World

The first democratically elected president of the Maldives returned home Thursday after more than two years in exile to escape a long prison term.

The plane carrying Mohamed Nasheed from Sri Lanka landed in Maldives' capital, Male, where he was welcomed by his party members and supporters. He planned to address his supporters later Thursday.

Nasheed was sentenced to 13 years in jail in 2015 after being convicted of terrorism for ordering the arrest of a top judge in 2012 while he was president. His trial was criticized internationally for lack of due process, along with those of many other political opponents jailed by strongman President Yameen Abdul Gayoom's administration.

He was offered asylum in Britain when he traveled there for medical treatment on leave from prison.
(Associated Press)

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - After suffering months of capital outflows, policy makers from emerging markets attending IMF-World Bank meetings in Indonesia had a message for leading economies: current monetary and trade policies risk undermining us all.

The International Monetary Fund-World Bank meetings wrapping up on Sunday gave central bankers and finance ministers from around the world a chance to meet face-to-face in Indonesia, whose rupiah currency hit a new 20-year low this week.

Poorer and populous emerging markets have been particularly vulnerable to the escalating U.S.-Sino tariff war and rate rises by the U.S. central bank. Investors dumped assets seen as riskier, sparking painful currency plunges that have punished countries from India to recession-hit South Africa, as well as triggering crises in Turkey and Argentina.

"We are all aware that the normalization of the monetary policy in the U.S., combined with their fiscal policy and trade policy ... are all creating a systemic impact to the whole economy in the world," Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said in an interview during the meetings in Bali.

The Federal Reserve's nearly three-year-old tightening cycle has in part prompted a global shift in capital away from emerging markets and after three hikes this year, it foresees another December rise, three more next year, and one in 2020.

A senior Fed official in Bali said the rate rises were right for domestic policy and ensuring they were gradual and predictable was "the best solution" for minimizing unintended volatility in emerging markets.

In a bid to support the rupiah, Bank Indonesia has raised rates five times since mid-May and intervened regularly, but still the currency has lost nearly 11 percent this year, leaving it at the weakest levels since the 1998 Asian financial crisis.

Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo said that the 150 basis point rate hikes since mid-May aimed to keep Indonesian assets attractive enough for foreigners to stay invested, but calibrating this in the current environment was hard.

"The risk premia are very difficult to incorporate because risk premia are responding to geopolitical, responding to trade tension," Warjiyo told a panel in Bali.

"Spillover" risks

Locals walk by an exchange office in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, June 29, 2018. According to officials the Argentine Peso devaluated more than 50% to the dollar during 2018. AP Photo/Jorge Saenz

Finance ministers for developing nations in the Group of 24 economies urged major economies to reform the global trading system, rather than discard it. 

The G24 statement, issued on the sidelines of the Bali meetings, said all emerging markets were "adversely affected" by excessive capital flow volatility.

While many countries shared common fears, Indrawati said it was difficult to forge cooperation to counter the risks.

"It's not really clear how the world is going to coordinate more effectively, especially when each country has their own domestic issues," she said.

The Philippine peso has shed nearly 8 percent this year and its deputy central bank governor, Diwa Guinigundo, said the IMF and other global institutions should advise advanced economies on the potential negative consequences of their moves.

"It's the spillovers that we are concerned with ... the spillover could have effects from one market to the other, from the financial market to the real market," said Guinigundo. 

He said while it was good for policymakers to be ahead of the curve in tightening, they should take account of the growing clout of emerging markets. "It should also be emphasized that ASEAN+3 (China, Japan, Korea), we account for a good bulk of the world's population and GDP." 

"Either all are winners or all are losers"

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde urged members at the meeting to "de-escalate" trade tensions and work on fixing global trade rules. She also warned against adding currency to the trade conflict, saying this would hurt global growth as well as "innocent bystander" nations, including emerging markets that supply commodities to China.

Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said policy makers in developed countries should understand that if their actions hurt other countries it would have knock-on effects.

"You need me. I am a market for you, I am an opportunity for you," Maait told Reuters. "I don't believe there will be a winner and a loser. Either all are winners or all are losers." 

Indeed, market ructions have now cascaded through to developed markets with Wall Street seeing a six session slide until a rebound on Friday, amid fears over the trade war between China and the United States.

However, other than having effective monetary policies, developing markets can do little to cope with the impact of rate hikes and trade battles, said Jacob Frenkel, chairman of JPMorgan Chase International.

"When elephants fight, the grass suffers."

Ayesha Thajudeen was one of the first people on the scene of her brother’s accident. Police said Wasim, a Sri Lankan national rugby player, had crashed his car and burned to death inside. Surveying the charred vehicle, around 4am that morning, Ayesha wasn’t so sure.

The car was sitting in a ditch; it wasn’t clear what it had struck with enough force to burst into flames. Wasim’s wallet was nowhere to be found – a stranger later discovered it about 5km away. Strangest of all: Wasim was sitting in the passenger seat, she says.

“It was obvious from the moment I was taken to the site,” Ayesha says. “It was not a death, but a murder.”

The death of Wasim Thajudeen, 28, was one of several during the Mahinda Rajapaksa era in Sri Lanka to be reexamined by police after the strongman leader was defeated in 2015.

On Tuesday, tens of thousands of people rallied in Colombo against a decision by Sri Lanka’s president to dismiss the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and install Rajapaksa in his place.

Wickremesinghe has refused to go and both he and Rajapaksa are rallying numbers in parliament to confirm them as the legitimate prime minister when the assembly resumes, currently scheduled for 16 November.

Former Sri Lankan leader Ranil Wickremesinghe acknowledges supporters at a rally in Colombo on Tuesday. Photograph: MA Pushpa Kumara/EPA

Activists fear Rajapaksa’s return would mark the end of a series of investigations, including under a UN human rights resolution, into crimes allegedly committed during his rule, and strain a post-civil war reconciliation process that was already stalling.

“The prospect of a Rajapaksa government is not good for accountability, democracy or human rights protection,” said lawyer Bhavani Fonseka, over the shouts of protesters in Colombo Plaza on Tuesday.

She said many of the investigations into Rajapaksa’s rule that commenced after he left office had dragged anyway in the past year. “But even those moving slowly are likely to stop if Rajapaksa comes back to government.”

Namal Rajapaksa, an MP and the former president’s son, said the family’s critics had nothing to fear. “We are telling all, my father is not in the habit of taking revenge,” he told the Guardian. “We will bring stability to the country, especially the economy and then go for elections.”

The current president, Maithripala Sirisena, defected from Rajapaksa’s government in 2014 to become the consensus candidate of the opposition. He framed himself as the alternative to a government accused of corruption, disappearing dissidents into white vans and intimidating the media.

Sirisena’s victory the following year was welcomed as a new page for Sri Lankan human rights and for relations between the country’s Buddhist majority and Tamil population after a 27-year civil war.

His government relaxed the pressure on media and NGOs, promised to end abuses by security agencies and co-sponsored a UN resolution whose demands included international trials for soldiers accused of wartime atrocities. It also agreed to reopen the investigation into the death of Wasim Thajudeen.

Members of the new government claimed Thajudeen had been murdered by Rajapaksa’s security forces, possibly after falling out with members of the family. Rajapaksa has denied the claims and says they are politically motivated.

The new probe initially raised Ayesha’s hopes. But in the past year the investigation has become bogged down in bureaucratic and legal delays. She believes the case is being deliberately slowed. “I feel very sad,” she says. “I don’t think I’m going to see an end to this.”

The progress of the Thajudeen investigation reflects a wider lack of government action on human rights issues. Lawyers such as JC Weliamuna blame the fact the same Rajapaksa-era military and civilian bureaucrats remained in place in the new government.

“There was political will, but there was no bureaucratic will,” Weliamuna says.

The government also faced resistance from within. He says ultranationalist forces within Sirisena’s administration have fought efforts to comply with the UN investigation. Similarly, “elitist forces” inside Wickremesinghe’s more business-friendly party have delayed financial reforms, he says.

“Every time there was a move for reform, it was challenged within the government, as well as outside,” he says. “People feel terribly let down.”

In the northern and eastern areas still recovering from the war, there is bitter disappointment over the absence of progress in settling displaced people, ending the excesses of security forces or drawing down the military.

In July, Sri Lanka was slammed by a UN special rapporteur for failing to comply with its commitments under the UN resolution it promised to implement.

“There is a sense of apprehension here,” says Ravindra de Silva, head of the Association for Friendship and Love, a youth group based in the northern town of Vavuniya. “People are waiting to see what happens next, who will be in control and what kind of changes there will be.

“Nothing decisive has taken place when it comes to reconciliation and other related issues like the missing, so there was disappointment anyway. Now that has turned into a sense of betrayal and foreboding that the old ways might return.”

Rajapaksa’s return could raise questions over key trials of family members and associates scheduled for the coming weeks: one against his brother, Gotabaya, who was a feared defence secretary during the previous government, and another of his former chief of staff.

Also potentially under question would be post-war reconciliation agencies such as a new office dedicated to tracing the up to 20,000 people who went missing during the war, and another established to decide on reparations.

A senior officer inside one post-war reconciliation agency told the Guardian he feared his work would be quietly strangled. “Political will matters,” he said. “Our funding is allocated within government budgets, so any downward trend in funding would have an impact.”

Ayesha Thajudeen says she has all but given up hope of finding out who killed her brother. And if Rajapaksa returns to power? “We will never know,” she says.

(The Guardian)

The rupee crashed to a new all-time low of 73.77 against the US dollar on Thursday, reported news agency Press Trust of India (PTI). 

The local currency dropped 44 paise against the US currency in the morning session as global oil prices continued to rise, deepening concerns about the current account deficit (CAD) and capital outflows. Consistent dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners also kept the rupee under pressure, traders said. 

The Indian finance ministry announced last week that it was raising import tariffs on 19 items, coming into immediate effect. India imported close to USD 12 billion worth of these goods in the last financial year, it said. 

Custom duties on fridges, and air conditioners, for example, have been doubled to 20 per cent, while aviation turbine fuel customs duty, which was previously not imposed, has been added at a rate of 5 per cent. Some plastic items and suitcases are also among the affected products. There are also expectations that there could be more steps to reduce imports.

New Delhi is hiking duties to try to support the Indian rupee, which has slumped to a series of record lows against the US dollar in recent weeks. It is Asia's worst performing currency this year, down about 13 per cent. 

The state-owned oil marketing companies have also been allowed to raise USD 10 billion from overseas markets to meet their working capital needs.

Apple and Samsung are being fined €10m and €5m respectively in Italy for the “planned obsolescence” of their smartphones.

An investigation launched in January by the nation’s competition authority found that certain smartphone software updates had a negative effect on the performance of the devices.

Believed to be the first ruling of its kind against smartphone manufacturers, the investigation followed accusations operating system updates for older phones slowed them down, thereby encouraging the purchase of new phones.

Apple and Samsung fined €10 and €5m respectively by Italian competition authority for slowing older phones with software updates. Photograph: Michaela Rehle/Reuters

In a statement the antitrust watchdog said “Apple and Samsung implemented dishonest commercial practices” and that operating system updates “caused serious malfunctions and significantly reduced performance, thus accelerating phones’ substitution”.

It added the two firms had not provided clients adequate information about the impact of the new software “or any means of restoring the original functionality of the products”.

Samsung told owners of its Galaxy Note 4 phone to install a new version of Google’s Android operating system intended for the more recent Galaxy Note 7, but which users claimed rendered the old model sluggish.

Likewise, Apple told iPhone 6 owners to install an operating system designed for the iPhone 7, leading to problems for owners of the older model.

Both firms were issued the maximum fine of €5m each and ordered to display a notice on their Italian websites informing customers of the watchdog’s decision.

Apple was fined an additional €5m for failing to give customers clear information about “essential” characteristics of lithium batteries, including their average life expectancy, how to maintain them or eventually replace them in the firm’s iPhones.

Apple acknowledged in December that it had intentionally slowed iPhones with degraded batteries through software updates to avoid sudden shutdown problems, but denied it had ever done anything to intentionally shorten the life of a product.

The company later apologised for its actions and reduced the cost of battery replacements. It also added battery health information to iOS and allowed users to turn off the slowing down of the iPhone’s processor.

The Italian antitrust authority opened its investigation following customer complaints around the same time as a similar probe in France, which has yet to conclude.

It is a crime under French law to intentionally shorten the life of any product in order to promote sales. The French consumer protection agency has the power to fine up to 5% of annual turnover or impose a jail term.

Apple also faced questions from the US senate in January over the slowing of iPhones, and a barrage of class-action lawsuits from around the country. More than 60 separate US lawsuits were ordered to be consolidated into a single suit in the Northern District of California, which is still ongoing.

Samsung’s software updates for its phones have not previously been questioned.

A Samsung spokesperson said the company was disappointed by the decision and intends to appeal the fine: “Samsung did not issue any software update that reduced the Galaxy Note 4’s performance. In contrast, Samsung has always released software updates enabling our customers to have the best experience possible.”

(The Guardian)

The number of people confirmed killed after a tsunami and earthquake in Indonesia rose dramatically to 844 on Monday, Indonesian authorities said.

Officials warned that the number of people killed could even reach into the thousands as rescuers reach more affected areas.

A 7.5 magnitude earthquake triggered an unexpected tsunami in the Indonesian island of Sulawesi Friday, leaving hospitals and rescuers struggling to respond.

Most of the confirmed deaths are from the city of Palu. But rescuers worry that they could find more victims of the disaster in the Donggala region, which is closer to the epicenter of the earthquake.

Indonesian disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said earlier that bodies of some victims were found trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings, adding that hundreds more were injured and many were missing, according to Reuters.

Authorities said that "tens to hundreds" of people were by the ocean in the hard-hit city Palu for a beach festival when the tsunami struck on Friday just after 5:02 PM Western Indonesian Time.

A member of the 15-man team suspected in the death of Jamal Khashoggi dressed up in his clothes and was captured on surveillance cameras around Istanbul on the day the journalist was killed, a senior Turkish official CNN reports. 

CNN is said to have obtained exclusive law enforcement surveillance footage, part of the Turkish government's investigation, that appears to show the man leaving the Saudi consulate by the back door, wearing Khashoggi's clothes, a fake beard, and glasses.

The same man was seen in Khashoggi's clothing, according to the Turkish case, at the city's world-famous Blue Mosque just hours after the journalist was last seen alive entering the consulate on October 2.

The man in the video, identified by the official as Mustafa al-Madani, was allegedly part of what investigators have said was a hit squad, sent to kill the journalist during a scheduled appointment to get papers for his upcoming wedding.

Saudi Arabia has presented a shifting narrative of what happened to Khashoggi. After weeks of denying involvement in Khashoggi's disappearance, Saudi Arabia said that he was killed in the Istanbul consulate, saying his death was the result of a "fistfight." A Saudi source close to the royal palace later told that the Washington Post journalist died in a chokehold. On Sunday, its foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir, went further, describing Khashoggi's death on Fox News as a "murder" and a "tremendous mistake." He also said they "don't know where the body is."

"We are determined to uncover every stone. We are determined to find out all the facts. And we are determined to punish those who are responsible for this murder," he said in the interview.

In the apparent cover-up that followed Khashoggi's death, Madani, 57, who is of similar height, age and build to Khashoggi, 59, was used as a decoy for the journalist, according to the Turkish official.

A senior Turkish official told CNN that the video showed that Madani was brought to Istanbul to act as a body double."You don't need a body double for a rendition or an interrogation," the official said. "Our assessment has not changed since October 6. This was a premeditated murder and the body was moved out of the consulate."

A Saudi source would not confirm or deny that Madani was sent to act as a body double, though he emphasized that the killing of Khashoggi was not intentional.

Madani, a decade older than the other members of the 15-man team, exited the consulate building by the back door along with an alleged accomplice. Madani was wearing what the video appears to show to be Khashoggi's dark blazer, gray shirt opened at the collar and trousers.

Four hours earlier Madani had entered the consulate by the front door, alongside an alleged accomplice. Saudi's forensic medicine chief Salah al-Tubaiqi, another key suspect who was identified using facial recognition analysis together with CNN's timeline of events that day, was also present. The video appears to show Madani without a beard, wearing a blue and white checked shirt and dark blue trousers. When he exited the consulate dressed as Khashoggi, the video then appears to show him wearing the same dark pair of sneakers with white soles that he first arrived in prior to the journalist's death.

The journalist's fiancee Hatice Cengiz, who was waiting outside the consulate's front entrance and raised the alarm when he didn't return, was told by a consulate guard that he may have exited the building through the back door, Khashoggi's friend Turan Kislakci told CNN.

This surveillance footage is another piece of evidence in the mysterious case of what happened to Khashoggi after he entered the consulate almost three weeks ago. It forms part of the wider investigation by Turkish officials into the events of that day and the continued interrogation and international questioning of Saudi Arabia's version of how the journalist died.

Turkish officials have been leaking a steady drip feed of details from the investigation to journalists but they have yet to release a key audio recording which sources say exists from inside the Saudi consulate. Turkey has not publicly admitted the existence of the audio. (CNN)

A new report on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church showed that the issue has not been resolved yet, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the president of the German Bishops’ Conference, said Tuesday in a published statement.

"The study on 'Sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests, deacons and male members of orders in the domain of the German Bishops’ Conference' makes it clear to us that the Catholic Church has by no means overcome the issue of dealing with the sexual abuse of minors.

The study takes a deep look into the past," the cardinal said.

The study by universities of Mannheim, Heidelberg, and Giessen (MHG) was officially presented earlier on Tuesday at a press conference at the fall full assembly of the German Bishops’ Conference. It looked at personal files and references from 27 dioceses in the period between 1946 and 2014. A total of 3,677 "children and juveniles" were found to have been abused by 1,670 clerics.

According to the research project summary, 62.8 percent of the victims were male, 34.9 percent were female. However, 2.3 percent of the cases were missing gender data.The report showed that 51.6 percent of those affected by the abuse was of up to 13 years maximum at the time when they first were subjected to molestation, while 25.8 percent were aged 14 and older.

The study found that multiple acts against one individual were more frequent than one-off episodes.

The Church took action regarding 33.9 percent of the people accused of sexual abuse, while there were no proceedings launched for 53 percent of the abusers. The information on possible penalties was missing on some of the cases.

Saudi Arabia says that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered, blaming a "rogue operation" for a killing that has sparked an international outcry.

Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told Fox News the act was a "tremendous mistake" and denied the influential crown prince ordered the killing.

Saudi Arabia has been under pressure to explain what happened, having first said Mr Khashoggi was alive.

He was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October.

Turkish officials believe Mr Khashoggi, a prominent critic of the Saudi government, was murdered by a team of Saudi agents inside the building.

Saudi Arabia initially said he had left the building unharmed but on Friday admitted for the first time he was dead, saying that he was killed in a fight.

That claim though met widespread scepticism.

What's the latest from the Saudis?In his comments, Mr al-Jubeir described the incident as murder.

"We are determined to find out all the facts. And we are determined to punish those who are responsible for this murder," he said.

"The individuals who did this did this outside the scope of their authority," he added. "There obviously was a tremendous mistake made, and what compounded the mistake was the attempt to try to cover up."

CCTV footage shows missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul

He also said that they did not know where the body was, and insisted the action was not ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, seen as Saudi Arabia's most influential figure.

"Even the senior leadership of our intelligence service was not aware of this," he said, calling it a "rogue operation".

Saudi Arabia says it arrested 18 people, sacked two aides of Mohammed bin Salman and set up a body, under his leadership, to reform the intelligence agency following the incident.

Both King Salman and the crown prince called Mr Khashoggi's son on Sunday to express their condolences over his death, the Saudi Press Agency reports.

What has been the international reaction?In a Washington Post interview on Saturday, US President Donald Trump said there had been "deception" and "lies" in Saudi Arabia's explanation, having previously said he found their narrative to be credible.

He said he would "love" it if the Crown Prince was not responsible for the murder. The president has raised the possibility of imposing sanctions but said halting an arms deal would "hurt us more than it would hurt them".

The UK, France and Germany issued a joint statement expressing shock at the death and demanding a full explanation, saying: "Nothing can justify this killing and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms."

Several of Saudi Arabia's regional allies have come out in its support.

Kuwait praised King Salman for his handling of the case, while Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have been among those reflecting similar praise.

Also on Sunday, Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would reveal the "naked truth" of the matter in parliament on Tuesday.

Where is the investigation now?Although Turkey has so far stopped short of officially blaming Saudi Arabia for the killing, investigators have said they have audio and video evidence which shows Mr Khashoggi, was killed by a team of Saudi agents inside the consulate.

Police have searched the nearby Belgrad forest in Istanbul where they believe the body may have been taken and one official was hopeful its fate would be known "before long".

Investigators are searching Belgrad forest for the body 

Both the consulate and the residence of the Saudi consul have been searched too.

Reuters reported on Sunday it had spoken to a Saudi official who said Mr Khashoggi had died in a chokehold after resisting attempts to return him to Saudi Arabia. His body was then rolled in a rug and given to a local "co-operator" to dispose of.

A Saudi operative then reportedly donned Mr Khashoggi's clothes and left the consulate.

The official said Saudi statements had changed because of "false information reported internally at the time".

(BBC)

Opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has won the Maldives' presidential election in a surprise defeat of President Abdulla Yameen.

He took 134,616 votes to beat Mr Yameen, who received 96,132, provisional results showed.

Mr Yameen, who has been accused of crushing dissent in the archipelago, admitted defeat, saying he accepted the result.

The Maldives is a key battleground in the rivalry between China and India. The US and India have welcomed Mr Solih's win. Mr Yameen had drawn the Maldives closer to China, which has stepped up its presence in the Indian Ocean in recent years.

Many opposition politicians in the Maldives have been jailed under Mr Yameen, and the US and European Union had threatened sanctions before the vote if the democratic situation did not improve.

Supporters of Mr Solih took to the streets in celebration overnight. "The message is loud and clear. The people of Maldives want change, peace and justice," Mr Solih, widely known as Ibu, told reporters in the capital, Male. In a televised address to the nation on Monday, Mr Yameen said he had congratulated Mr Solih, while defending his record.

President Yameen had been widely expected to win another term in office and some observers had believed the election was rigged in his favour. Voter turnout was 89%,"No major issues were reported in the vote counting process as well as with the voters list, which will affect the results," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Source : BBC

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to meet Saudi King Salman amid growing controversy over the fate of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

He will then visit Turkey, where Khashoggi was last seen at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago. Turkish officials believe Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi agents but Riyadh has always strongly denied this.

On Monday, President Donald Trump suggested "rogue killers" could be behind Mr Khashoggi's disappearance.

The president provided no evidence to back his comment, but said that during a phone call the Saudi king had firmly denied knowing what had happened to Khashoggi.

Unconfirmed reports in the US media suggest Saudi Arabia is preparing to admit that Mr Khashoggi died as a result of an interrogation that went wrong and that the original intention had been to abduct him.

Meanwhile, Arabic channel Al-Jazeera quotes Turkey's attorney-general's office as saying it has found evidence to back claims that Mr Khashoggi was killed inside the mission.

Earlier, a Turkish security source told the BBC officials had audio and video evidence proving Khashoggi was murdered there.

The issue has strained Saudi Arabia's ties with its closest Western allies. (BBC)

The Maldives has started to vote in a heavily-criticised election that will be closely watched by India and China. The Indian Ocean archipelago is best-known overseas for its clear waters and high-end resorts but its government stands accused of crushing dissent.

President Abdulla Yameen has embraced China, while his opponent, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, is seen as leaning towards India and the West.The European Union and US have voiced concerns about the election.Both have threatened to impose targeted sanctions if the democratic situation does not improve.

Police raided opposition headquarters on the eve of the vote, according to local reports.Polls opened at 08:00 (03:00 GMT) on Sunday.
The Maldives is made up of 26 coral atolls and 1,192 islands, and tourism is a vital part of its economy. More than 400,000 people live there but its future hangs in the balance due to climate change.

Source : BBC