Sunday, 5 February
A powerful explosion destroys the St Andrews fireworks factory in Luqa. Fortunately, nobody was on site when the blast happened at around 8.45pm. The police are investigating the mysterious blast.

A rescue operation is underway to salvage around 180 migrants on a boat to the south of Malta, which is caught in rough seas. The boat is eventually towed into safer waters by an Armed Forces patrol boat.

Monday, 6 February
Former chief justice Noel Arrigo and justice Patrick Vella opt for a trial without jury, over accusations that they accepted bribes to reduce the prison sentence of a drug trafficker at appeal stage.
The disgraced lawyers will undergo separate trials.

Malta Motorways of the Seas, the subsidiary founded by Grimaldi Naples after the failed privatisation of Sea Malta, starts operating to and from Malta with its ship, Euroferry Malta. The company will operate three weekly services with its ship that has a carrying capacity of 125 trailers.

Alan Vella, 24, from Hamrun opts out of a trial by jury and is sentenced to 10 years in prison after admitting possession of heroin and cocaine with intent to sell. He is also fined Lm10,000.

Tuesday, 7 February
Eddie Fenech Adami is 72 today, his second year after resigning from the helm of the Nationalist Party. He was appointed President of the Republic on 4 April 2004. The President attends mass at the Dar tal-Providenza and in the evening eats dinner with the staff of the Palace, as is customary.

Wednesday, 8 February
Government orders an inquiry into the circumstances that led to a private residence in Xemxija literally hanging in mid-air after a mudslide provoked by construction work in the vicinity.
In Parliament, Environment Minister George Pullicino announces the terms of reference of the inquiry board headed by Mepa auditor, architect Joe Falzon. The board was given six weeks to report on the incident.

Former cabinet member John Dalli tells Business Today that the best solution out of the impasse with Libya over Maltese oil exploration efforts in disputed territorial waters is a joint exploration agreement. Dalli says that during his brief term as foreign minister in 2004, he had already started negotiating with the Libyans over an agreement of sorts.
Libya already has joint oil exploration agreements with neighbouring Tunisia. Malta and Libya have been locked in a long-standing dispute over the delineation of international borders for decades.
Late last year the Maltese government asked an Australian drilling company to postpone further investigations on two particular areas to the south of Malta for six months pending a resolution of the dispute with Libya.

During a public consultation exercise over EU funding, the Prime Minister says government will consider lowering air passenger taxes if fiscal targets are met this year. The Prime Minister’s comment comes in the wake of damning statistics that show the number of Maltese travellers dropping heavily in the second half of last year, when the passenger departure tax was doubled to Lm20.

Thursday, 9 February
Wayne Zahra, 24, a bus driver from Cospicua is jailed for six years for raping an 11-year-old girl and defiling two 13-year-old girls and a 14-year-old boy two years ago.
Zahra had forced the 11-year-old to have sex with him in his bus and in the presence of the other three minors.

Andrea Zammit, 54, from Rabat, a former business partner of Parliamentary Secretary Tony Abela, is granted bail and placed under house arrest. Zammit is pleading not guilty to conspiring to deal in over 14kg of cannabis resin and trafficking last year.

The MEPA appeals board decides to continue hearing submissions made by Marsaskala residents against the proposed new recycling plant in their locality despite a constitutional application filed by the council, claiming that the choice of the appeals board members breached their right for a fair hearing.
The MEPA board had approved government’s plans for the upgrading of the existing facility to accommodate a larger volume of waste.

Friday, 10 February
Malta celebrates the Feast of St Paul’s shipwreck. Valletta is alive in colour as the weather turns out a fine display.

The Malta Union of Teachers threatens harsh action over what it claims are half-baked measures adopted by the education division to try and control ill-behaved schoolchildren. The union’s protestations come in the wake of another incident whereby a 14-year-old student punched a teacher and broke his teeth after being expelled from the class room because of unruly behaviour.
The MUT says the boy will still be allowed to go ahead with his exams next week and will only be suspended for two weeks afterwards.

Saturday, 11 February
The corpse of a woman in her sixties is recovered by the police at the Number One dock in the shipyard at Cospicua.
A police statement denies news reports broadcast on Super One claiming the woman was found gagged with tape.