Bernard Grech re-elected PN leader / News Briefing – Saturday 28 May 2022

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Bernard Grech was re-elected Nationalist Party leader on Saturday evening after garnering around 81% of the vote. Grech was uncontested in this election, which he was bound to call after an electoral defeat. Some 90% of the 1,564 party councillors turned up to vote.

The President of the PN Electoral Commission said that Grech obtained 1,124 votes in his favour, 266 against, while 12 votes were rendered invalid. The results were given by Peter Fenech, president of the PN electoral commission. 

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Iosif Galea arrested in Germany: A gaming consultant wanted in Malta for an alleged scam employing leaked regulator information was detained in Italy, but for an unrelated German investigation involving tax evasion. Iosif Galea appears to be the target of two independent European arrest orders, one issued by Malta and the other by Germany. Galea was apprehended a few days ago in an undisclosed location in Italy, pursuant to a warrant issued by German authorities. It’s unclear whether he’ll be extradited to Malta or if he’ll be investigated first in Germany.

Construction takes another life: A 49-year-old worker lost his life after falling from a height of three storeys at a construction site in Ta’ Xbiex on Friday. This was the third death on similar sites in 2022.

Updated 0930 – Malta registers first monkeypox case

Health authorities have announced that a first case of monkeypox was detected in Malta. The Ministry said that the case involves a 38-year-old man who lives in Malta and who recently travelled to a country where cases of the infection had been detected. The man has slight symptoms and is isolation at home after it was concluded he did not require hospital treatment. During a recent press briefing Health Minister Chris Fearne insisted that there was no case for alarm, and that monkeypox “is rare and is not easily transmitted”.

Morning Briefing

MEP asks Facebook to allow in-streaming adverts by Maltese creators

Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba has asked the Facebook Vice President to end discrimination against Maltese content creators as the platform currently does not allow locals to use in-stream advertisements, and therefore cannot earn money from these features as in foreign countries. Hewas part of an eight-member delegation from the European Parliament that discussed developments in the European digital sector with companies like Google, Apple and Meta. (Maltatoday)

Three men face prostitution charges
Three three men have been arraigned after a police investigation into the trafficking and forced prostitution of two South American women in Malta. They have been denied bail. The three men, who pleaded notguilry, were charged less than two weeks after the women received suspended sentences for engaging in prostitution. (Times of Malta)

Deficit grows further in April

By the end of April 2022, Government has already accumulated a deficit exceeding 388 million euro.
In the first four months of 2022, Recurrent Revenue amounted to €1,595.3 million, 16.5 per cent higher than the €1,369.7 million reported a year earlier. On the other hand, total expenditure stood at €1,983.9 million, 1.6 per cent higher than the previous year.

Covid-19 Update: Active Covid-19 cases stand at 1,501 after 86 new infections were reported by health authorities, together with 141 recoveries.