Sunday, 9 April

Robbery
An elderly woman from Qormi is surprised at her home by three men who rob her of pension money, totalling Lm150. The woman sustained slight injuries in the robbery.

Monday, 10 April

Government incentives
Government presents the executive board of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association a list of incentives it intends implementing to encourage the arrival of low cost airlines and boost tourism.
Government proposes the introduction of a support scheme to the tune of Lm1 million for airlines if they operate to specific destinations during the winter months. The incentives also include the halving of the tourism industry's financial contribution to the Malta Tourism Authority.
The MHRA says it is content with the incentives.

Italian election
As Italians turn out in their droves to vote on the second day of the election, by evening results show a deeply divided country. Prodi’s centre-left alliance just manages to edge past Berlusconi’s centre-right coalition in the lower house by a mere 27,000 votes. Prodi also manages to win more seats than Berlusconi in the Senate despite obtaining less votes than the Cavaliere.
Alternattiva Demokratika’s Arnold Cassola is elected to the chamber of deputies from the European district as part of Prodi’s coalition.

Tuesday, 11 April

Hoteliers slam proposals
MHRA members vote on a strongly worded resolution, which insists government’s initiatives are not enough to achieve sustainable growth in tourism during an extraordinary general meeting called to discuss the current state of the industry.
The final resolution is counter to the positive remarks made by the MHRA council following Monday’s meeting with the prime minister.

Wednesday, 12 April

Gang rape
Three men are charged with the gang rape of an 18-year-old woman who suffers from mental health problems and is the cousin of one of the alleged assailants.
The teenage men, one 19 and two 20-year-olds, plead not guilty to raping the girl and holding her against her will in Senglea on Sunday.
The charges brought against the 19-year-old include the aggravating circumstance of raping a relative.

Decomposed corpse at Ghallies
A badly decomposed corpse is found at Salina near the Ghallies watch tower. Duty magistrate Miriam Hayman appoints a number of experts to assist in an inquiry.

Thursday, 13 April

Dual pricing
In a statement the GRTU says it is against the dual pricing regime decided upon by cabinet to be introduced on 1 January 2007, a full year ahead of the introduction of the Euro.
The GRTU says that mandatory dual pricing introduced so early could create problems for businesses. The association says that government should also oblige banks not to burden shops with administrative and other charges when depositing money in Euro, otherwise it would not make sense to force shops to convert prices utilising the central parity rate as set out by the Central Bank.

Friday, 14 April

Processions
Good Friday celebrations are held all over Malta with various processions representing the different stages in Christ’s via sagra. Meanwhile, statistics published by the National Statistics Office show that in 2005 the total number of participants in Good Friday processions stood at 6,405. The processions registered a global loss of Lm6,592.
Fire
The front door of a house and an adjacent garage in Siggiewi are burnt during the night. The fire is controlled by the family members. Nobody is injured in the incident. A second incident in which a car is destroyed by fire occurs in Qormi. Police are investigating both cases.