Updated 1700
The Times of Malta leads with news from court where the self-confessed middleman in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has refused to testify in court about a phantom government job he was given five months before the assassination.
Maltatoday also highlights an upsetting story from court where pathologist Mario Scerri has testified that the man accused of the rape and murder of Paulina Dembska on New Year’s Day applied “unheard-of violence” to his unsuspecting victim.
Newsbook says that Moviment Graffitti’s student branch condemned the vulgar commercialisation of the annual Freshers’ week at the University of Malta, which was in the news following a publicity stunt by a company during which students scrambled for five euro notes.
TVM reports that 61-year-old Norman Bugeja has been placed under a three-year probation order and fined 8,000 euro after being found guilty of having touched four under-age girls without their consent four years ago, and asked them for sexual favours, both orally and with gestures.
Updated 1200
Energy consumption rises 7% in 2021
Energy consumption has risen above 2671 gigawatt per hour in 2021, an increase of 7% in just one year. Enemalta plants produced 71% of this supply, while 10% of electricity came from renewable energy, the latter representing an 8.4% increase. Last year the country imported around 30.4% electricity more than the previous year through the interconnector between Sicily and Malta. (TVM)
Steward denies link with Swiss firm involved in payments to Joseph Muscat
Steward Healthcare insisted it had no relationship with Spring Healthcare, a Swiss firm which is run by a lawyer suspected to have passed on “kickbacks” to former prime minister Joseph Muscat. While Spring describes Steward as its clinical partner on its website, Steward Malta president Nadine Delicata, rejected such claims, saying Steward has no commercial or other relationship with Spring Healthcare. Last year, The Times of Malta had revealed that Pakistani lawyer Wasay Bhatti, who is behind a web of Swiss companies, including Spring, hired Muscat as his “consultant” soon after his resignation as prime minister in January 2020. Muscat and the Pakistani lawyer deny any wrong doing. (Times of MAlta)
170 hunting illegalities in a few weeks, Birdlife claims
BirdLife volunteers observed over 170 illegalities in just three weeks of the autumn hunting season, with some 28 protected birds have been picked up injured or dead from shotgun wounds. n a press briefing, the NGO claimed that this autumn hunting season was characterized by the illegal killing of various protected birds, mainly herons and birds of prey that were migrating south over Malta. BirdLife also lamented a lack of police present.
Morning Briefing
Half of Maltese are in jobs that does not match their education – NSO
Over 50% of Maltese workers are currently in a job that do not match their level of skills or education, new figures show. According to an NSO skills mismatch report found that 54% of workers are either over- or under-qualified for the job they are in. Of these, 35% are over-educated for their current position, while 19% are deemed to not have enough skills or education to be in their position. The NSO said that in 2021 women tended to be over-educated (40%) when compared to their male counterparts (32%). (Times of Malta)
Court hears of alleged massive scam by St Venera cleaner
A St Venera women was charged of fraud, misappropriation, falsification of public and private documents, breaching the conditions of a suspended sentence and recidivism. Sarah Ann Gatt, who works as a cleaner, allegedly defradued some 40 individuals out of a total of nearly half a million euros before Gatt was arrested, according to submissions to court. Gatt, who is being assisted by lawyer Franco Debono, pleaded not guilty. (Maltatoday)
PM at European Political Community Summit
Prime Minister Robert Abela is in the Czech Republic for the first summit of the European Political Community, a new political formation on the proposal of the French President Emanuel Macron which is bringing together the leaders of more than 40 countries. These include the 27 countries in the European Union and other European states such as the United Kingdom, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Switzerland. The leaders will discuss the challenges of energy, migration and security against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine. (TVM)
