What follows is a roundup of the salient news from Malta, as reported by Malta’s main news portals.
A group of 149 migrants is to be brought to Malta late on Tuesday after having been rescued from a dinghy 60 miles off Malta. The Armed Forces of Malta said the boat was found to be in difficulty and the migrants were picked up by a patrol boat, which will bring them to Hay Wharf. Times of Malta
A Cabin Cruiser berthed at Manoel Island caught fire. Civil protection officials were deployed on site. This is a developing story.
Gozo Channel has informed the National Audit Office it will be introducing a new ticketing system, Auditor General Charles Deguara said. The Times reports that Mr Deguara was replying to a questions about massive discrepancies in the number of passengers and vehicles which cross the channel but never return. According to official statistics, 100,000 more vehicles crossed to Gozo from Ċirkewwa over the past eight years than made the return trip.
The Malta Independent reports that Nationalist MP Claudio Grech this afternoon pushed away the idea that he should seek taking over the leadership of the Nationalist Party. In the report of MaltaToday Grech is quoted saying “The last thing the PN needs now is speculation about its leadership. The PN leader is Adrian Delia, who was elected in the most open and representative election of all time in the history of Maltese political parties. It is every MP’s duty to be part of the integral work of the party,” Grech said on Facebook.
A Turkish national who ran over a 10-year old Libyan boy during an accident in Pembroke three years ago, had his prison sentence changed to a suspended sentence. TVM reports had appealed the sentence, given a year ago, with Judge Consuelo Scerri Herrera in the Appeal Court changing the 32-month prison sentence to a suspended prison sentence for three years.
MaltaTodayreports that police charges against Efimova are not connected to Maltese arrest warrant. The Cypriot government tells Council of Europe police charges against former Pilatus employee are independent of Maltese charges against Efimova. The story also appears on The Shift News.
The Nationalist Party Leader, Adrian Delia, arrived in Helsinki for an important summit of the European Popular Party, Net News reports. During this summit, the EPP is expected to confirm who will be its candidate for the Spitzenkandidat role in the next MEP elections. Delia has announced that he would be supporting Manfred Weber.
RyanAir announced that it will be starting to fly to Jordan. One News reports that the low-cost airline made its announcement as part of the release of the news related to the destinations it will be flying to in the forthcoming schedule.
An Italian lawyer explained the woes that Satabank clients are going through, as the bank’s operation remains stalled by the notice issued by the Malta Financial Services Authority. Newsbook quotes Francesco Trimboli saying how the case with Satabank which he found “strange” prompted the formation of a consumers’ association.
In a statement this evening, as reported by the Malta Independentthe Manoel Island Foundation said that the proposed amendments to the Manoel Island development do not contemplate any change to the building volumes as originally proposed.
