation, with 36 months to build and 50-year leases. Halal tourism projects get a 20 per cent import duty concession against 15 per cent for others. Bids close between 17 and 23 November.
There were 5,625 live births and 1,399 deaths in the Maldives last year, according to the health ministry's vital statistics report for 2025. Most births were to women aged 30 to 34, at 1,796, ahead of 1,561 to women aged 25 to 29 and 1,146 to women aged 35 to 39. There were 65 births to mothers aged 15 to 19. Of the total, 3,927 were in Malé, 1,698 in the atolls and 193 abroad, including births to foreign residents. The fertility rate has fallen to about 1.7 children per woman, below the replacement level of 2.1 and down from more than six in the late 1990s.
New regulations authorised the president to allocate land to state-owned enterprises on the advice of the institution responsible for land. The amendments also revise the composition of the land valuation committee, replacing the Maldives Land and Survey Authority representative with two members from the ministry responsible for land.
Baa Thulhaadhoo Council called for the withdrawal of legislation that would allow "central leaders in Malé to remove any land from an island's legal jurisdiction at any time, for any reason." The council said it is "shameful" that the amendments were proposed by the MP representing Thulhaadhoo, describing his sponsorship of bills to undermine press freedom and weaken local communities as a "betrayal" of the island and its people. The council’s resolution was passed unanimously with signatures from two of its MDP members, two independent members and the ruling party member.
A centre to breed insects that prey on coconut palm pests opened at the Hanimaadhoo Agriculture Centre, with capacity to produce 100,000 parasitoids a day. It is part of the Maldives Coconut Tree Pest Control Assistance Project, agreed with China's Ministry of Commerce in July last year. Fifty farmers, council representatives and agricultural company staff completed a week's training run by the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences. The coconut hispid beetle was first found at the Sun Island Resort in December 1999, and an FAO-backed programme to release parasitoids against it began in 2003. The agriculture ministry said controlling the beetle and diseases such as whitefly still presents considerable challenges despite import rules, quarantine standards and public awareness work, and that the new project should make sustainable control possible.
Customs seized 800 vape cartridges smuggled into the country through Velana International Airport.
President Muizzu told a PNC rally in Ukulhas on Wednesday night that foreigners praise him for making decisions that benefit the country even when they are politically unpopular, saying few leaders anywhere work that way. He said the opposition shows no sincerity or responsibility, that in functioning democracies government and opposition speak with one voice on things that benefit the country, and that opposition parties should cooperate with the good the government does. On his pledges, he said he keeps a common list of projects to be completed on every island by 2028, alongside each island's own priorities, and that the full success of his promises will be visible by the second quarter of 2028.
Mohamed Nimal, the CEO of the Local Government Authority, announced his intention to seek re-election as one of six vice presidents within the ruling PNC at its upcoming congress in September, becoming the eighth senior party official to contest for the roles.
