🇲🇺 Mauritius climbs nine places in the global press freedom index

Mauritius climbs nine places in the global press freedom index

Nine rungs in a single year. Mauritius jumped from 51st to 42nd place on the 2026 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, out of 180 countries surveyed worldwide. The island's overall score climbed from 67.31 to 70.92, a meaningful shift in a ranking where the difference between positions is usually measured in decimal points.

RSF, the Paris-based media rights organisation, tracks legal frameworks, safety conditions, economic pressures on newsrooms, and self-censorship. Mauritius has been climbing steadily since the change of government, with journalists and editors reporting less interference in daily editorial decisions than in recent years. Nine places in one year is the kind of gain that happens when structural conditions actually change, not just the tone.

Sub-Saharan Africa's best press freedom ranking now belongs to an island in the Indian Ocean.

What does it take to lose 30 metres of beach in days?

At Tamarin, strong swells combined with unauthorised human interference have stripped nearly 30 metres of beach width from a 150-metre stretch in just a few days. Environment Minister Rajesh Bhagwan visited the site Sunday to oversee emergency works. He pointed to both natural swell activity and illegal construction nearby as the dual cause.

Tamarin is one of the island's most popular surf spots and has faced erosion pressure for years. A formal investigation is under way to identify who authorised the activity that accelerated the collapse. The speed of it, 30 metres in days, is what the scientists and the surfers are both talking about.

Debt at 89.5% of GDP: private sector lays out its budget wishlist

Thirteen business and consumer bodies spent two and a half hours making their pre-budget case to Finance Junior Minister Dhaneshwar Damry on Thursday. One number dominated every presentation: public debt at 89.5% of GDP, up from around 60% under the previous administration. Foreign currency pressures and rising input costs were also named as constraints the 2026-2027 budget cannot ignore.

The private sector's asks ranged from structural reforms to targeted relief for households hit by rising prices. Damry chaired the session in place of the Finance Minister, a substitution that has already drawn a union boycott this week, with the National Trade Union Confederation demanding PM Ramgoolam chair the consultations himself.

Sithanen's electoral reform warning: the maths don't lie

Former Finance Minister Rama Sithanen has published a detailed report warning that the current path of electoral reform in Mauritius could produce deeply unfair outcomes. Sithanen argues the 2014 constitutional amendment was intended as a one-time fix for a single election, not as a permanent structural change, and uses mathematical modelling to show how it distorts seat allocation. His analysis is underpinned by thorough testing across different election scenarios.

A reform that looked like a compromise in 2014 could harden into a permanent imbalance if nobody reads the fine print.

MSAW board collapses as ministers accused of meddling

The president of the Mauritius Social Aid Workers organisation, Anuja Ghoorah-Ramkissoon, resigned Thursday, followed by two other board members. Their departures followed accusations that director Tinaragen Govindasami has been ignoring board decisions and that two junior ministers were directly interfering in the organisation's operations.

Shorts

Berenger floats a new party name – After a constituency meeting in Rose-Hill, Paul Berenger has proposed "Fron Militan Progresis" as the name for his new political movement.

Hajj visas restored for 5 Mauritian teens – Five Mauritian teenagers whose Hajj visas were cancelled by Saudi Arabia last Thursday had their travel documents reinstated after Minister Shakeel Mohamed intervened directly.

Le Court-Pienaar back on the saddle – Cyclist Kimberley Le Court-Pienaar is back training less than a month after fracturing her right wrist in a crash at the Tour of Flanders.

Joson family demands answers after fatal crash – Relatives of Desire Joson, 70, killed at the Plaine-Magnien roundabout on May 1 when traffic lights were out, are demanding accountability from authorities.

Mauritius back in Pan-African Parliament – Mauritius has corrected its delegation to the Pan-African Parliament after a representation controversy that began in July 2025.

4 years old

The age of a boy who drowned in the family pool at Telfair, Moka, on Saturday afternoon. An autopsy confirmed asphyxiation by drowning. Our condolences to his family.

2 soldiers

US Army personnel reported missing in southwestern Morocco after African Lion military exercises. A search and rescue operation is under way.

$119 billion

Israel's approved plan to purchase F-35 and F-15IA fighter jets from the United States, part of a broader military build-up announced this weekend.

Kenya's floods kill 18 and push 54,000 households from their homes

At least 18 people have died in Kenya over the past week as floods and landslides swept through central, eastern, and western regions. More than 54,000 households are affected nationwide, including 6,000 in Nairobi. Seventeen roads are cut off and dozens of schools and hospitals have been flooded.

Meteorologists warn the rains will continue into mid-May. Authorities have ordered residents in vulnerable areas along the Tana and Athi rivers to move to higher ground. The March-to-May season already killed over 100 people in Kenya by end of March.

Masked men snatch prominent Malian lawyer from his Bamako home

A well-known Malian lawyer and junta critic was abducted overnight by masked men in the capital, according to his family. The abduction follows weeks of worsening pressure on civil society figures in a country where the military government has systematically targeted critics.

Two Sudanese women suffocate to death on a Channel crossing

Two young Sudanese women appear to have suffocated in an overloaded migrant boat making the crossing from northern France to Britain on Sunday. More than 80 people were aboard, including pregnant women and children.

Three dead in suspected hantavirus outbreak on an Atlantic cruise ship

Three people died and three others fell ill in a suspected hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius in the Atlantic, the World Health Organization confirmed. Hantavirus, typically spread through contact with rodent droppings, is rarely associated with ship outbreaks, making this case unusual. WHO is investigating the source of exposure.

For anyone booking a cruise: this is not how outbreaks usually travel.

OPEC+ raises June output quota after the UAE walks out

Saudi Arabia, Russia and five other OPEC+ members agreed Sunday to raise their June oil production quota, a show of continuity after the UAE's shock withdrawal last week. The UAE quit the group after 59 years, and the cartel needed to demonstrate it could still coordinate without one of its biggest producers.

Man Utd beat Liverpool 3-2 as Ferguson rushed to hospital

Manchester United secured Champions League qualification Sunday with a dramatic 3-2 win over Liverpool at Old Trafford. The result was overshadowed by news that Sir Alex Ferguson, 84, was taken to hospital after falling unwell in the stands before kick-off.

The 18-year-old who crosses the sea every morning to get to school

Grace Clarisse wakes up at 4:30 in the morning to catch a boat from the southern island of Agalega to the northern island, where her secondary school is. The crossing depends on the tides. If the sea is impassable, she simply doesn't go. The boat that carries her is also named Grace.

Her school was damaged by Cyclone Chido in December 2024 and classes are still held in the island's library while repairs continue. Most Mauritians commute by foot or bus. On Agalega, you check the tides first.