|
The Met Office reports that 2005 was the coolest in 21 years with an average temperature of 18.7 degrees Celsius. February had been the coldest month with an average temperature of 10.6 degrees Celsius. The lowest temperature recorded in 2005 was on 6 January when the mercury plummeted to 3.9 degrees Celsius overnight.
Monday, 9 January
The jury of 35-year-old Brian Vella, accused of a double murder that occurred in 2000, starts to be heard in front of Judge Joseph Galea Debono.
Vella is accused of murdering an elderly couple, Gigi and Guza Grima at their home in St Lucija. This is the second time the jury is reconstituted after having been dissolved in February 2004 after three days.
On the first day jurors are shown the photos of the macabre scene taken by police and forensic experts when the lifeless bodies were discovered on 17 February, a week after the murder had occurred.
While Turkey is the first country outside south east Asia to register human deaths from avian influenza, Maltese health authorities say there is no reason to panic.
Like the rest of Europe, Malta is monitoring the situation in Turkey very closely as five new human cases of bird flu are notified. World health experts are in Turkey to examine the latest outbreak of bird flu.
Paul Buttigieg, a 61-year-old bus owner from Zabbar dies after being crushed between two buses in Fgura. Buttigieg stops to service another of his buses that stalls with a mechanical fault. Buttigieg is caught between both buses when the faulty vehicle moves backwards and crushes the man. He is rushed to hospital but is already in a critical state.
Buttigieg passes away soon after.
Tuesday, 10 January
The retrial of Brian Vella comes to an abrupt halt just 24 hours after commencing. Judge Galea Debono dismisses the jury once again after evidence given by Police Commissioner John Rizzo is deemed prejudicial to the accused. On a legal point the judge dissolves the jury.
Statistics released in Parliament show that between January and July last year there were 13 positive HIV tests out of 3,881 tests conducted. There were 23 positive results out of 6,194 tests in 2004 and 16 in 2003 out of a total of 4,648 tests.
Wednesday, 11 January
Joe Zammit Tabone is appointed Chairman of the Malta stock exchange for a period of three years. He replaces Alfred Mallia, who had occupied the post for six years.
Prior to this new post Zammit Tabone had been Malta Enterprise chairman since its inception.
Anthony Rizzo moves from CEO at the Water Services Corporation to his new role as CEO at Enemalta.
The Labour Party announces that none of the administration’s posts will be contested in the forthcoming general conference after nominations for the post close. The Labour Party will be organising its annual general conference at the end of January when delegates will be asked to discuss and decide on two policy documents; the environment and tourism.
In a Hollywood-style robbery, unidentified people ram into the front door of a mobile phone shop in St Venera with a stolen car but fail in their attempt to steal the outlet. The thieves abandon the car rammed in the shop and leave the premises without stealing anything. The police are investigating.
Thursday, 12 January
Melita Cable announces it has the exclusive rights to transmit all 64 World Cup games at a nominal premium of Lm6 for digital subscribers and Lm5.81 for analogue customers. All games will be broadcast live.
Melita does not divulge the amount paid to FIFA to acquire the rights but company chairman Joe Gasan says the package was not “cheap.”
Five Algerian stowaways are apprehended at the Freeport after arriving in an empty container aboard the vessel North Sun. Immigration police are at odds what to do with the Algerians after the ship’s captain refuses to take them back on board.
The Algerians, all men aged between 18 and 48, are not carrying documents. The police eventually agree to accommodate the Algerians, who admit they boarded the ship at the port in Algiers
In a landmark decision taken by the European Court of Human Rights, prominent businessman Maurice Mizzi is given his due after the court rules that the Maltese courts were wrong to deny him the right to put forward DNA evidence in order to prove he was not the father of his former wife’s daughter.
The daughter was born 40 years ago. Mizzi, residing in Bidnija took the government to the Strasbourg court after the Constitutional Court in 2002 overturned an earlier decision by the Civil Court that had paved the way for him to challenge the daughter’s paternity.
Friday, 13 January
The European Parliament budget committee rejects the deal struck by the heads of state over the new EU budget deal demanding more negotiations for a “better” deal.
The issue is due to be discussed and voted upon at this week’s plenary session in Strasbourg and MEPs are expected to endorse the committee’s decision.
Rejecting the budget would re-open the debate once again.
A slight mutation in the avian flu virus worries international experts but the World Health Organisation does not change its pandemic alert level. Researchers confirm that the virus taken from one of the Turkish victims contained a mutated strain.
It is widely believed that bird flu can eventually mutate into a virus that would be transmittable between humans, creating a pandemic flu that is feared could kill millions.
Saturday, 14 January
The Euro-Changeover committee initiates a public consultation campaign on the images that are to appear on the Euro coins when Malta eventually adopts the currency.
The general public is asked to vote via SMS for pre-selected images covering four key aspects: pre-historic Malta, Malta in the renaissance, identity and archipelago.
The public is also asked to submit any suggestions as long as they are not parochial images. The committee says public figures are not accepted.
During the press briefing, junior minister Tonio Fenech also says that shortly a legal notice would be published putting into force the guidelines issued recently by the NECC over voluntary dual-pricing.
|
