Latest Update- News Portal Briefing
Times of Malta says UK tax authorities have been asked to turn over any information they hold on Labour MP Ian Castaldi Paris after leaked chats show he had bragged about a multimillion-euro property in London.
MaltaToday reports that migrant and asylum-seeker communities gathered in Valletta on Monday in a show of force to demand better rights while protesting the inhumane treatment of migrants in Malta.
Newsbook reports after the tax rebate next year could go up to €340 as finance minister Clyde Caruana hinted at an increase in a pre-budget press conference.
TVM says that, after several weeks of investigations and surveillance of people who form part of an international drug trafficking ring, the Police from the Anti-Drug Squad arrested three people which led to the discovery of around five kilos of drugs suspected to be cocaine, with a street market value of almost €600,000.
Covid-19 Update: 24 new cases of coronavirus were reported on Monday, while 23 recovered, leaving the active case tally practically unchanged at 294. Six patients remain in hospital, but none require intensive therapy.
Government claims 80% of Budget 2021 implemented, hints at higher tax refunds: Government has claimed that just under 80% of measures promised in the 2021 budget last year were enacted into policy and are functioning, with the majority of these being related to social care. These details were shared by Principal Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar in a press briefing this morning. Cutajar said that the public sector has implemented some 364 measures over the past 12 months. These included measures such as the modernising of health centres, financial schemes supporting home-owners and the introduction of Gozo fast ferry services.
During the same event, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana revealed that all the new proposals and financial estimates for next year’s budget have been closed, adding that health and the economy will be two key priorities of the speech.“We will recount a story how this country with all the difficulties created by the pandemic but with determination implemented measures to save the country that allow us to present a positive package of measures for next year,” Caruana told the press, while also hinting at higher tax refunds in the upcoming Budget, which is due to be announced next week. The Finance Minister said that “the economic wheel in our country must keep turning and this can only happen if the employment industry keeps working. The positive budget is thanks to three key factors; the lowest unemployment rate ever, a higher employment rate and a decrease in inactivity among the population.”
Migrants demonstrate in Valletta: Scores of migrants gathered in the capital this morning to demand better rights and a stop to exploitation. The migrants held placards saying ‘stability not uncertainty’, ‘the rights of our children should be protected’, and ‘we are humans not cheap labour’. Protestors also called for justice for 32-year-old Gambian migrant Lamin Jaiteh who was abandoned on a pavement by his employer after he fell two storeys at a construction site where he was working.
Morning Briefing
John Dalli owned BVI company while an MP
Former European Commissioner and MP John Dalli owned a company in the British Virgin Island while still in Parliament, a new trove of confidential papers, known as the Pandora papers revealed. These documents were made public on Sunday evening with just under 12 million records being made public. Dalli concealed the ownership of Westmead Overseas Limited through a Panama legal firm, Alcogal. Contacted by the Times of Malta, who was involved in the consortium that worked on the papers, Dalli said that “Westmead was formed to hold the equity of the project. The project never materialised and the company was not used,” Dalli said. He added that he had not filed the company in his declaration of assets as it was inactive.
Bernard Grech says Government should acknowledge metro is a PN idea
Government should acknowledge that the metro proposal was the PN’s brainchild in 2017, according to PN Leader Bernard Grech. Speaking on NET on Sunday, Grech argued that “four years ago we had a Labour government that ridiculed our plans, but today it should bow its head and admit that our idea was what the country needed.” The PN’s proposed system had included a link to Gozo. “This government does not plan, it does not plan for tomorrow. It’s lucky that it plans for the afternoon. Now, with a general election around the corner, the government is turning to the PN’s ideas of four years ago.”
Covid-19 Update
There were 10 new cases of Covid-19 reported by the health authorities on Sunday. The number of known active cases in Malta now stands at 293.
