Silence is not always golden

By Munirah Moosa | December 19th, 2009 Silence is not always golden, and never so under compulsion. The Maldives is travelling on a road not just less travelled but abandoned by most other nations – the road of regression. Reading the headlines of a Maldivian newspaper is like travelling back in time. Female genital mutilation (FGM), concubines, under-age brides, calls to bring back capital punishment, deportation of ‘suspect’ foreigners, increasing acceptance of man’s alleged superiority over women… concerned about this state of affairs? The key, apparently, is to say nothing, because whatever you say is certain to be used against you...

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Posted in: Society

President ranked 14th ‘hottest’ leader

By JJ Robinson | December 13th, 2009 President Mohamed Nasheed has been ranked as the 14th hottest leader in the world out of 172 on the list, Miadhu reports. The president came before US President Barack Obama who followed in 15th place. The number one slot was given to Yulia Tymoshenko, the Ukranian prime minister followed by Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il is the least ‘hot’. Source: Minivan N...

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Posted in: Arts / Entertainment

Authorities Warn Of Looming AIDS Pandemic

The Health Ministry has warned of the spread of AIDS in the Maldives after an expatriate prostitute tested positive for HIV. At a press conference yesterday, Dr Ahmed Jamsheed Mohamed, senior medical officer at the centre for community health and disease control, said prostitutes from neighbouring countries were working in the Maldives on tourist visas. “We have some evidence now that expatriate women who came to the Maldives without a work permit on a tourist visa are involved in prostitution,” he said. “We learned that one of them was HIV positive.” While the authorities required medical checkups for expatriates...

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Posted in: Health / HIV

Imam among seven men arrested for homosexual activity

A group of men, including an imam, were arrested in Alif Alif atoll Maalhos on Thursday after photos and videos emerged of the seven engaged in homosexual activity.  An islander who spoke on condition of anonymity told Minivan News a group of teenagers from the island came upon the video CDs in the house of one of the suspects. When the CDs began to be circulated in public, the “island elders” alerted police. “It came as a big shock to everyone on the island to see that [the imam] was one of them. He gives the Friday sermons at the mosque every week,” he said. “He is a well respected person on the island and we saw him as our religious...

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Posted in: News