Updated 1733 – Spanish police make third arrest in connection with Sliema double murder
A third person allegedly involved in the Sliema double murder was arrested this afternoon in a hotel in Cadiz, Spain, following collaboration between Spanish and Maltese police with Interpol’s support.
Updated 1600pm – Newspaper Review
Newsbook reports that state witness Melvin Theuma has been hospitalized on Sunday, the police have confirmed.
Malta Today says that Malta has registered 15 new cases of COVID-19 and 69 recoveries, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.
TVM reports that the Government’s strategy on the pandemic has been explained by Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Robert Abela, who during a link-up on the Labour Party radio station stated that the Government has always sought to find a balance between safeguarding the people’s health and economic development.
The Malta Independent reports that PN Deputy Leader Robert Arrigo has offered Bernard Grech his position in the party if the latter agrees to withdraw from the leadership race.
Times of Malta has said that a 44-year-old homeless man told a court on Sunday that he had stolen a can of tuna because he was hungry and desperate.
Net News reports about how schools are expected to reopen in less than a month, and questions why Prime Minister Robert Abela has given no reassurance yet to students, parents and teachers about what measures will be taken.
One News says that 21-year-old Nigerian Ali Easa Harth has been sentenced to seven months in prison after being charged with possession and use of a fake Italian passport.
Updated 0944 – Malta’s R-factor declines
Malta’s COVID-19 reproduction factor has decreased to 1.39 after a decrease in cases of the virus over the past week according to statistician Vincent Marmara. The statistician provided this information on his weekly blog on The Malta Independent.
Updated 0931 – Newspaper Review
Malta Today reveals that self-confessed middleman in the Caruana Galizia murder, Melvin Theuma, was informed in August last year by a Yorgen Fenech associate the one of the suspected triggermen, Vincent Borg, want to spill the beans on the plot.
Illum speaks to General Workers Union secretary general Josef Bugeja and the president of the tourism section within the Chamber of SMEs, Philip Fenech, who urged the government to extend the wage subsidy support for the tourism sector.
The Independent on Sunday questions Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia about developments on the bottle collection programme announced in the last budget. The minister said the scheme had to be postponed to next year because of tax issues.
The Sunday Times reports that a 26-year-old woman was attacked by an unidentified man in Valletta on Friday. The Swedish woman was sunbathing when a man carrying a net beat her up unprovoked suffering fractures as a result.
Il-Mument speaks to former Air Malta pilots who were sacked by the airline. The pilots said they felt humiliated and betrayed by the government and accused the carrier’s management of conflicts of interest.
Kullħadd says that workers’ salaries registered an increase of €165 million in the first six months of the year compared with the same period in 2019. The paper reports that a 7.7 percent decrease in GDP is below the 9 percent average in the euro area.
It-Torċa quotes a report by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control which shows that the rate of positive results from Covid-19 tests has registered a decline in the second half of August.
The Sunday Times says that the chairman of the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal appointed in 2013 was a Planning Authority official who reached an agreement to stay on unpaid leave during his term, effectively installing a PA employee to the independent tribunal.
The Independent on Sunday speaks to Equalities Parliamentary Secretary Rosianne Cutajar who said that a report seeking to decriminalise sex work will shortly be send to the Cabinet. The report was drafted by the technical committee on prostitution reform.
Malta Today reports on the death of an 86-year-old woman infected by Covid-19 on Saturday afternoon. The woman had been on the ventilator at the intensive care unit and is the eleventh victim of the virus in Malta.
It-Torċa speaks to Prof. Carmel Borg from the Faculty of Education at the University of Malta who said that students have been negatively impacted by school closure, with some children losing a full academic year.
Il-Mument says that Joseph Muscat stayed at a luxury hotel in Collalto Sabino, just outside Rome while on holiday a few weeks ago. The paper says that the accommodation is usually reserved for VIPs and will have cost thousands of euros.
Morning Briefing
Covid-19 in Malta
Malta registered its 11th death from coronavirus, after an 86-year old woman died after being hospitalised in intensive care. A total of 27 new COVID-19 cases were reported yesterday, while 58 patients recovered. This means that the number of active cases has gone back to below 600 (593).
Health Minister Chris Fearne announced that Malta has been allocated 330,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine that could potentially start being produced in the coming weeks. On Twitter, Fearne said: “If a COVID-19 vaccine is developed in the coming weeks, Malta has already been allocated 330,000 doses. This means we will be one of the first countries to protect vulnerable people and frontliners. We will later acquire more doses for the whole population.”
Neville Gafa to be charged
Former OPM person of trust Neville Gafa will be charged in court over threats he made to an Italian journalist. This was announced by Gafa himself on Facebook.
The Italian jouralist, Nello Scavo focuses on migration and follows the crossing by asylum seekers in the Mediterranean. In the past months, he had criticised Government’s pushback policy, with Gafa addressing him through social media to “stop your dirty business. If not, we will be stopping you.”
Gafa wrote: “I have just been informed that after an investigation during which I was also interrogated, I will be charged in court of threatening an Italian journalist”. He insisted that he never intended to threaten anyone, more so publicly on the social media.
Two car accidents in Gozo
A 47-year-old Polish woman suffered serious injuries on Saturday afternoon when she was hit by a car in Munxar, Gozo, driven by a 77-year old British man who lives in Ghasri.
Separately, a A 51-year-old Italian man suffered serious injuries in a traffic accident in Munxar.
CDE News
