Update 1830 – A police constable was seriously injured in Ħal Far on Sunday after losing control of his motorcycle. Police said the incident took place at around 1.40pm while the constable was on duty carrying out inspections in the Industrial Estate. The officer, aged 33, was taken to Mater Dei Hospital for treatment. Investigations are ongoing. In a separate incident on Sunday, a 30-year old woman, also a motorcyclist, was hospitalised after suffering injuries in a collision in Imtarfa. Police said the Santa Venera resident was one of three drivers involved in the collision in Triq il-Maltin Internati u Eżiljati. – Times of Malta
Bernard Grech called out Robert Abela‘s bluff policy that he says the Labour Party have used over the years. “When it comes to health we can’t bluff or take risks. We can’t play with the lives of people,” he said. Grech passed the comment over a telephone interview aired on party radio, where he spoke on COVID-19 and the party’s vision on the environment. “This ‘bluff’ politics that Robert Abela and the Labour Party have employed over the years has worked in some aspects, but we cannot play with people’s lives,” he said. Malta Today
PN MP Jason Azzopardi has asked Standards Commissioner George Hyzler to investigate his stay in a Tel Aviv hotel, which was paid for by a Tumas Group businessman. Malta Independent
30-year old Ryan Briffa, a boarded-out unemployed person, was accused of cocaine and heroin possession in circumstances which show that the drugs were not for his exclusive use. He was also charged with committing the crime near a place where youths gather, of having relapsed and breached bail conditions in relation to two other cases. Tvm.com.mt
Archbishop Charles Scicluna paid his respects to war victims as well as coronavirus victims on Sunday during a homily delivered on Remembrance Day. During a mass celebrated at St John’s Co-Cathedral as part of Remembrance Day celebrations, Archbishop Scicluna urged politicians to act responsibly and ensure that the number of lives claimed by the pandemic remains low and does not increase. He drew parallels between what happened during the world wars and the current global pandemic, noting that “the enemy is invisible” in the latter. –Newsbook.com.mt
Update 1500 – Two more men have died of coronavirus, the health authorities reported on Sunday. The daily death toll rose to three. A 79-year-old man tested positive for the novel virus on 6 November and died at Mater Dei Hospital. The other case was a 71-year-old man who tested positive for coronavirus on 31 October and also died at Mater Dei Hospital. – Newsbook
Update 1400 – The annual remembrance day ceremony, in Malta, was held on Sunday, as the country remembered the war dead. During a pontifical mass at St John’s Co Cathedral Archbishop Charles Scicluna spoke of the need to remember victims, and said that to reconcile and work for peace is not a question of forgetting the victims or what happened, but to keep remembering in order to understand the suffering and injustice that there was in order for history not to repeat itself.
Updated 1233
Elderly woman is Malta’s 76th victim; 102 new cases
A 91-year-old woman suffering from COVID-19 has died, the Health Ministry reported this morning. The woman had tested positive for the virus on October 31. She died earlier on Sunday morning at the Good Samaritan hospital in St Paul’s Bay.
She is the 76th person to succumb to the virus in Malta.
The authorities also reported 102 new cases over the past 24 hours. With practically the same number of recoveries (103) active cases remaiend stable at 1962. 2,952 persons were swabbed throughout yesterday.
PM lambasts Repubblika on migrants, notes encouraging growth prospects
In a recorded interview on Labour television, PM Robert Abela referred to the recent legal proceeding instituted by NGO Repubblika, saying that there were some who were working to ensure more migrants came to Malta.
He re-iterated the stand that Matla a is full up, but “some people” seemed to want the authorities to spend their time in court, rather than fighting for the best interests of the Maltese people.
Abela also tackled the recent European Commission’s economic forecast for Malta, which predicts a good level of growth in the next couple of years following a turbulent 2020. Abela said that these forecasts are evidence that Labour Party had shown that it can lead a government in good times, but also through challenging times.
PN suggests rapid testing
Malta should consider testing its entire population for COVID-19 as a “last resort” before healthcare systems are overwhelmed, the Nationalist Party proposed.
Shadow health minister Stephen Spiteri said that rapid testing the entire country would allow healthcare workers to identify and isolate asymptomatic carriers who are spreading the virus without knowing it.
“Test Trace Isolate… other countries are doing it already,” Spiteri argued on Facebook.
Enemalta bought wind-farm shares from third party as Fenech made millions in profit
Timesofmalta.com reveals that an intermediary used by Yorgen Fenech’s 17 Black to secretly profit from the Montenegro wind farm deal was wrongly described in Enemalta board minutes as the “present owner” of the project when negotiations were still taking place.
The report explains how Enemalta, instead of buying shares in the wind farm project directly from the owner, the Spanish consortium Fersa, proceeded to do so with Cifidex, which did not even own the wind farm shares when the January 2015 board meeting took place. The unexplained introduction of Cifidex into the deal as an intermediary saw Fenech make 4.6 million euro in profit.
Updated 0914 – Newspaper Review
Malta Today publishes survey results showing that 53 percent of people are against a lockdown while 37 percent are in favour. Almost one in every ten respondents said they are unsure about the issue.
Illum claims that Opposition MP Jason Azzopardi stayed at the Hilton hotel in Tel Aviv paid for by Yorgen Fenech in 2017. In a TV interview this week, the shadow minister for justice said he did not remember ever accepting any gift by the businessman.
The Sunday Times reveals minutes from an Enemalta board meeting showing that the agency reached an agreement to buy the wind farm in Montenegro from Cifidex two weeks before the mysterious company had even purchased the shares of the project.
The Independent on Sunday reveals that self-confessed middleman Melvin Theuma has not fully recovered from serious wounds to his throat and abdomen in July, and is unable to testify for long periods of time.
It-Torċa says there were over 6,900 promises of sale between June and October this year, registering a combined value of €1.5 billion. The paper says that the performance of the property market in this period is stronger than before the pandemic.
Kullħadd reports on a reduction of 400 people living on social assistance within a year and says that more families continue to improve their standard of living despite the effects of the pandemic in the last months.
Il-Mument says that the Prime Minister has failed to deny allegations about involvement in a 2010 bank heist by a sitting cabinet minister. The report says that pressure is piling on Robert Abela who has not yet taken any action.
The Sunday Times publishes an interview with Health Minister Chris Fearne who warned that Covid-19 cases will rise as winter sets in. The Deputy Prime Minister, however, said that a lockdown at this stage would be counterproductive.
The Independent on Sunday quotes the president of the Nurses Union Paul Pace who said the government is making ‘political excuses’ to cover for the lack of flu vaccine, which was expected to be delivered on November 1.
Malta Today says that both the PL and the PN have registered increases in support over the past month, with the Labour Party rising to 44.2 percent and the Nationalist Party climbing to 32.4 percent. Approval ratings were also up for both party leaders.
Kullħadd quotes Foreign Affairs Minister who said that Malta’s good relationship with Libya averted the arrival of more than 8,000 immigrants this year. He said that Libyan authorities intercepted thousands of immigrants on their way to Malta’s shores.
Malta Today says that Cabinet members are in the dark about an anticipated reshuffle. Prime Minister Robert Abela is expected to create roles in the executive for new MPs Miriam Dalli and Clyde Caruana.
It-Torċa says that more than 1,000 people every month call the support line 172 operated by the Foundation for Social Wellbeing Services. Anxiety about the elderly, problems among couples, children’s behaviour are the issues raised most frequently.
Il-Mument says that the number of Covid-19 victims has reached 75 with 26 casualties registered in the last 15 days only. The paper reports that out of the total 7,256 cases since March, 1,781 have been registered in the last two weeks.
Morning Briefing
Prime Minister and Opposition Leader congratulate President-elect Biden
Prime Minister Robert Abela and Opposition Leader Bernard Grech joined a number of international leaders in congratulating US President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their election victory
In a tweet, PM Abela described the new Democratic President as “inspiring”. He was joined by Opposition Leader Bernard Grech who said that this was a testing yet rewarding result for a man who stood up to be counted and prioritised the value of people in his politics.
Malta and France agree to cooperate on migration
The Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Evarist Bartolo and the Minister for Internal Affairs, National Security and Law Enforcement, Byron Camilleri, met the French Minister for Internal Affairs, Gérald Darmanin. During a bilateral meeting the three Ministers agreed to cooperate better on the common immigration problem so as to address its challenges, to fight against terrorism with radicalism also on the agenda.
The Ministers agreed that the fight against criminal organisations has to be strengthened, particularly those involved in human trafficking and consequently putting lives in danger with perilous and illegal voyages towards Europe. Malta and France discussed measures to strengthen cooperation between EU countries and African countries in the Central Mediterranean region transition areas and particularly in the context of the negotiations of the New Pact of the EU regarding Asylum and Immigration.
Covid-19 Update: 75th death reported
Another person died from Covid-19 on Saturday, Health authorities said, as they announced the passing away of a 92-year old. The man becomes Malta’s 75h victim.
Meanwhile, 146 new cases were identified in the previous 24 hours, taking the country’s total to 7,039. There were in total 168 recoveries, thereby reducing the active case tally. A round milestone of 5,000 recovered persons was reached yesterday.
In an interview on The Times of Malta, published in print this morning, Health Minister Chris Fearne said that the number of COVID-19 cases in Malta is likely to increase “significantly” as autumn turns to winter.
“It’s not going to be easy,” the minister said of the upcoming months. “If anything, the numbers are expected to increase and to increase significantly.”
PN leader to contest 5th and 11th districts
Opposition and Nationalist Party Leader Bernard Grech will be contesting his first general election on the 5th and 11th electoral districts. The fifth district covers Birzebbuga, Kirkop, Mqabba, Hal Farrug (Hal Luqa), Qrendi, Safi and Bubaqra (Zurrieq). The 11th district includes Mdina, Attard, Mosta and Burmarrad (St Paul’s Bay).
The PN also approved a number of other candidates, among them criminal lawyer Joe Giglio, Graham Bencini, President of the PN Professional Forum as well as Angela Coleiro, the first ever trans woman to contest the general election.
CDE News
