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Monday, 23 January
A cargo plane makes an emergency landing at Malta International Airport. The two crew members aboard the propeller-driven Fokker 27 realise something is wrong with one of the plane’s engines 20 minutes after taking off from Rome’s Fiumicino airport. The plane lands safely in Malta with just one functioning engine.
The Customs Department says that in a recent operation at the Malta Freeport, it seized 134,000 pairs of counterfeit sports shoes and sandals loaded onto six containers. The department says that proof exists that the smuggling of counterfeit products is a channel of finance for terrorism.
Five teenage boys are charged with seriously injuring a boy in Paceville the previous Saturday. An 18-year-old, three 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old are charged of assaulting and seriously injuring Alan Bonello, with the youngest also being accused of breaching the conditions of a probation order delivered by the courts in a different case. The five teenagers plead not guilty. The magistrate’s court grants bail against a deposit of Lm500 each.
Tuesday, 24 January
Like the rest of Europe, Malta is gripped in a cold spell with January temperatures being almost 4C below average. The lowest temperature recorded is 5.5C. The cold weather is also accompanied by constant rainfall which makes this January one of the 10 wettest Januaries in years.
The storm over covert CIA missions during which prisoners were flown through various European airports to jails in third countries continues but initial investigations by the Council of Europe make no mention of Malta being implicated in the flights. Malta is not named in the interim report compiled by Swiss senator Dick Marty even though the investigation is still in its initial stages. Malta had been implicated by the international press, which alleged that a total of eight flights by CIA planes used in transporting terror suspects landed at MIA for refuelling.
Wednesday, 25 January
The number of registered unemployed in December is 7,379, a decrease of 724 people over the previous year, according to statistics released by the National Statistics Office. There were 287 who were registered unemployed for the first time in December.
The new Ghallis engineered landfill will only serve for seven years according to media reports, a dramatic scaling down from the initial life-span of 20 years. Only the part of the landfill to be used for hazardous waste will have a life-span of 20 years. The landfill’s new dimensions are found in the Environment Impact Statement for the site. The public has until 1 February to comment on the EIS.
Controversy ensues after media allegations that the directors of an Austrian textile firm that had decided to pull out from negotiations over the possibility of investing in a jeans factory in Malta were involved in bankrupt companies. The Austrian officials that head Gama textiles deny they were ever involved in bankrupt companies.
Judge Joseph Galea Debono sentences a man found guilty of trying to seriously injure his brother-in-law by shooting in his direction, to 30 months in prison saying society should not tolerate that a person keeps and carries a weapon. The judge says violence especially that involving a firearm deserves to be punished with an effective jail term.
The man, Victor Pace had been found guilty with a 7-2 verdict by jurors.
A pensioner living in St Julians is arrested on his return from Amsterdam after police and customs officials find drugs hidden in decorative candles.
Thursday, 26 January
The world looks on in shock as Palestinians overwhelmingly vote for the militant Hamas giving them 76 seats in the 132-member parliament. Outgoing ruling party Fatah, the brainchild of former Palestinian president Yasser Arafat, accepts defeat after obtaining 43 seats.
Foreign Minister Michael Frendo, reacting to the Hamas victory, cautions against hasty decisions on the Middle East. Frendo says the European Union needs time to reflect on the democratic decision of the Palestinian people even if the Hamas’s victory has radically changed the political landscape.
The Labour Party starts convening its general conference with delegates discussing two policy documents on the environment and tourism. On the first day of the conference, the party’s assistant general secretary Joe Falzon takes a dig at John Attard Montalto’s absence from the European Parliament when crucial votes are taken by stressing that the MLP elected “three and not two” MEPs.
A man from Qormi, 39-year-old Raymond Schembri, is handed down a fine of Lm4,682 and sentenced to one year in prison suspended for a year after being found guilty of importing 250 contraband cigarette cartons.
Friday, 27 January
The Privatisation Unit announces the setting up of an evaluation and adjudication committee to analyse the binding bids received by government for the sale of its 60 per cent stake in Maltacom.
The Marsaskala Local Council files a constitutional application claiming that the appeal proceedings against MEPA’s go-ahead for the development of the Sant’Antnin recycling facility breached the right to a fair hearing.
Filed by lawyer and Marsaskala councillor Owen Bonnici, the constitutional application says the choice of the members on the appeals board is vitiated by the fact that they were selected by the government or, the minister for the environment who had repeatedly expressed his views in favour of the project.
Malta nets European champions Greece in the Euro 2008 qualifying competition draws. Turkey, Norway, Bosnia, Hungary and Moldova complete Malta’s Group C. The draws also see France and Italy face off in Group B. England is drawn in Group E to face Croatia and Russia. The top two teams in each group will make it to the finals to be held jointly in Austria and Switzerland. The competition starts on 2 September.
Saturday, 28 January
The Ministry for Urban Development and Roads says that in the coming weeks it will roll out a comprehensive reform of the white taxi service in Malta and Gozo. The reform will not seek to liberalise the service but regulate the current operators.
It is being proposed that taxi drivers are given training and asked to sign a code of conduct. Only those drivers who sign the code of conduct will be issued with an identification tag. The reform will enforce the use of taxi meters and any driver caught in breach of the code of conduct is liable to have his licence suspended.
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