🇲🇺 Three union blocs walked out of the budget talks. PM Ramgoolam wasn't there.

Three union blocs walked out of the budget talks. PM Ramgoolam wasn't there.

Pre-budget consultations at the National Assembly descended into a standoff on Wednesday when the National Trade Union Confederation (NTUC) walked out of the room, and two other major confederations, the Mauritius Labour Congress (MLC) and the Confédération des Travailleurs des Secteurs Public et Privé (CTSP), didn't show up at all. Their shared complaint: the meeting was chaired by Junior Finance Minister Dhaneshwar Damry, not by PM Ramgoolam himself.

NTUC president Narendranath Gopee was blunt at the exit. "We were taken by surprise that the Prime Minister was not here," he said, arguing that a national budget exercise cannot be led by a junior minister. Gopee added that he wanted to ask PM Ramgoolam directly about the Basic Retirement Pension (BRP) age threshold being raised to 65, a move unions say blindsided the public with no prior warning during last year's consultations. Other union leaders who attended chose engagement over confrontation, with CITU's Deepak Benydin saying a walk-out would have served little purpose. He left with a commitment: a new meeting with PM Ramgoolam will happen before the budget is presented.

Getting a seat at the table means nothing if the person who actually decides isn't sitting at it.

Police open investigation after patient falls from 5th floor of SAJ Hospital

A 58-year-old man fell from a fifth-floor window at the Sir Aneerood Jugnauth (SAJ) Hospital in Pamplemousses on Wednesday afternoon, shortly after being discharged. Witnesses say he jumped from a transom window around 4 pm and landed on a third-floor terrace, sustaining severe injuries to his right leg. Emergency teams from the SAMU treated him on site before rushed into emergency surgery. He is currently in intensive care, his condition described as serious. Police have opened an investigation and hospital staff who witnessed the fall are assisting.

Questions are already being asked about how a recently discharged patient reached an accessible window on the fifth floor.

Grand-Baie businessman alleges Rs 10 million extortion demand after nightclub brawl

What started as a rejected drink offer at a Grand-Baie nightclub on Labour Day ended with a police investigation into alleged armed threats and a Rs 10 million demand. A 39-year-old company director from Pointe-aux-Canonniers told police that an individual, identified as Muzaffar Ali Lallmamode, smashed a bottle on his brother's head during the confrontation, was removed by security, came back outside armed. The two brothers fled to their Pereybère apartment.

The next morning, the director's white Jaguar parked nearby had been damaged. When a meeting was arranged to resolve the matter, Lallmamode allegedly demanded Rs 10 million. A formal complaint was filed at Piton police station and an investigation is underway.

Dyan Sawmy died in custody. He had epilepsy, and his family wants answers.

Dyan Sawmy, 32, died on 5 May at the Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital (JNH) in Rose-Belle after being transferred from a nearby prison. Sawmy suffered from epilepsy, and questions are now being raised about whether he received adequate care while detained. An inquiry has been opened to establish the exact circumstances. His family is seeking clarity on what happened in the hours before his hospital transfer.

Some taxi drivers actually like Uber. Not everyone wants it gone.

While 243 taxi drivers are taking their case against Uber's presence in Mauritius to the Supreme Court, a quieter reality is playing out on the ground. Some drivers, particularly those affiliated with the platform Ala-Lila Taxi, say the model works in their favour and are not part of the legal challenge. Their argument: flexible hours, steady demand, and better conditions than some traditional operators offer. The court case continues.

Shorts

Tristan Hardy sweeps cycling stage race – Back from France, Hardy won the time trial and cruised the second stage to take the overall title.

Mouldy bread found at women's shelter – An internal inquiry is open after mouldy bread was allegedly served to residents at Shelter Cap l'Espoir.

Martingale case: prison officer's story shifts – A Prison Security Squad officer's testimony in the Martingale death inquiry was marked by several inconsistencies.

Winter is here, just a few days late – Winter officially started 1 May, though the transition is running slower than usual this year.

Schools digitise as two ministries link up – Education and ICT joined up this week to push digital tools into Mauritian schools faster.

€2.5 million

Mauritius's cut of the Lumin'Îles project: €10M total, split across Mauritius, Madagascar and the Comoros to improve women's employment and childcare access.

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New recruits sworn into the Swiss Guards by Pope Leo XIV in Vatican City, the first such ceremony under the new pontiff.

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Iraqis sanctioned by Washington: Iraq's deputy oil minister and three militia leaders, for supporting Iran and helping route oil revenues around US export restrictions.

French court revives genocide case against Rwanda's former first lady

Paris's Court of Appeals ruled that a criminal investigation into Agathe Habyarimana, widow of the Rwandan president killed in the 1994 plane attack that triggered the genocide, must resume. She is accused of complicity in the mass killings that followed. Habyarimana has lived in France since fleeing Rwanda and has long denied any role. The decision revives a case stalled for years, renewing pressure on Paris over how it handles accountability for one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century.

South Sudan's president fires army chief and finance minister

President Salva Kiir removed both the head of the armed forces and a finance minister who had been in post for less than three months, the latest rapid reshuffle at the top of one of Africa's most fragile governments.

Nigerian troops free seven children kidnapped from orphanage

The Nigerian army said its troops rescued seven children and two adults still in captivity following a kidnapping from an orphanage last month. No details were provided on the condition of those freed.

Russia bombed Ukrainian cities on the very day it declared a ceasefire

Moscow announced a ceasefire to mark Victory Day on 8 and 9 May, then launched 108 combat drones and three missiles at Ukrainian cities overnight. At least 27 people were killed, making it one of the deadliest days for civilians this year. Kharkiv's residential Novobavarskyi district took a direct hit, with nine people injured including two children. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the strikes cynical and vile.

Ukraine sent its chief negotiator Rustem Umerov to Miami this week for talks with US envoys, hoping to revive peace discussions that have barely moved since February. Russia's defence ministry claimed its air defences simultaneously shot down 347 Ukrainian drones overnight; so both sides are busy bombing and still sending diplomats.

North Korea says it is not bound by the nuclear non-proliferation treaty

Pyongyang formally declared it does not consider itself bound by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the cornerstone agreement limiting the spread of nuclear weapons. South Korea reaffirmed its goal of denuclearisation on the peninsula. North Korea withdrew from the NPT in 2003, so this is less a policy shift than a public hardening of a long-held position. The timing, with US attention stretched across two theatres, says something.

Man pleads guilty to murder over firebombing of pro-Israel rally in Colorado

Mohamed Sabry Soliman pleaded guilty to all charges, including murder, for a deadly firebombing at a pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado. The attack killed at least one person and injured several others at the public gathering.

The barber of Beirut's shoreline camp

Daniel Zeaiter has been giving free haircuts for more than 50 days at a displacement camp along Beirut's seafront, where thousands of families who fled the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah ended up. Clippers in hand, he moves between plastic chairs, trimming and shaving, giving people a moment that feels like ordinary life.

About a million people were displaced internally in Lebanon last year. Zeaiter left his paying job to be here. One resident called it a rare return to normal. Inside a camp that size, that is not a small thing.