Latest Update- News Portal Briefing
Times of Malta reports that a motorcyclist was injured in Gzira
MaltaToday reports that Civil society NGO Repubblika is commemorating Miriam Pace, who died following the collapse of her Hamrun house last year
Newsbook reports that Professor Charmaine Gauci has written to private medical practitioners asking them to register their interest to vaccinate their patients once the vaccine roll out is open to the general public.
TVM reports that the Pensions of those born between 1956 and 1961 will not be affected by COVID pandemic
Updated 1233- Covid-19 Update
336 new cases of coronavirus were reported this afternoon.
Only 80 persons recovered, meaning that the number of active cases shot up to 2,931. A total of 3,572 swab tests took place on Monday. The number of total cases has reached 22,993. During the last 24 hours, three patients died while Covid-19 positive. One of the victims was a 41-year old male.
Till yesterday, 81,883 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine were administered, of which 29,021 were second doses.
Updated 1120 – Air Malta: Formal aid request to EU by end of month
Government will be presenting a formal state aid request to the European Commission, seeking to obtain a financial lifeline for embattled Air Malta. Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said that the first financial aid request by Maltese government was made in November 2020. Throughout the following month, the EU answered back informally with questions of their own.
“The formal request from the Maltese Government to the European Union is expected to be made by the end of March this year. Meanwhile the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union allows Governments to provide aid to remedy the damage caused by natural disasters or other extraordinary events and the pandemic is being considered as an extraordinary event that has caused serious economic disturbance.”
Speaking on the national broadcaster, AirMalta’s Executive Chairman David Curmi spoke about immediate decisions being taken, notably the cancellation of ten loss making routes, including Bucharest, Malaga and Ibiza and the cancellation of plans to fly to far-flung destination such as NY, India and Africa, with the exception, when the time is right of Libya. He also explained that the company will outsource more than it does currently, referring particularly to ground handling operations.
Updated 1100 – Cardona interrogated by police
The Times of Malta reveals that former Minister Chris Cardona was interrogated by the police on Saturday after he was once again implicated in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Quoting sources, the portal said that the former minister was taken in for questioning at police headquarters for around an hour following claims he had met one of the alleged hitmen in the lead-up to the October 2017 car bomb murder.
Cardona was also asked about separate claims that he had set the wheels in motion for a botched plan to kill the journalist back in 2015.
Updated 0900 – Newspaper Review
The Times reveals that the police interrogated former minister Chris Cardona on Saturday, following claims that he had met an alleged triggerman in the Caruana Galizia assassination. Cardona confirmed the interrogation but said he was not cautioned.
The Independent follows the testimony in court of Health Minister Chris Fearne who said that Steward Healthcare was holding talks with Konrad Mizzi and the Office of the Prime Minister while he was leading official negotiations with the American company.
In-Nazzjon quotes Opposition Leader Bernard Grech who said that the proposed amendment to the divorce law reducing the separation period to either six months or a year is discriminatory, arguing that it should be six months in all cases.
L-Orizzont says that Cabinet met at the General Workers’ Union headquarters for the first time on Monday. In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Robert Abela said that the government is committed to social justice.
The Independent says that the organiser of an illegal rave party held on Friday is to be charged by the police. Videos by attendees showed a large crowd partying at a site in the White Rocks complex.
The Times quotes a police statement which said that officers descended on the venue where an underground party was being held on Friday. The crowd quickly dispersed but the person behind the event was identified and will face charges.
L-Orizzont speaks to Shirley Micallef Doughty, whose husband Clifford was killed when he was hit by a car while cycling along the Coast Road, 12 years ago. The widow said that the confirmation of a jail sentence to the driver last week brings closure.
In-Nazzjon reports on the launch of a programme of events by the Nationalist Party promoting gender equality leading up to Women’s Day on March 8. Party leader Bernard Grech said obstacles that hold women back have to be eradicated.
Morning Briefing
Anti-corruption protest held in Valletta
Protesters gathered outside parliament yesterday evening, re-iterating their calls for justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia, her family and the country. The protest was organised by civil society groups Repubblika, Occupy Justice and Manuel Delia, with banners reading ‘Malta suffocated by the mafia octopus’.
“The octopus that has come to our country wants to hide. It wants to convince that it doesn’t exist. It has run deep into our institutions and has its tentacles everywhere; in the Government, the police force; the economy, the Planning Authority, the professions, the media and the parties,” Repubblika’s president Robert Aquiliuna said.
Chris Fearne blames Joseph Muscat, Konrad Mizzi on Steward fiasco
Steward Global Healthcare was running parallel talks with Konrad Mizzi and Joseph Muscat’s office while also negotiating with the Health Ministry, Chris Fearne testified on Monday. The Health Minister express his frustration at discovering that negotiations had taken place without his knowledge.
The Deputy Prime Minister was testifying in a case instituted by former PN leader Adrian Delia.
“Things were happening which I did not know about,” he exlained. “I was going to table a memo that day to say ‘listen, either everything is under health, or nothing at all. But then you know what happened that day,” Fearne recalled, refering to the fact that Konrad Mizzi then tendered his resignation.
On the other hand, Fearne sought to defend Government’s health record, arguing that healthcare standards improved in Gozo, when asked whether milestones were achieved, but added that after the elections in 2017 he was not happy with the project’s progress.
Koħħu to testify against Degiorgios
Vince Muscat known as il-Koħħu will be testifying against the Degiorgio brothers in the case in which they are accused of murdering investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Muscat was accused together with Alfred and George Degiorgio of planting and detonating the bomb that killed the journalist. On 23 February pleaded guilty to his participation in the crime. He was sentenced to 15 years jail term.
Deputy Attorney General Philip Galea Farrugia requested the court to hear Muscat’s testimony and Judge Edwina Grima accepted the request.
Covid-19 Update
175 new COVID-19 cases and another death were reported by the health authorities on Monday.
The latest victim, an 89-year-old woman, died at St Thomas Hospital, raising the number of fatalities to 316. With 216 recoveries, the number of active cases stands at 2,678. The new cases were identified through 3,871 swab tests carried out on Sunday. Until the end of February, just under 80,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccination were given.
CDE News
