🇲🇺 Sik Yuen sacks the STC board over stalled import orders

Sik Yuen sacks the STC board over stalled import orders

Commerce Minister Michael Sik Yuen has revoked the entire board of the State Trading Corporation, the state importer that stocks the country with rice, flour, cooking gas and fuel. He made the call on a radio programme on Wednesday, and pinned it on one thing: the board had dragged its feet on orders to bring in more goods to ease the cost of living.

The economist Dr Takesh Luckho chaired the board part-time. Director-general Suren Dayal keeps his post for now, though the minister hinted more changes could follow at the corporation. The list may grow.

For a body whose entire job is keeping essentials on the shelf, the charge is damning: it did not import fast enough to blunt rising prices. Sacking a board is the easy part; keeping rice, flour and gas flowing at prices people can actually pay is the test that counts.

Public deficit swells to Rs 76.1 billion as spending outruns income

Rs 76.1 billion. That is how far the general government's books slid into the red over the 2024 to 2025 financial year, up from Rs 56.2 billion the year before, Statistics Mauritius reports. The gap now equals 10.6% of the economy.

The cause is blunt: spending is growing faster than revenue. A deficit is the shortfall the state must borrow to cover, and a bigger one this year usually means tighter budgets, or fresh taxes, next year. Borrowing to plug it is not free either; every rupee of interest is a rupee that never reaches a road or a hospital.

CEB's fuel bill jumps Rs 994 million as heavy oil prices leap 57%

The Central Electricity Board (CEB), the public utility that generates most of the island's power, spent Rs 6.87 billion on heavy fuel oil between January and September, Rs 994 million more than a year earlier. Prices for the two grades it burns rose by more than 57%.

The board warns of further rises in the weeks ahead, and of a widening gap between what electricity really costs to supply and what households are charged. Prices are still climbing. Read that as hint about your next tariff.

Housing minister wants to regularise families on state land, case by case

Housing and Lands Minister Shakeel Mohamed wants to regularise families living without title on state land, nationwide and case by case, starting with Roche-Bois after earlier work at Singamanie. He met the Bishop of Port Louis on the plan, which he says aims to give precarious households security and dignity.

PMSD backs a crime-agency overhaul, but not at the police's cost

Reform the fight against crime, or hollow out the police? The PMSD says both worries can be squared. Adrien Duval supports the National Crime Agency Bill in principle, the plan for a dedicated body to tackle serious crime, but wants guarantees it will not gut the regular force.

Shorts

Flacq schoolgirl reports sexual assault – A student says two schoolmates sexually assaulted her, and police in Flacq are investigating.

Rs 400,000 fine for money laundering – A court fined Joseph Mike Didier Brasse Rs 400,000 for laundering cash into a property purchase.

Air Mauritius adds London flights – The airline plans at least five weekly Gatwick flights to Mauritius, up from its current run.

Up to 500 Indian farm workers due – Agriculture is set to bring in as many as 500 workers from India to fill labour gaps.

President Gokhool takes islands' case to pre-COP31 – He travels to Fiji from 5 October to put Indian Ocean climate priorities to the talks.

117

Mauritius has already lost that many lives on its roads this year, up 30% on 2025 and 27 more than a year ago, even as enforcement tightens.

Rs 46,229

Workers at the island's larger firms now take home that much a month on average, up 6.2% over the year, though hiring has stalled.

200 years

since Tennessee last executed a woman, a streak a US appeals court just extended by halting Christa Pike's execution to weigh her history of childhood abuse.

Morocco names El Mansouri as its first woman premier

Morocco has appointed El Mansouri as its first woman prime minister, a milestone for the kingdom. She inherits a heavy agenda: unemployment, the cost of living, and the social gaps that press hardest on the young.

Her promise is plain. She vows to meet citizens' expectations. Whether a first at the top changes daily maths for ordinary Moroccans is the real measure.

Sao Tome opposition wins most seats but no majority

Sao Tome and Principe's opposition Liberation Movement won the most seats but fell short of a majority, opening coalition talks.

Burundi agrees to take US deportees

Burundi has agreed to receive third-country deportees from the US, a spokesperson said, without giving numbers or a date.

FlyDubai pilot stabbed mid-air as Israel alleges a terror plot

A pilot on a FlyDubai flight from the United Arab Emirates stabbed his co-pilot and appeared to try to crash the plane, which was carrying dozens of Israelis, Israel's prime minister said. The jet diverted to Saudi Arabia and landed safely, with every passenger unharmed.

Israel is calling it terror; the airline says it is only investigating. The motive is contested; the outcome is not, everyone walked off the plane alive.

French protests over budget cuts turn violent

Students and public workers marched across France against budget cuts and crumbling schools, and clashes turned violent, with hundreds arrested.

North Korea denies laying border mines that hurt Seoul's troops

North Korea denies laying the mines that wounded three South Korean soldiers on the border, as Seoul demands an apology for breaching the truce.

Eiffel Tower boss quits after women were kept away for a visit

The head of the company that runs the Eiffel Tower is stepping down after female staff were reportedly kept out of the way during a visit by a Hindu religious group.

France guards its secular rules fiercely, treating every faith the same in public life, so a workplace bending them for anyone landed hard. The lesson travels: whose comfort a public monument accommodates is never a small question.

🙏 Merci, à demain! 👋

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