1745- Latest News update
Times of Malta says the daughter of Carmen Sapiano – the 75-year-old woman who died after being crushed by her car earlier this month – has described her mother as “lively, outgoing and full of life”.
MaltaToday says a magistrate has ordered the immediate release of a man who spent an extra seven months in prison after serving his sentence, due to an administrative error.
Newsbook says three party veterans – Mario de Marco, Chris Said and Carm Mifsud Bonnici – have been left out of the shadow cabinet chosen by Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech on Monday.
TVM says The Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations Jesmond Saliba told TVMnews that a number of voluntary organisations, who work in the disability sector, are providing some €9 million in professional services in the sector.
Updated 1400 – Adrian Delia to be appointed transport spokesperson for PN
PN leader Bernard Grech has handed his predecessor Adrian Delia the role of spokesperson on the transport, mobility, and capital projects portfolio, according to reports. He had refused a portfolio during the previous legislature.
Updated 1230 – Mid-Day Briefing
Ukrainian President invited to address Parliament: Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has been invited to address Malta’s parliament when it reconvenes in May, Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg said on Monday. Malta’s parliament will open on May 7 for the start of its fourteenth legislature, following the Labour Party’s general election victory last month. Borg
said he made the invitation to his foreign counterpart Dmytro Kuleba.
Vitals inquiry given ‘dossier’ on man behind Muscat payments: An inquiry into the hospitals’ deal has been handed a “dossier” detailing alleged wrongdoing by the man behind suspicious payments to former prime minister Joseph Muscat.British private investigator Greg Gillespie was last Monday flown into Malta by the authorities to testify about documents and
data he compiled as part of a probe he carried out into the Swiss-based firm Accutor AG,
which is run by Pakistani national Wasay Bhatti.
Covid-19 update: The number of known new COVID cases continued to decrease today, with a total of 199 new COVID cases reported overnight.
Morning Briefing
Qormi murder victim was suspected drug runner
Police are thought to believe a man found inb the boot of his car in Qormi formed part of a drugs and prostitution racket.
Investigators believe the victim had either betrayed members of the criminal group or had some sort of financial dispute with them. Last week, police arrested and charged Elliot Paul Busuttil, 38, over the gruesome murder of Mario Farrugia. Reports suggest that Farrugia was known to be a taxi driver and investigators believe he had acted as a runner for drugs and prostitutes for Busuttil, who does not drive. (Times of Malta)
Swiss authorities launch investigation on smuggled oil held inside Enemed tanks
The Swiss authorities have launched formal investigations into a Swiss-based trading company, Kolmar, for complicity in pillage when it used Malta’s fuel storage tanks to buy smuggled fuel from Libya. Maltatoday reports that the investigation has implications for Malta since it remains unknown how smuggled oil from Libya obtained Customs clearance to be stored in Enemed tanks. The oil was acquired from the smuggling operation run by Libyan smuggler Fahmi Slim Ben Khalifa, and Maltese nationals Darren and Gordon Debono, well before the Italian police caught up with the smuggling network in October 2017. (Maltatoday)
You can only understand Easter through your heart – Archbishop
It is only through the heart that the mystery of the empty tomb – the mystery of Easter – can be understood, Archbishop Charles Scicluna said Easter Sunday. The Archbishop was delivering his homily as he celebrated Mass at the St John’s Co-Cathedral, with the Gospel reading of the day being the Gospel of John’s account of the discovery of the empty tomb of Jesus by Mary Magdalene. Mary rushed to find Simon Peter and the “disciple whom Jesus loved” – deemed to be a reference to John the Apostle – and highlights that the disciples did not yet understand from scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead. (Newsbook)
Covid-19 Update
Malta’s Covid-19 numbers were not uploaded on Easter Sunday by health authorities. Malta currently has 7,746 active cases of the virus, a decline of over a thousand during Easter week. (The Malta Independent)
