Monday Morning Briefing

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Good morning,

Malta’s newspapers present a number of issues, with The Times carrying the position of the Malta Employers’ Association Director General on the way the property market is causing wage inflation, thus creating further staff shortages.

In the latest news from the world, we read about new measures taken by British police in view of a possible nerve agent poisoning after two people fell ill in the same area in Salisbury.

Your detailed morning briefing also brings you a review of the front pages of Malta’s News papers.

Just in case you missed anything, our headline digest keeps you updated with the main news of the past hours.

The Latest

Start your day informed

Police have cordoned off part of Salisbury after a man and a woman – reportedly two Russians – were taken ill not far from the restaurant where Sergei and Yulia Skripal fell unwell after being poisoned with Novichok.

The two suspects in the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal have nothing to do with Russian President Vladimir Putin or the government, a Kremlin spokesman was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying on Sunday.

The woman alleging she was was sexually assaulted by US President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, has identified herself, the Washington Post reports.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and his wife Lynne Benioff are buying Time magazine from Meredith Corp. for $190 million in cash, the latest example of a tech mogul acquiring a major news publication.

100 migrants who were on board a rubber dinghy, stranded off the Libyan coast, have been rescued by Libyan coastguard.

Around 1,000 Hungarians protested against Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Sunday at a pro-EU rally organized by leftist opposition parties, demanding that the government respect democratic rights and other EU values.

As the death toll from Florence rose and hundreds were rescued from their flooded homes, North Carolina slid into the next stage of the disaster: catastrophic flooding.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, joined by more than 200 officials, is set to embark on a high-stakes trip to Pyongyang for talks with his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-un.

Two Russian agents are being probed by Swiss investigators over an attempted cyber attack on the world anti-doping watchdog, it has emerged.

Turkish authorities released 160 construction workers who had demonstrated against labor conditions at Istanbul’s new airport, but hundreds are still detained and protests are likely to continue, a union leader said on Sunday.

In total 122 countries and at least 16.8 million volunteers had joined the World Cleanup Day

Scientists in the UK have found the first evidence that air pollution particles are passing from pregnant womens’ lungs into their placentas via the bloodstream.

The Review

Malta’s Newspaper Front Pages

The Times speaks to Malta Employers Association Director General Joe Farrugia who says that property and rental prices are causing wage inflation, adding to difficulties of staff shortages. Farrugia indicates that it is within the authorities’ responsibilities to control rent prices.

The Times carries another story about Emanuel Michael, the 28-year-old Ivorian, who was charged with the murder of Maria-Lourdes Agius found strangled in her Paola home. Michael had been living with Agius and they have three children together. The woman has only recently given birth to her sixth baby.

The same case is reported by L-Orizzont which says that Emanuel Michael is also facing charges of injuring his partner’s mother, Maria. The newspaper says the Ivorian has pleaded not guilty but will remain in custody.

The Malta Independent sought comments from Emeritus Judge Joseph Mifsud Bonnici about the debate on a single National Day. He said that the choice of day depends on which values the country wanted to give prominence to.

A second story in The Malta Independent quotes environmental activist Edward Sultana who says that recycling of plastics is not enough, and the strategic priority should be the reduction in use of the material. On the Facebook page ‘No to Plastic Malta’ he argues that recycling itself eats up resources.

L-Orizzont quotes Joseph Muscat who criticized Adrian Delia as ‘inconsistent’ in his stand on immigration. The Prime Minister said the Opposition Leader swung from one extreme to the other on the issue. The newspaper also reports that Parliamentary Secretary Anthony Agius Decelis did not attend Ġieh il-Mosta which awarded the honour posthumously to Daphne Caruana Galizia.

In-Nazzjon reports on the first ‘discussion with people’ of the Independence celebrations by PN Leader Adrian Delia. The newspaper quotes Delia who said that challenges must be overcome by courage and conviction.