Sunday 2 July

Car bomb kills 62 in Iraq
A car bomb explodes in a poor Shi’ite district of Baghdad, killing at least 62 people and wounding 114 in the bloodiest attack in Iraq for three months, a day after Osama bin Laden urged Al-Qaeda followers to avenge the killing of their leader in Iraq and hours before new Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki arrived in Saudi Arabia on a mission to promote reconciliation with Sunni powers.
Around the same time as the bombing, a Sunni Arab member of parliament and seven of her guards were abducted in the city. Police said the market bomb went off mid-morning as a police patrol was passing a parked car in the capital’s eastern Sadr City district, a stronghold of the Mehdi Army militia of radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Govt clarifies search and rescue rules
The government denies it has to rescue all persons rescued within Malta’s search and rescue zone and be brought to Malta. Malta’s SAR zone covers the central Mediterranean and stretches east almost to Greece. Government officials say that while Malta is responsible for the co-ordination of rescue missions within its search and rescue zone, it is obliged to land in Malta only those persons who are in irremediable distress when the closest harbour is Malta
Malta refused to sign and ratify new rules of the International Maritime Organisation providing that the country responsible for search and rescue is obliged to take persons rescued in that zone.

Monday 3 July

Second miracle by Dun Gorg
The Vatican moves closer at attributing a second miracle to the intercession of Blessed Gorg Preca, after the Congregation for the Causes of Saints are expected to report the healing of a Maltese baby boy in 2001 was due to the intercession of the Blessed Gorg. Doctors appointed by the Congregation confirmed that there was no medical explanation for the boy’s recovery. Dun Gorg was declared Blessed by Pope John Paul II in May, 2001.

MEPs call on Commission for help on illegal immigration
Nationalist MEPs David Casa and Simon Busuttil demand Malta should be granted the necessary tools to cope with the influx of hundreds of illegal immigrants on its shores. The MEPs embarked on a lobbying campaign through a group from neighbouring countries such as Italy, Cyprus and Greece to explain in person the situation being faced by Malta.

Tuesday 4 July

Finns take note of immigration
The incoming Finnish EU presidency promises to work hard at finding a common EU solution to the problem of illegal immigration being faced by Malta. Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said this issue will be one of the priorities of his presidency, and that he strongly favoured the need to grant as soon as possible EU solidarity to the Maltese people. “We must definitely share the burden and not leave Malta alone. We must act on this and that is why we want to develop a strategy on migration during our six months in office.”

Free park and ride
The park and ride scheme will be free of charge and the number of zones in Valletta that will be barred to traffic have been reduced under the government’s final traffic management plan for the city after months of debate and controversy. The scheme will be up and running by October. In a surprise move, the government has decided that it should be provided for free when previously the service from Blata l-Bajda was expected to set commuters back by around 60c each time.

Wednesday 5 July

Man tells jurors why he stabbed his wife
A man is accused of trying to kill his wife when he stabbed her in a car, telling jurors he was in a state of psychological turmoil that was triggered by eight months of suspected infidelity. Paul Caruana, 34, said he stabbed his wife in the car after a disagreement with his wife.

Threatens to kill 8
Syrian national Jihad Alloudami, 35, who resides in Gzira, pleads not guilty to trying to seriously injure a police sergeant and four constables when he brandished a knife at them and threatened to kill them. He was charged with threatening to kill five police officers and three civilians in Gzira on Monday morning, and charged with threatening to kill Stephen Micallef, Raymond Caruana and his daughter Rachel Fenech, disobeying the police and with the illegal possession of a knife.

Thursday 6 July

Cargo hauliers block containers
A stoppage by cargo hauliers blocks inbound containers. Manufacturing companies warn they may be forced to halt production as their raw materials are running out. For some factories, the cargo hauliers’ stoppage, which started on Tuesday morning, meant they were unable to ship their consignments. On Tuesday, hauliers parked their trailers in a long line outside the Freeport and refused to claim containers as a sign of protest against the Freeport’s “unilateral” decision to close the Marsa payments office. The hauliers are also claiming that clearance charges have risen from Lm213 to Lm309 per container as of July 1, despite assurances by the government that the charges would go down.

Friday 7 July

PN urges curb on warden’s abuse of powers
The Nationalist Party promises to ensure wardens are not “abusing” the powers granted to them. PN general secretary Joe Saliba says it was time to carry out an analysis of wardens and traffic management in each locality in an attempt to stem the justified complaints. “I believe we have to strike a balance between professionalism and exaggerated discipline. The objective is to have a content society but ensure there is no law of the jungle.”

Saturday 8 July

Gonzi to meet Prodi
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi will be meeting his Italian counterpart Romano Prodi in Rome later this month in a bid to stem the problem of illegal immigration. The meeting will take place on July 25 at Palazzo Chigi, a month after the two Prime Ministers met at the European Council in Brussels. Since June 20, Malta has witnessed the arrival of over 500 illegal immigrants from North Africa, which brings the number of arrivals since January to 967, almost double the figure of 473 at the same time last year.