🇲🇺 A smuggled phone films a beating inside Beau-Bassin prison

A smuggled phone films a beating inside Beau-Bassin prison

A video shot inside Beau-Bassin prison shows other inmates beating and threatening a detainee. On the footage the man pleads in Creole, «Mo pan fer nanie mwa», meaning I did nothing, while the blows keep coming. On Friday the prison administration passed the file to the police, who have opened an investigation.

The clip lands on an old, unanswered question: how do mobile phones keep circulating behind bars? Someone on the inside kept a phone, filmed the assault, and pushed the video out to the world. That breach is the story underneath the story, because a prison that cannot keep phones out cannot fully account for what happens inside its cells.

No names, no charges, not yet. The real measure of this inquiry is how far up it reaches: past the inmates who threw the punches, to the phones nobody confiscated and the officers who were meant to be on the wing.

Minister demands a probe after a public university chief resigns

Dr Kaviraj Sukon, the Higher Education Minister, has asked for an inquiry into a public university after one of its senior figures resigned on Thursday. At its centre sits an awkward arrangement: one person holding directing roles at two public bodies at once.

The questions run wider than a single job. Contested decisions have already produced court cases and compensation payouts, and the audit reports carry remarks critics say were set aside rather than answered.

Sukon wants those examined. Who signed off, and what it cost, are the threads to pull.

New Mauritius Hotels rings up Rs 18.9 billion as tourism holds firm

Rs 18.9 billion in revenue, up 12 percent on the year: that is how New Mauritius Hotels closed its 2026 financial year, the stretch from July 2025 to June 2026. Tourism is holding. The group credits a strong run across its hotels, visitor spending has clearly not cooled.

For a listed group this size, a double-digit top line doubles as a rough gauge of the wider tourism economy. If NMH is full, so, more or less, is the island.

One fee for building permits across every council from October

From 1 October, the fees for Building and Land Use Permits will be the same in every local authority, after Cabinet decision on Friday. Until now each council set its own charge, so an identical permit could cost more or less depending on where you built. Standard fee across the board.

Police investigate a teacher over an assault on a pupil aged 10

Police are investigating a teacher suspected of striking a pupil, aged 10, slapping the boy and knocking his head against a desk. The child's family reported the case. Investigators have laid no charge yet and are not naming the teacher while the inquiry continues.

Shorts

Triolet murder: two relatives face court – The victim's brother and a relative appeared in court over the killing of Saraswatee Mootia, 60.

Water: Mare-aux-Vacoas slips to 38.7% – The main reservoir keeps falling, and a fresh round of restrictions is edging closer.

Two colleges lose their state subsidy – St Bartholomew's and Royal Holloway will see grants cut from January 2027.

Mauritius courts investors in Africa – Mauritius Finance took its investor roadshow to Egypt and Nigeria to pull in fresh money.

Ex-minister Teeluck is now a lawyer – Avinash Teeluck was among 41 who took the oath at the bar this week.

Rs 1.9 billion

Property and land group Medine posted that net profit for 2025/2026, a leap from Rs 139 million a year earlier.

$660 million

Ethiopia, Djibouti and Nigeria's Dangote group are building a petroleum pipeline, a 120 km line linking Damerjog, Djibouti, to Dewele, Ethiopia.

120 million euros

That is the EU penalty on Elon Musk's X for breaching content rules, and Washington now wants to join Musk's fight to overturn it.

Morocco's ruling coalition holds power on a thin turnout

Morocco's governing coalition held on to its lead in parliamentary elections, though turnout stayed low and an Islamist opposition picked up fresh ground.

Continuity, then, at the top. The louder question in the streets is when pledges on jobs and cost of living turn into something voters can actually feel.

Mozambique's drug problem is climbing fast

Hospital admissions tied to drugs in Mozambique jumped 38 percent last year to over 32,280, as trafficking routes feed a rising addiction problem at home.

A young doctor dies as Ebola spreads in DR Congo

Victor Kingombe, a young doctor, has died of Ebola in Kisangani as Democratic Republic of Congo cases spread past the original outbreak zone.

US and Iran weigh a plan to reopen Hormuz in a week

Washington and Tehran are exploring a plan, spanning about a week, to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and wind down their conflict; it hinges on lifting sanctions and a broader Middle East ceasefire.

Hormuz carries about a fifth of the world's oil, so a real reopening would ripple into pump prices far from the Gulf, Mauritius very much included. The mood is still fragile: at the UN, delegates walked out as Netanyahu defended Israel's military action. Talk is cheap until the tankers move.

Trump welcomes Xi to Washington for high-stakes talks

President Trump welcomed China's Xi Jinping to Washington, opening talks on trade, Taiwan, Iran and artificial intelligence.

Man City found guilty on 114 of 115 charges

Manchester City were found guilty on 114 of 115 Premier League charges over breaking financial rules stretching back to 2009; the punishment comes next.

The workforce Mauritius keeps overlooking

What if part of the fix for Mauritius's labour shortage is a workforce employers keep walking straight past? Deaf and partially hearing Mauritians have sat on the margins of paid work for years, their skills going largely unused.

The pitch is simple. Roles that reward focus and precision often suit them well; the real barriers are habit and assumption, not the work.

🙏 Merci, à demain! 👋

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