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Rs 16 million in cash hidden in the Poudre d'Or rubbish, and then the traffickers showed up

Rs 16 million in Rs 1,000 banknotes turned up at a Poudre d'Or waste transfer station on April 22, mixed in among ordinary rubbish during mechanical sorting. Workers started pocketing what they found. A foreman took Rs 30,000. A colleague took Rs 45,000. By the time anyone thought to act, an estimated Rs 16 million had been scattered through the load.

Multiple police units including the ADSU, the Anti Drug and Smuggling Unit, are now investigating a suspected money-laundering operation. The working theory: the cash was deliberately concealed inside a waste delivery, dirty money routed through a rubbish truck and meant to be retrieved later. What went wrong, whether the drop-off reached the wrong station or someone panicked, is still unclear. What is clear is that the people who hid Rs 16 million in the garbage did not expect waste workers to find it first.

The workers who helped themselves to the cash has been questioned. The bigger concern for police: whoever lost this money knows exactly where that transfer station is.

A bin of Rs 1,000 notes and a very bad week for whoever lost them.

Rs 215 million in police informant payments: ex-Commissioner of Police faces charges

Rs 198.3 million in police informant payments, approved in just over two years. That is the figure at the centre of Operation DeepCode, the Financial Crimes Commission's investigation into the Reward Money scandal. The case file is heading to the Director of Public Prosecutions' office, and former Commissioner of Police Anil Kumar Dip risks being named accused No. 1.

Between 2022 and 2024, Rs 215 million was approved through Dip's office to pay drug-fight informants, mainly through specialised units under his direct authority. Investigators are piecing together how those payments were validated and who signed off on each transfer. Dip was interrogated again last Thursday in what is described as a final round of questioning before charges.

Should candidates declare their ethnicity to stand for parliament? Cabinet begins a review

Should candidates for parliament have to declare their ethnicity? That question is now officially on the table: Cabinet this week began a round of observations on a constitutional review, with abolishing the ethnic declaration among the first items in the pipeline.

Mauritius is one of the few democracies that still requires candidates to identify as Hindu, Muslim, Sino-Mauritian, or General Population to stand for parliament. The Best Loser System that flows from it has been contested for decades. Removing it would require a constitutional amendment and will likely need cross-party support.

Ras Natty Baby, the voice of seggae, dies at 72

Joseph Nicolas Eimilien, known to Mauritius as Ras Natty Baby, died Sunday afternoon in an intensive care unit in India. He was 72.

Born in Rodrigues, he created what became the island's defining popular music: seggae, a fusion of séga and reggae. Songs like "Leve do mo pep" and "Nuvel Vision" played at every gathering for a generation. He had been receiving specialist care in India since April 8 after a cardiac procedure described as initially successful. His condition deteriorated rapidly in the days that followed, and the OMCA Foundation confirmed it had not raised enough funds for continued treatment.

A voice that never preached without also singing. He will be missed.

Air filter bought at Rs 6,200, market price Rs 250: parliament documents expose CNT's procurement

Official documents tabled in parliament show CNT spare parts were bought at prices far above market rate: an air filter at Rs 6,200 when the market price is Rs 250; a cylinder head at Rs 280,000, normally Rs 41,739. Former CNT director-general Rao Rama, already charged with using his public office for personal gain, is under investigation by the Financial Crimes Commission.

🗞️ SHORTS

Teacher names Mufti at Twaha inquiry – A teacher formally named Mufti Azhar Peerbocus as present at the school during the period under investigation.

Mauritius lands 4th in global tax ranking – Mauritius placed 4th in the 2026 Tax-Free Relocation Index, behind Monaco, the Cayman Islands, and Bermuda.

Arrest in Victoria Terminal assault – Police arrested the alleged attacker of a schoolgirl at the Victoria Urban Terminal on Sunday.

Two men found dead in Pereybère – Two men, aged 31 and 32, were found dead in a bathroom at a Pereybère building site on Saturday.

Bérenger maps out his new movement – Paul Bérenger is building a new movement in Rose-Hill, with a founding congress expected soon.

675 – 675 cases of workplace violence have been reported in Mauritius since January 2025, with 410 of them affecting women. The Ministry of Gender is drafting legislation to better protect victims.

Rs 240,000 – The ADSU seized Rs 240,000 worth of drugs in Abercrombie on Saturday, including heroin, synthetic drugs, and banknotes soaked in cannabis extract.

4 – Tadej Pogacar won his fourth Liège-Bastogne-Liège title on Sunday, beating French teenager Paul Seixas to become the race's most decorated active rider.

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Mali's defence minister killed as rebels seize Kidal

Mali's Defence Minister Sadio Camara was killed in a car bomb at his home near Bamako on Sunday. His wife and two grandchildren died in the blast. It is the most devastating single blow of two days of coordinated fighting that has shaken the ruling military junta.

Tuareg rebels from the Azawad Liberation Front, backed by al-Qaeda-linked group JNIM, launched simultaneous attacks across Bamako, Kidal, Gao, Sévaré and Kati on Saturday, injuring at least 16. Rebels claimed control of Kidal, the northern city the army retook in 2023 with Wagner Group support. Fighting resumed Sunday as Tuareg fighters drove out the last Russian-backed troops.

One analyst warned: "If Mali falls, the whole Sahel will follow." French and UN forces withdrew after the coup; Russia stepped in to fill the gap, and the gap is clearly still there.

The junta came to power promising to bring security. The minister responsible for it is now dead.

Sawe runs into history: first official sub-two-hour marathon

Kenya's Sabastian Sawe crossed the finish line at the London Marathon on Sunday in 1 hour, 59 minutes and 55 seconds, becoming the first man to officially break the two-hour barrier in a record-eligible race. Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile in 1954. The two-hour marathon have now fallen too.

Eliud Kipchoge ran 1:59:40 in 2019, but that was a controlled experiment, not a race. Sawe's run counts. Fellow Kenyan John Korir also set a women's marathon world record on the same day, making London 2026 the most historic day in the sport's long history.

Kenya's appeals court strikes down abortion rights ruling

Kenya's Court of Appeal overturned a 2023 ruling that had declared access to safe abortion a fundamental right, returning the country to a legal grey zone where the procedure is restricted but unevenly enforced. Women's rights groups warn the decision will push more women toward unsafe procedures.

Kenya's constitution permits abortion only when a mother's life is at risk or emergency care is needed, a narrow window subject to individual doctors' discretion. The ruling could be appealed to the Supreme Court.

Gunman opens fire at White House press dinner, Trump safe, one agent shot

A gunman stormed a security checkpoint at Washington's Hilton Hotel on Saturday night and opened fire during the White House Correspondents' Dinner. One Secret Service agent was shot but saved by a bulletproof vest. Guests dove under tables as between five and eight shots rang out; Trump, Melania, and VP Vance were rushed from the venue.

The suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, a Caltech graduate and teacher from California, was subdued at scene carrying a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives. He reportedly told officials he wanted to shoot members of the Trump administration. Federal charges are being filed, including attempting to kill a federal officer.

Trump, speaking afterward, called the presidency "a dangerous profession" and then used the incident to renew his argument for a $400 million White House ballroom, saying the Correspondents' Dinner should be held in-house for security reasons.

The shooting horrified Washington. The ballroom argument horrified everyone else.

Israel's president holds off on Netanyahu pardon, pushing for a plea deal

Israeli President Isaac Herzog is refusing to sign a pardon for PM Benjamin Netanyahu before his corruption trial concludes, pressing instead for a plea deal that would require Netanyahu to admit wrongdoing in exchange for avoiding prison. Former Israeli prime ministers have also united across party lines to challenge Netanyahu in elections should they be called.

The trial covers bribery, fraud, and breach of trust charges Netanyahu has consistently denied. A blanket pardon with no admission of guilt would face massive public and legal backlash; Herzog's position is that any resolution must include accountability.

Kevin Warsh cleared to become the next Fed chair

Sen. Thom Tillis ended his blockade of Kevin Warsh's nomination to lead the US Federal Reserve after the Justice Department dropped a criminal investigation into current Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Warsh, a former Fed governor and Trump ally, is now on course for confirmation.

The Fed chair controls global interest rates. A Warsh-led Fed is expected to align more closely with the White House on monetary policy, which would have knock-on effects on borrowing costs, the dollar, and markets from New York to Port Louis.

The Mauritius connection to British lab animal testing

Hidden camera footage filmed inside British laboratories, released by Animals International last week, shows long-tailed macaques being force-fed through tubes and exposed to inhaled substances in pharmaceutical toxicology tests. The monkeys came from Mauritius. In 2025, 1,248 macaques were legally exported from the island to the UK under a regulated but increasingly contested trade.

The footage, timed for World Lab Animal Day on April 24, has triggered calls in UK parliament for a ban on primate imports, Mauritius has long maintained the trade is conducted within international standards. That position is now harder to hold in public.

An industry almost nobody talks about here, and thousands of people are now talking about abroad.