Biker suffers serious injuries in Birkirkara incident: A motorcyclist was injured last night after being involved in an accident with a car in Birkirkara. The accident happened at around 11.05pm in Triq il-Wied. The 25-year-old man from Nepal was riding a KTM motorcycle and the car, a Toyota Aygo, was being driven by an Italian woman, aged 35.
Tremor in Sicily felt in Malta: A magnitude 4.1 earthquake shook Sicily with tremors also felt in parts of Malta, particularly in Western regions. A number of posts on various social media networks indicate that the quake was felt mainly in the areas of Rabat and Dingli at around 9.30pm. The actual tremor took place in Mazzarone. Italian media reported that the shake was also felt in Ragusa and Syracuse in eastern Sicily. An Italy-based seismic monitoring group registered the tremor as measuring 4.1 on the Richter Scale.
Corinthia announces major project in Saudi Arabia: International Hotel Investments p.l.c. has announced that its operating arm Corinthia Hotels Limited has signed an agreement with Diriyah Gate Development Authority (DGDA), to open a hotel in 2025 in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. In traditional Najdi style, Corinthia Hotels will build a mudbrick 80 key hotel, 10 residential serviced villas, with two specialty restaurants, forming part of their five dining outlets. (Business Today)
Morning Briefing
Govt is failing to strike balance between health of mother and baby – PN
PN leader Bernard Grech said the government is failing to strike a balance between the health of the mother and the life of the foetus in an amendment to the Criminal Code that will allow for abortions when the mother’s health is in grave danger. Speaking at an event organised by the party’s youth wing, Grech argued that “doctors have always done interventions to save the mother’s life. Whenever this was done, the choice was saving the life of the mother and, consequentially, losing the baby”. He reiterated that the position of the PN and other pro-life activists is that a termination should only take place when the mother is at risk of dying. (Maltatoday)
Current anti-abortion law has chilling effect on doctors, pro-choice lobby argues
Pro-choice organisations insisted that Malta’s blanket ban on abortion has a chilling effect on doctors and pointed out that last June, 135 doctors had filed a judicial protest against the government over the ban. The protest, they said, compelled the Prime Minister and the Health Minister to review the current law which inhibits termination of pregnancy under any circumstance, including serious medical reasons. “While we understand that doctors have been carrying out termination of pregnancy in cases of risk to life, the present law creates a chilling effect, preventing them from taking quick action. Delay in such cases is to the detriment of the patient, they said in a statement. (Times of Malta)
Celine Dion cancels Malta concert – among others
The concert by the internationally-renowned artist Celine Dion which was meant to take place in June, has been cancelled. This was announced on video footage by the singer herself, who said she is suffering from a neurological problem known as Stiff Person Syndrome, which affects one in a million people. The concert, which was originally scheduled for 2020 was postponed because of Covid-19. The tickets were sold out immediately. (TVM News)
