News Roundup
New COVID-19 cases remained under 200 for the second day in succession on Sunday with 191 daily cases reported, just one up on Saturday. But two men died after having tested positive, one aged 75 and the other 85. The last time that the number of new cases was below 200 was in mid-December. via Times of Malta – Read More
The first edition of the Malta Film Awards took place on Saturday 29 January, with all eyes at the Mediterreanean Conference Centre in Valletta to see the star-studded event unfold. But many industry practitioners watched the event with a more critical eye, noting a lack of COVID-19 regulation enforcement while remarking on the exorbitant price tag of the whole event. Read More
An 83-year-old woman who got lost in a rural area in Mellieħa was found by police officers in the early hours of Sunday morning. A relative of the elderly woman contacted the police at 10pm on Saturday to inform them that she did not return home after she went out for a walk near her home in Mellieħa. Read More
Mid-Morning News Update
From the newspapers and portals :
Times of Malta – Pilatus Bank was used to send $10 million worth of potentially “suspicious” transactions to a mystery company found in the 17 Black money trail. Lazr International, a United Arab Emirates (UAE) company contracted to run “logistics” for the 2015 Baku games in Azerbaijan, used the Ta’ Xbiex-based bank to wire millions to a Seychelles company called Mayor Trans. During the same time period, Mayor Trans wired $1.4 million to murder suspect Yorgen Fenech’s secret company 17 Black. Read more
Malta Today – A memorandum of understanding hammered out by the Muscat administration with Steward Healthcare, would have allowed the American hospitals concessionaire to sell the Barts medical and nursing training school to a real estate investment company. The non-binding MOU was approved by Cabinet in 2019, but never formally sealed because of the political crisis of December 2019, when Tumas magnate Yorgen Fenech was charged with masterminding the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. According to the MOU, it was agreed that Steward could transfer the Barts Medical School into a “separate and distinct contract”, without any change to government’s ownership rights in the Steward concession agreement. Read more
The Malta Independent Nationalist Party Leader Bernard Grech is hopeful that the PN can continue to close the gap with the Labour Party in the coming weeks. The Malta Independent on Sunday interviewed Grech on Friday, amid rumours that government could call a March election next week. Asked whether his plan is to try and just shrink the gap or whether he believes the PN can win, Grech said that his intention is to, in the coming election, do all he can so that the PN will again be in government. Read more
TVM – An Ukrainian man was grievously injured on Saturday evening after he crashed with his car into a rubble wall.The accident occurred at around 11pm in Triq Għajn Kajjet, Rabat. A hospital medical team and Civil Protection members assisted the man on site. He was then admitted at Mater Dei for further treatment. A woman who was passenger in the car was unhurt. Read more
Newsbook – Prime Minister Robert Abela inaugurated the Central Link Project on Sunday morning.
Former PM Joseph Muscat defends Swiss payments, laments leaks of house search
Former PM Joseph Muscat took the limelight again on Saturday with a Facebook video in which he complained about unfair treatment and demanded an investigation into how information that his house was being searched by the police was leaked. While making no reference to a return to politics, he insisted that he would be working “out of the limelight”. “I will keep on talking, explaining and work quietly, without protagonism… but I will not let anyone stir the agenda to break the movement. The movement we constructed together, will remain strong and I will make sure that it goes forward,” Muscat concluded.
Muscat claimed the police search of his children’s school bags was out of order. “Someone wanted this whole theatre to occur.” Muscat also tackled the payment he received form the Swiss company and said he received money for work that he did. “I did work for them. Don’t I have a right to work? I did this work, declared my income and paid taxes for it,” he said. (Times of Malta/Maltatoday)
Greens want biannual COLA
The Green Party has proposed giving cost of living wage adjustments twice a year, rather than being tied to the government’s annual budget. “With the spiralling increase in the price of essential commodities that is also expected to continue in the coming months ADPD considers that the cost of living increase should not be tied to the end of year budget announcement but also awarded mid-year,” ADPD – The Green Party spokespersons Carmel Cacopardo and Sandra Gauci said in a press briefing.
Gauci, the Green Party deputy secretary general said “it is not luxury items that we are talking about here but daily necessities such as food.” On a similar note, 22 Church organisations demanded immediate action to mitigate effects of inflation in food and other basic commodities, which they held was leading to an increase in poverty. [Newsbook]
Covid-19 update:
190 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Saturday, while a 92-year-old man died while infected with the virus. Active cases dropped to 3345, in view of 441 recoveries. The new case tally is the lowest report so far this year.
