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Petrol up to Rs 64.25 as the stabilisation fund bleeds dry

Effective since last night, petrol now costs Rs 64.25 per litre, up from Rs 58.45, a jump of Rs 5.80. Diesel climbed from Rs 64.80 to Rs 71.25, an increase of Rs 6.45 per litre. Fill your tank with 40 litres and you're paying Rs 232 more than you were a month ago. The Petroleum Pricing Committee met Wednesday evening and confirmed the hike.

Two things broke at once. The Price Stabilization Account, the government buffer fund designed to absorb the gap between global crude prices and local pump costs, now carries a Rs 3.2 billion deficit. Gone. Brent crude is sitting at $95.06 a barrel today, with the Strait of Hormuz still unresolved. This is also the second diesel increase in less than a month; the previous one landed on March 25.

Commerce Minister Michael Sik Yuen was clear: prices "can go up at any moment." No floor, no guarantee. With the Iran conflict simmering and the next budget set to be a punishing exercise, this hike could be the first of several. Households already squeezed by higher bread and electricity costs now have this on top.

Brent at $95 today. If Hormuz tightens further, every pump in Mauritius reprices within days.

Shakeel takes the wheel, and Ramgoolam leaves a constitutional void

PM Navin Ramgoolam flew to Brazzaville Tuesday evening for the inauguration of Republic of Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso, leaving Acting PM Shakeel Mohamed in charge for five days. Mohamed, who serves as Minister of Justice, took the role with characteristic calm. "I asked God to give me courage and vision," he told reporters, pledging to lead with "serenity and stability."

Before boarding, Ramgoolam set off a constitutional alarm by claiming there is "no obligation" to appoint a Deputy Prime Minister. Section 59(1) of the Constitution reads otherwise: "There shall be a Prime Minister and a Deputy Prime Minister." Constitutional scholar Parvèz Dookhy called the wording "imperative, not discretionary," and former Speaker Ajay Daby warned the executive has been "improperly constituted" since Paul Bérenger resigned the post on March 20.

Maldives, hands off: Mauritius pushes back on Chagos claim

Mauritius's Attorney General's office issued a firm statement Wednesday rejecting any Maldivian claim over the Chagos archipelago. The Maldives had welcomed the UK parliament's pause on the transfer deal and signalled it had "legitimate interest" in the territory's future. Port Louis said no.

Four legal instruments back Mauritius's position: rulings from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in 2021 and 2023, a 2019 advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), UN General Assembly resolution 73/295, and the May 2025 accord with the UK itself, which explicitly recognises Mauritian sovereignty over the entire archipelago. London told the House of Commons this week that the deal remains "the best way" to secure Diego Garcia long-term.

Uber lands, the taxi rank revolts

What happens when Mauritius finally gets a proper ride-hailing option? This week, the public answered in minutes. Uber launched on the island and the uptake was immediate, confirming what anyone who has spent 45 minutes in the sun waiting for a taxi with no app already suspected. Taxi operators pushed back hard. Expect this dispute to run well into the year.

Every island that introduced ride-hailing faced this same battle. The side without an app lost every time.

Mauritius in Washington to lock in trade deal before AGOA door closes

Minister Aadil Ameer Meea is leading a joint public-private delegation in Washington this week for talks with the United States Trade Representative on a potential bilateral trade agreement. The goal: secure Mauritius's export access to the US market before the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which gives eligible African nations preferential tariff rates, expires in December 2026. Without a deal, Mauritian textile and apparel exporters face a costly cliff.

🗞️ SHORTS

A singer, a video, a very bad look – A viral video shows a known Mauritian singer apparently handing out substances to a crowd while collecting cash.

22-year-old killed at St-Félix beach – Jaisen Sooreea, 22, was stabbed at St-Félix beach on Tuesday night and died later in hospital; a suspect is in custody.

World Bank flags slower growth – The World Bank puts Mauritius growth at just 2.5% in 2026, with public debt forecast to reach 90.6% of GDP this year.

Two SMF bulletproof vests gone missing – Two bulletproof vests disappeared after a Special Mobile Force (SMF) mission on April 12; an inquiry is underway.

Nigerian caught with 61 drug pellets – A Nigerian traveller at the airport on April 11 was found to have swallowed 51 cocaine pellets and 10 cannabis pellets.

50 – the goals Harry Kane has scored this season, confirmed with his strike in Bayern Munich's 4-3 Champions League win over Real Madrid on Wednesday night. It is a mark few strikers reach in a single campaign at the top level of European football. Bayern face PSG in the semi-finals; Kane will start.

1.3% – the fall in the Mauritius rupee against the US dollar in March, with the currency averaging Rs 47.10 per dollar, its weakest reading in several months. It's a straightforward squeeze, higher global oil prices push up freight and insurance costs, making every imported good more expensive while export earnings struggle to keep pace. CareEdge Ratings Africa flagged the trend this month and warned the gap is widening.

Rs 100 billion – the projected annual cost of the Basic Retirement Pension by 2035 if no reform is introduced, a figure raised in parliament yesterday. With the population ageing, pension spending is already one of the largest items in the national budget. The government is weighing a gradual rise in eligibility age, which cuts costs but hits hardest on manual workers who can't keep going into their late sixties.

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Iran ceasefire holds, but Tehran warns it can shut the Gulf

Can a ceasefire survive when both sides are still issuing threats? Both the US and Iran gave "in principle" agreement Wednesday to extend the truce beyond April 22, buying time for a second round of diplomatic talks expected in Islamabad, where Pakistan's army chief is working to advance the process. Pakistani mediators says they are hopeful of a breakthrough on Iran's nuclear programme.

But Iran's joint military commander issued a blunt parallel warning: if the US does not lift its blockade on Iranian ports, Tehran will "completely block exports and imports across the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman, and the Red Sea." Total Gulf shutdown. President Trump, on Fox Business, called the conflict "very close to over"; Tehran's generals are not using that language.

If Iran carries through on the Gulf threat, 20% of global seaborne oil stops moving. Mauritius would feel it within weeks.

South Africa waits: Malema faces sentence today

A maximum 15-year prison term is what South African prosecutors are requesting when Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), faces sentencing today. He was convicted last October of firing a gun in the air at an EFF rally in 2018, a case brought by AfriForum, a conservative advocacy group.

Malema has been one of most vocal critics of white economic privilege and the ruling African National Congress (ANC) alike. His supporters say the prosecution is political. South Africa's politics do not lack for drama.

Pope arrives in Cameroon, calls on Biya to break 'chains of corruption'

Pope Leo XIV landed in Yaoundé Wednesday afternoon to thousands singing and dancing at the airport. On his first full day in the country he called on Cameroon's authorities to "examine their conscience" and break "the chains of corruption."

The Pope is due to meet President Paul Biya, who at 93 is one of the world's longest-serving heads of state. He will also visit the Anglophone regions, where a decade-long separatist conflict continues. The Cameroon leg follows two days in Algeria shadowed by suicide attacks and a public row with President Trump, who lashed out at the Pope over his calls for peace in the Iran conflict.

Trump moves to fire the Fed chair

President Trump threatened Wednesday to remove Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell if he does not leave voluntarily by May. No US president has ever fired a Fed chair. The independence of the central bank is a cornerstone of global monetary credibility, and markets took note.

The dispute centres on interest rates: Trump wants cuts, Powell has held firm on inflation concerns. A forced removal would push the dollar lower and bond yields higher. For any country holding dollar assets or dollar-denominated debt, which is most of the world, the ripple effects would be immediate.

Nine dead in Turkey's second school shooting in two days

Eight students and a teacher were killed in a gun attack on a Turkish school Wednesday, Interior Minister Mustafa Cifci confirmed. It is the second such attack in two days. Turkey does not have the school shooting history of the United States, which makes two incidents in 48 hours all the more startling.

Bayern stun Real Madrid in a six-goal classic

Harry Kane scored his 50th goal of the season, Luis Diaz struck in the 89th minute, and Michael Olise sealed it in stoppage time as Bayern Munich beat Real Madrid 4-3, advancing 6-4 on aggregate through the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals.

Real led three times. Eduardo Camavinga received a controversial red card in the 86th minute, the momentum swung, and Bayern scored twice inside four minutes. Bayern face PSG next. Real's coach Álvaro Arbeloa had much to say about the officiating.

Africa is bigger than your map is letting on

Togo is going to the United Nations to complain about world maps. The Mercator projection, the standard map most of us grew up with, shrinks Africa dramatically because of 16th-century navigation math. Greenland appears roughly the same size as Africa on most standard maps. In reality, Africa could fit the United States, China, India, and much of Europe inside it at the same time.

Togo's foreign minister says it is time for "scientific truth," and the African Union has already backed a resolution on the distortion. Now Togo wants UN member states to formally commit to more accurate maps.