Thursday 4 December 2008

Minivan News
India Pledges Over US $100 Million In Aid
The Indian government has pledged over US$100 million in aid for the Maldives to help steer the country through its troubled economic times. Speaking to Minivan News on Wednesday, Dr Shaheed said most of the aid would come in the form of interest-free loans. It is the largest amount of aid given by India to the Maldives over the past 40 years. more

DO Review
Did Gayyoom really give a speech in the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in Hong Kong?
According to Haveeru, the former Maldives Dictator Mr. Gayyoom apparently gave a speech at the 'Green Buildings, Green Cities' session of the CGI meeting on 2nd December. However, according to the schedule of the meeting, the former dictator is not even a participant and there is no report of him even taking part in any session. read & comment

President's Office
The President meets with His Royal Highness Prince Andrew
The President has met with His Royal Highness Prince Andrew the Duke of York. The meeting was held today at the President’s Office. In their meeting the President Nasheed and Prince Andrew discussed on the ways of strengthening bilateral relations and on possible areas of cooperation between the Maldives and the United Kingdom.

more

President's Office
The Government of Maldives formally accepts the obligations of ILO Constitution
The Government of Maldives have formally accepted the obligations of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). In a letter to the Secretary-General of ILO, the President noted that, accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 1 of ILO Constitution, the Government of Maldives would undertake fully to perform each of the provision of the in Constitution. more 

Pacific Magazine
Least Developed Countries Frustrated With Distribution Rate Of Funds
Frustration at the speed with which least developed countries are allocated funding for their adaptation activities was made evident in Poznan, Poland during the current UN Climate Change 14th Conference of the Parties. more

Reuters
Island states seek tougher U.N. climate deal
POZNAN, Poland (Reuters) - A group of 43 small island states called on Wednesday for tougher goals for fighting global warming than those being considered at U.N. climate talks, saying that rising seas could wipe them off the map."We are not prepared to sign a suicide agreement that causes small island states to disappear," Selwin Hart of Barbados, a coordinator of the alliance of small island states, told Reuters at the 187-nation meeting. read & comment

www.delightmaldives.com

Wednesday 3 December 2008

Breaking News
Home Minister Qasim resigns
Male' - 18:45 - According to Haveeru, Qasim has confirmed that he resigned due to lack of cooperation from the government to solve the jail and penitentiary issues and not because of the Reethi Rah episode.

Male’ – 17:45 - Home Minister, Hon. Qasim Ibrahim has resigned from the cabinet, according to reliable reports. It is believed that Qasim’s resignation may have come as a result of the pressure from the public over the handling of the staff protest in Reethi Rah.  read & comment

Local News
President’s Office intervenes to peacefully resolve Reethi Rah dispute
President’s Office has intervened to peacefully resolve Reethi Rah dispute. The Government of Maldives welcomed the peaceful resolution to the One and Only Reethi Rah Resort industrial dispute. Resort staff returned to work this morning, after Vice President Dr. Waheed mediated a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between striking workers and the resort management. more

Minivan News
Gasim Ordered Commissioner To Send Police Force
Home minister Gasim Ibrahim on Tuesday admitted he ordered Police Commissioner Ahmed Faseeh several times to send police to One and Only Reethi Rah resort in the early hours of Sunday morning. more


Birmingham Post
A new day dawns for the Maldives
Redditch Tory candidate Karen Lumley witnesses the struggle for democracy in the Maldives. When the Maldives are mentioned as a destination most people think of a fabulous luxurious holiday destination in the Indian Ocean, which of course it is. I now see it as the other Maldives, a place where finally democracy has broken through. more


Pacific Magazine
Environmental Refugees Have Legal Rights, say Least Developed Countries
The world’s least developed countries (LDCs) called on delegations to COP14 underway in Poland to give greater consideration to populations which will be displaced because of the impact of climate change. Describing its members as those that carry the “warning beacon” on climate change, the representative from the Indian Ocean atoll nation of the Maldives called for urgent action on the plight of environmental refugees. more

Blue Peace

New Homeland elsewhere is not the only solution for climate victims of the Maldives
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recently projected in its latest report, the rise of the sea level worldwide by two feet by 2100 as a result of melting ice sheets and the expanding of the sea by warming seawater. If the IPCC projection is accurate, the white beaches of the Maldives could start to dissolve just like ice sheets into the warming water of the Indian Ocean. more

Tuesday 2 December 2008

Associated Press
Court dissolves Thai government for election fraud
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Thailand's Constitutional Court has dissolved the main ruling party and banned the prime minister along with 36 party executives from politics for 5 years. more

DO Review

The issue of extending the leasing period of resorts to 50 years
President Mohamed Nasheed’s government is already facing some public criticism over the issue surrounding the bill submitted to the parliament to extend the lease period of resorts to 50 years. According to some, they are very much in favour of the idea but would like more information on the immediate and long term benefits of this policy whilst some are totally against the idea saying that this will only make the rich richer and the poor even poorer. read & comment