Malta’s newspapers cover a myriad of topics. The salient points include the ongoing investigations in Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder and the investigations carried by Magistrate Aaron Bugeja on the Egrant company ownership and a story unearthed by the slain journalist and followed by the international journalists’ consortium in the Daphne Project. We also read about the current electoral polling situation.
Amongst others we read on The Sunday Times that diesel smugglers received tips on patrols and inspections from an official in the Fisheries Directorate, who the police believe to have been working hand-in-hand with a gang of criminals selling smuggled Libyan diesel in and around Maltese territorial waters. On The Malta Independent on Sunday we read that so far, the Maltese authorities have not asked the German police for a copy of the data found on the laptops and hard drives of slain journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, the chief prosecutor of Wiesbaden has confirmed. Contacted by The Malta Independent on Sunday, Attorney General Oliver Kuhn said he could not answer questions on which information Germany would be willing to share with Malta, and that the German police would make sure that Caruana Galizia’s sources are protected, because the German authorities are still examining the data.
MaltaToday says that the inquiring magistrate investigating allegations on the Prime Minister’s wife ownership of a secret offshore Panama company, told MEPs visiting Malta this week he had interviewed “hundreds of witnesses” on the case. Aaron Bugeja met MEPs Sven Giegold, Ana Gomes, and David Casa during their follow-up mission on rule of law in Malta, where he briefed them on details concerning the overall investigation of the Egrant affair.
The Malta Independent claims that Minister Chris Cardona’s people close ranks after the accusations that an SMS presented in court as evidence in libel proceedings related to the FKK Acapulco story, are fake.
Joseph Muscat has restored his stratospheric lead on Opposition leader Adrian Delia with the latest MaltaToday trust barometer putting the Prime Minister 29 points ahead. Muscat’s trust rating now stands at 52.6%, up four points since last month’s survey when the Prime Minister had registered a decline of four points over March. The Prime Minister’s trust rating outstrips Delia’s across all age groups, all regions, all educational levels and among both males and females. The Nationalist Party leader sees his trust rating slip to 23.5%, a loss of almost four points since the last trust barometer in May. In the meantime, Il-Mument claims that Prime Minister Muscat is avoiding a debate with the PN Leader Adrian Delia.
Il-Kulhadd leads with a story about a fund-raising initiative which will be done by the PN, where the essence of it will be ‘secretive lending’, commonly known as ‘cedoli’.
The newspaper ILLUM reveals that an art teacher is currently undergoing court proceedings following a magisterial inquiry which took place after allegations of corruption of minors in the Hamrun Lyceum back in November 2016.
We read in The Sunday Times that public employees at the Home Affairs Ministry were instructed to build a wooden structure to serve as a large veranda on the roof of the minister’s private residence in Żejtun on government paid time which took place in the spring of 2015 and was coordinated by Melanie Abela, wife of now Foreign Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela.
It-Torca leads with a story related to Air Malta claiming that the airline will be growing further as it will be launching 20 new routes. The newspaper also carries a report about statement by the Prime Minister regards the importance of foreigners for the country’s economic growth.
