Updated 0835 – Newspaper Review
The Times reports that the Financial Services Authority has ordered two companies, BT International and BT Management, to desist from offering new services to clients. Both companies are wholly owned by Nexia BT.
In-Nazzjon leads with the start of the PN leadership election process, with the opening of early voting today. Just under 21,500 paid-up members are eligible to choose between incumbent Adrian Delia and challenger Bernard Grech.
The Independent questions Foreign Affairs Minister Evarist Bartolo about the newly launched migration pact by the European Commission. The minister that the policy raises a series of issues but is a good start to discussions about immigration.
L-Orizzont reports that Parliamentary Secretary Rosianne Cutajar won separate libel suits against Geoffrey Leone Ganado and Rachel Williams. The case was filed over a public comment by Ganado to a Facebook post by Williams, where he calls Cutajar a prostitute.
The Independent reports that two elderly people died from Covid-19 on Thursday, bringing the number of casualties in Malta to 27. This was the seventh day in a row that the virus has claimed a life, with fifteen deaths so far this month.
In-Nazzjon says that active Covid-19 cases have risen to 756, a total of 3,107 registered infections since the start of the outbreak. The paper says that the number of deaths place Malta in a worse situation than New Zealand and Cyprus.
L-Orizzont speaks to the Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, Carmelo Abela, who said that Malta is the only country to have registered an increase in unemployment this year. Minister Abela said that the government is guided by the principles of sustainability.
The Times quotes the head of the Infectious Diseases Unit, Tanya Melillo, who urged parents, students, and teachers to avoid going out in order to keep schools safe. Dr Melillo said that people need to cut back on social life if they want schools to remain open.
L-Orizzont quotes a report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs which found that Malta had the lowest rate of drug users in Europe in 2017, at four percent of the population. The highest registered rate was 45 percent in France.
Morning Briefing
Covid-19 – Malta classified as country of high concern
Malta has been classified as a country of high concern in the European Centre for Disease Control’s latest rapid risk assessment on the Covid-19 pandemic in Europe. The risk for Malta is assessed as “high” for the general population and as “very high” for vulnerable persons.
Trends of high concern include high or increasing notification rates in older cases and, consequently, an increased proportion of hospitalised and severe cases.Malta joins Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, and Spain in this list.
Malta registered 31 cases in the past 24 hours. It also registered 70 recoveries. Malta’s total active cases now stand at 639.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry said a 78-year-old woman and a 90-year-old man died after contracting Covid-19. They are Malta’s 28th and 29th victim from the virus.
Regulator bans Nexia from new activity
The financial services regulator has ordered two companies owned by Brian Tonna’s Nexia BT to “refrain” from taking on new clients and to avoid providing existing clients with any new services. However, the MFSA stopped short from suspending the licence of the company.
Tonna’s companies had their assets frozen earlier this week as part of a longer list of companies related to a probe involving former OPM Chief of Staff Keith Schembri.
The MFSA said BT International and BT Management, which are both wholly owned by Nexia BT, must provide a detailed report on the impact of these developments on their businesses. Earlier this week Nexia also had its licence to sell citizenship by investment schemes suspended.
Cocaine use on the rise in Malta
According to the Annual European Report on Drug Use, cocaine abuse continues to increase in Malta, while heroin use has decreased. TVM.com.mt reports that according to drug addiction specalist Dr Moses Camilleri, the patterns of drug addiction in Malta were similar to the situation facing most European countries.
It aso reports that hashish user today will suffer more serious side effects than this drug would have caused previously.
CDE News
